a subset of derek

Ok, since people feel compelled to comment about Tiger Woods and make him an emblem of all things perceived to be right and good, only to be hoodwinked , I have to speak on this.

“If there’s been a consistent narrative to this year and every other in this decade, it’s that most of us, Bernanke included, have been so easily bamboozled. The men who played us for suckers, whether at Citigroup or Fannie Mae, at the White House or Ted Haggard’s megachurch, are the real movers and shakers of this century’s history so far. That’s why the obvious person of the year is Tiger Woods. His sham beatific image, questioned by almost no one until it collapsed, is nothing if not the farcical reductio ad absurdum of the decade’s flimflams, from the cancerous (the subprime mortgage) to the inane (balloon boy).”

To paraphrase Ron Artest from his blog post, unless your name is Jesus Christ, you’re not perfect.  I agree 100% with our Laker friend.

Instead of painting Tiger’s indiscretions as a fleecing of America like the housing crisis or some of this country’s actions this decade since 9/11/2001 (two questionable theaters of war, one shady election–2000 is technically last decade, questionable response after America’s worst natural disaster — Hurricane Katrina), let’s see it for what it is: a talented man that let his desires blind him on several occasions from what really matters. Many people in the financial realm didn’t just find the temptation of greed too much to resist, they engaged in economic assault on a mass group of people (via predatory lending) which, coupled with an expensive war and oil price instability, turned our economy to this (link semi-NSFW).
Tiger Woods is not an exemplar of bad behavior.  He has made a good home for his wife and family and he is exceptional at his job. He is merely a mirror of our shortcomings.  We may never know what it is like to be a billionaire or many of the other things he has accomplished in his short 33 years but we all know what it is like to deal with temptation and many of us have made the wrong choices when faced with temptation and hurt folks we love.

We are also not victims of Tiger’s indiscretions.  We may never see him pick up another club and ply his craft again but he has already cemented his legacy as one of the best, if not the best, to ever grace the links, even at 33.  His wife, kids, his mistresses (to a lesser extent) and himself are the victims here. The sponsors bet that Tiger was something nobody is (perfect) and it’s their failure, not his.

Tiger didn’t screw us (no pun intended), he is us.

• I would have named my son after Brett Favre too.  But Egomaniacal A–hole Arnold didn’t quite have a ring to it.
• Alaska Governor (and Republican VP candidate) Sarah Palin got booed at a Flyers-Rangers game when she dropped the first puck.  Ok, who DOESN’T get booed in Philly? Mr. Rogers (God rest him) would get booed in Philly (seriously, he’s from that other city on the other side of the state.)
  
• I can dust off my Najeh Davenport hamper jokes now that the Steelers brought him back.
• Why is Shawn Alexander not playing? He must have (1) pissed someone at the Seahawks off or (2) come out of the closet. What else explains a guy with his output being so unceremoniously dismissed?
• Cedric Benson goes to Cincinnati…the degenerate pool just gets bigger.  People wonder why they suck.  When you get a team of vain, underperforming headcases (and TJ Houshmanzahdeh), you get an 0-5 team.  At least the Browns aren’t the worst team in Ohio.
• Want to know why the meltdown is where it is? Listen here and here (from This American Life via okayplayer). Who says hip-hop heads don’t stay informed?

The Boston Red Sox’s resident hothead, Curt Schilling, was at Game 2 of the NBA Finals between Boston and Los Angeles (I still think the Cavs could have hung with the Lakers if they were able to sneak past Boston. With Tim Donaghy’s allegations and the foul calling disparities in the Boston-Cleveland series, maybe there were bigger forces at work) and he had a comment (surprise, surprise) about Kobe and how he talked to his teammates. Curt said in this post:

I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren’t doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about ‘hey let’s go, let’s get after it’ or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said ‘Let’s f’ing go, right now, right here’ or something to that affect.

So, Mr. Schilling, there’s no cursing by baseball greats? The difference between baseball and football is we can’t hear what’s going on in the dugout but anyone in proximity of courtside (and sometimes the TV audience) can hear the dialogue on an NBA bench. Game 2 was the Lakers’ 99th game this year so I think they know how Kobe rolls by now, certainly a lot better than you.

Schilling then proceeds to laud Kevin Garnett and how he handles himself on the floor, all the while wearing a Larry Bird throwback.

Here’s a big difference between Garnett and Bryant…0 to 3 as in how many rings Kobe has. With Shaq, without Shaq, it doesn’t matter. He has 3 rings. He knows a little about what makes a champion in the NBA. While I wouldn’t handle things the way Kobe would, Kobe has his style and it has gotten them thus far.

I am a Red Sox fan (Coco, Manny and Tim Wakefield are my favorites — what can I say, former Indians and a knuckleballer) but you have to call out a jerk and Curt, you are that jerk.

Stick to the sport you know…the word for you is…shhhhhhhhhhhh.

Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp

Celtics Point Guard, Rajon Rondo