Weekend at Augusta National: Just What the PGA Ordered

As the month of March loomed on the horizon, the Professional Golfers Association was in desperate condition. Up to that point, the golfing world's most famous competitor, Tiger Woods, had been MIA for the entire year, and it's backup favorite, Phil Mickelson, had not been heard of much either for that matter.

As a result, it seemed for the longest time that the PGA was destined to fade away. The only time that many sports fans had heard much of anything about it came about when Mickelson, who most of the time is affectionately refered to as "Lefty," found himself forced to speak out against another golfer after he was lightly accused of cheating.

Just when things looked their worst, however, golf began to shine with a glimmer of hope.

Sports medias around the world began buzzing with excitement when rumors began to spread about Tiger's return in early March, and speculation began as to how much longer the golf world would go without its perennial son.

Then the news came. Tiger announced to the world that he would be back in less than a month, and according to him, there would be no better time than to come back during golf's most prestigious event; The Masters.

Nothing is bigger in sports than the personal triumph of an athlete. Regardless of whether these triumphs are over tragedy or embarrassing personal circumstances, sports fans eat them up like hot dogs on a sunny spring day at the ballpark.

Love him or hate him, Tiger was coming back, and with the news of his return destination out in the open, all eyes became fixated on Augusta National, home of the Masters.

Tickets began selling out within days of the news, and fans around the world began to play out Tiger's perseverance in their minds. Nothing would be better for golf than to have Tiger return with a bang.

Or so the golfing public thought.

As the grand tournament began on April 8, everyone with half an interest in the sport had one thing on their mind; how was Tiger doing?

Although he started with bang, shooting four under for his best first round ever at the masters, Woods began to slip on Saturday, leaving many to sit back and say that what would be best for the game of golf just wasn't to be.

As Saturday turned to Sunday, things did not improve for Woods. Having become a dark and mysterious enigma to fans and fellow golfers alike, his play began to echo his new image, making unbelievable shots one minute while making painful mistakes the next. It was now certain that Woods would no be able to deliver what golf so desperately need.

Then it happened. Whispers began spreading. Heads and TVs began turn from the darkness of Wood's persona and focus on a not so strange ray of hope.

The ray of hope's name was Lefty, and he had just taken the lead.

Having been through a recent version of hell in which both his mother and wife had been diagnosed with cancer, not to mention that his game had suffered as well, many people had forgotten about Lefty. That is, until now.

As the sun set on Sunday, there was Lefty, shinning in the spotlight and putting on the green champions jacket.

Suddenly fans began to realize what should have been playing out in their heads all along. What the sport really needed was not Tiger Woods, but an inspirational story that would not only capture their attention, but their hearts as well.

With golfs biggest weekend now behind us, sports fans can now look back and see just how simple it is. After months of negative side stories, rumors and accusation concerning its main attraction, golf finally has a story and a face worth showing the world once again.

As the remainder of the year approaches, and with Woods now fully back with the tour, it seems as though golf is back, and with Lefty at the helm, at least for the next few weeks, it may be possible to say that golf is not only back, but shinning and gleaming with a healthy new image for all of those who wish to see it. And it's all thanks to the man that golf had forgotten that it had.

Hail Sir Lefty, golf's latest and most needed knight in shinning armour.

Big Ben's Big Mistake

Just when the sports fans were getting used to Tiger Woods, Steve Phillips and all the other figures in their world involved in sexual controversies, along comes another icon who find himself in the midst of another good old-fashioned sex scandal: Big Ben Roethlisberger.

For those of us who are either not too interested in sports to begin with or have been hiding under a rock for the past few weeks, Roethlisberger was thrust into the negative spotlight once again in early March when he was accused of sexual assault by a young woman who was present at a night club in Georgia that Roethlisburger made an appearance at.

While most people would probably say that this a case of someone trying to make a little money off of someone who has quit a bit of it, the fact is that Big Ben has already seen his share of trouble in this sector, having been accused of rape in 2009.

Now to top it all off, police in Milledgeville, Georgia, are saying that, although they are preparing to rap up their investigation into the incident, Roehtlisburger is apparently refusing to meet with police again.

Don't get me wrong, I completely understand why some would rather stay a whole month with their in-laws than meet with the police for just one minute. With information aside, however, if I were someone who was being accused of something I didn't do, especially something as down-right pathetic as this, I might just try to suck up my anxieties and do the best I could to meet with police personnel and clear my name.

With that being said, this ploy put on by Big Ben is making it look more and more like he is guilty and afraid to talk anymore for fear of the truth coming out.

But the true fact is that Roethlisberger's first mistake occurred long before this most recent fopah.

Many athletic and entertainment celebrities today forget the fact that celebrities have never been under such a close watch, by both the fans and the media. Everyone is under the bullseye, and one small slip can ultimately lead to big trouble these days.

An appropriate summary for the current public situation can be described with a quick joke: "If a celebrity makes a mistake, and no one is around to see it, does a video camera owned by TMZ still make a sound?"

Big Ben, and all the other celebrities out there for that matter, have to realize that the best way to get yourself in trouble is to place yourself where trouble's bound to happen. With that thought in mind, most people can, and already have, come to the conclusion that Roethlisberger is nothing more than a victim of his own lifestyle.

Perhaps the best way for our athletes to behave themselves is to hammer the first rule of a good public image into their brains.

Rule number 1: Always act like someone is watching, even if there's no one there at all.

Until athletes get that point, shops like TMZ and Extra will surely have no shortage of work on their hands, because it always seems that the next case of a lack of good judgement is just around the corner.

Carl Edwards: A Case Study In "On The Spot" Damage Control

Things certainly did not look good for NASCAR driver Carl Edwards in Las Vegas on the afternoon of March 7, 2010.

Having wrecked earlier in the day during a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Edwards found himself several laps down to the leader, and was making laps in order to secure more points in the hunt for the Sprint Cup championship.

Near the end of the race, Edwards saw a familiar car in his rear-view mirror. The car belonged Brad Keselowski, who not only had a history with Edwards, but was also to blame for Edwards' misfortune on lap 41 previously in the race.

As Keselowski passed Edwards on the front stretch, the two cars made contact, setting in motion an accident that would put Edwards on the hot seat for weeks to come.

"And the 99 has turned over Brad Keselowski," exclaimed FOX annalist Mike Joy as Keselowski's car flip up and over, crashing hard into the track barrier.

As the caution flag waved to slow the rest of the field, the crew at FOX immediately went to work analyzing replays of the incident. What they found in the replays was damning indeed.

"Guys, you saw it right there. Those white gloves made a turn to the right," explained Larry McReynolds, referring to the fact that Edwards had intentionally turned his car to the right and into Keselowski's.

NASCAR acted immediately, forcing Edwards to exit the track and park his car for the day. As the media swarmed to get a comment from him, he responded candidly and confidently.

"Brad knows the deal between him and I," Edwards stated. "The scary part was that his car went air born, which was not at all what I expected."

"At the end of the day, people have to come out here and have respect for one another. I have a lot of respect for other people's safety, and we'll just go on and race some more and maybe he and I won't have anymore incidents together, that would be the best thing."

Most of the people listening to the interview that Sunday probably took for granted what Edwards said, but in hind sight, that one simple statement spelled out a solid game plan for damage control.

Everybody knew that he had wrecked Keselowski intentionally, so Edwards' first goal was to hold himself accountable for the mess. In doing so, he eliminated himself from the usual "I didn't do it" approach that has become so obvious and annoying to sports fans around the world.

Edwards followed up this important factor with a cleverly disguised apology, noting that he didn't expect Keselowski's car to become air born. He also did his best to make certain that everyone knew that he took the safety of everyone at the track very seriously.

To put the cherry on top, he even stated his wish that the now apparent rivalry between him and Keselowski would come to a close immediately.

By admitting his guilt, acknowledging the safety concerns of others and openly seeking out a truce with the man he had just wrecked, Edwards had effectively put in place a stance on the matter that no one cold argue with.

Had he not done a single one of these things, it is quite probable that the coming weeks for Edwards would have been a blitzkrieg of angry fans and concerned race officials calling him a liar, a reckless hazard on the track, or a person who's sole purpose at the time was to cause trouble in a sport in which high testosterone and insanely powerful machines have already laid the foundations for a dangerous day at the track.

Instead, Edwards had put himself on the defensive high ground, ready to take on any negative comments and critics that came his way.

After observing how Edwards handled himself that afternoon in Las Vegas and the coming weeks, it becomes fairly evident that many figures in the sports world can learn a lesson or two from him.

The Blame Game

Tiger, Tiger, Tiger. That's just about all everyone in the sports world can talk about today.

From the now infamously recked Escalade to his many mistresses, it seems that Tiger Woods has now become synonymous with all that is unclean in the eyes of the public. In the aftermath, Tiger has taken up hiding from the masses, afraid to utter a single word that is not unscripted and carefully planned out, watching and suffering as his endorsement empire has come crashing down as if it were Rome on fire.

While no one will question the fact that he did what he did, many today are questioning how he pulled off one of the greatest false-advertising campaigns in the history of sports, a campaign which labeled Tiger not only as one of the greatest sports figures the world has ever seen, but also a model citizen that everybody in their right mind should try emulate in their everyday life.

With all this in mind, the true question is who is at fault for the wool over the public's eyes; Tiger, or the public themselves?

Lets begin with Tiger himself. Woods erupted onto the golf scene in the 1990s with his famous "hello world" press conference. Hello world indeed. The kid was amazing, and quickly took over as quite possibly the most dominate golfer in history, piling up tournament wins as if he were placing coins in the piggy bank.

Along the way, Tiger and his troops began painting a picture of Woods as a wholesome American, talented and charming with just the right amount of pride and humility. Up until the recent scandal, this is all that the public saw of Woods, and for that matter, all that the public really needed to see.

So there it is. Tiger Woods is officially guilty of false advertising, and many in the sports world still can not come to grips with what has transpired in front of them.

Now on to the sports public, as mass which demands the best from all athletes who dare place themselves in the public's eyes. both on and off the field of play.

To be fair, no one, not even Tiger's wife, knew what was happening behind the scenes. But there is the root of the very problem. The public, with all their demands of perfection, never stops to realize that all people, even their deified athletes, are human. That's right, human.

All that really matters in the eyes of most sports fans is winning. It starts with a simple "What? This new kid has won how many events? And he's how old? Count me as a fan!" From there it changes and morphs from a belief that the athlete is the best at his sport to a belief that the athlete is now the best person on the planet. Woe to anyone who dare thinks the athlete might not be as kosher as everyone believes in their hearts

Then it happens. The truth is unleashed, and all who believed this so-called model American is the next best thing since the invention of Cracker Jacks is left with mouths open wide, pondering and questioning how they could have been fooled.

This situation brings to light a simple fact that should have been considered right from the very beginning. The public knew nothing of Woods outside of the golf course, but made up their own fantasies of him. The kid was winning, so how could he not be this great person who does everything right?

The fact of the matter is that the media and fans all need to bring their views of athletes around the world back down to earth and be done with sports deities, never again pretending that a athlete is automatically a grace to the planet just because of their winning record.

So here's the question once again. Who is to blame for the "Tiger Woods surprise?" Until athletes change their marketing schemes and fans realize that the best place for athletes is on their TV screens and not on top of thier shrines, the simple truth is that both Woods himself and the public are to blame, and it doesn't look like anything is going to change in the near future.

The Introduction/Statement of Purpose

For the longest time, well before corporate names were hung on stadiums and athletes had publicists, the world of sports has been a means of escape for the vast majority of the public. Regardless of gender, age or ethnicity, the fact is that nearly everyone in the world has either a favorite team or a single athlete which they cheer for.

Many of these athletes and teams today enjoy being fan favorites because of two wonderful things: marketing and media coverage.

Unfortunately, as many organizations and individuals have discovered in recent history, these two highly important aspects are not always on the benefactors' side.

The media are not always kind, especially if a public gaff or the wrong kind of personal information were to be made public, an occurrence which usually leaves the morning talk shows and sports networks chomping at the bit for their very own "oh no they didn't" episodes.

Likewise, some athletes have seen their personal images come crashing down at the slightest sign of trouble, a result of branding themselves as not just the perfect athletic role model, but even a model American, only to have their poor decisions and colorful lifestyles exposed.

But through it all, two distinct problems exist when it comes to sports controversies. Can we really believe that media coverage is as unbiased as they would like us to think? Do we place too much importance on athletic personalities, deifying them in the process?

In the coming weeks, certain situations and controversies will be discussed with an unbiased opinion and an open mind. From athletes "miss-remembering" what their teammates and friends did at the time to swimmers on the bong and wrecked Escalades, we will examine the situations, the media coverage of the events, and even the handling of the aftermaths by both the media and the individuals themselves.

The purpose of this blog will not be to side with or against public opinion, but rather to examine the aspects of controversies that have caught the sports public's eye, regardless of which team or individual comes under fire. After all, we owe it to ourselves as sports fans to seek the truth, question those who tarnish it, and occasionally allow ourselves to be brought back down to earth, even when we think there's not a snow ball's chance in hell that we are wrong.