Tiger Woods Apologizes…Was it Sincere?

In a widely broadcasted, and tightly controlled televised statement, Tiger Woods gave an apology this morning for his irresponsible and selfish behavior.

I think it’s great that Tiger finally got up and made a statement. It needed to be done. I wish that he had said something earlier, though. He blamed the media and others for spreading lies. But, when you don’t come out and make a statement on your own, you have no one to blame but yourself.

I wish that this event could have had a Q&A session. Anyone can get up in front of an audience, with a prepared statement. But it takes someone who is willing to open themselves up to criticism and tough questions, who can be seen as someone who is truly sorry.

I’m sure that Tiger is sorry. He made mistakes. But until he is willing to sit down and answer the questions that people have, I can’t accept his apology as anything more than empty words.

Was it sincere? I can’t say. I’ve seen the statement twice and I think that he knows he did wrong, but is he truly sorry?  Maybe. What I saw was an arrogant celebrity who brought himself back into the spotlight in a sad attempt to regain some of the fans that he obviously lost over the past few weeks. I personally don’t feel sorry for him and hope that he understands that he will never regain some of the fan base that he spent so much time building.

The full text of the statement can be found here on CBSNews.com.

Thoughts?

From USA Today:

Tiger Woods, in what was an almost-15 minute speech today, said only one thing about golf:  “I do plan to return to golf one day. I just don’t know when that day will be.”

The rest of his statement was about being sorry and working on repairing the damage to his marriage, foundation and business partners.

“I want to say to each one of you simply and directly, I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior … Elin and I have started the process of healing the damage.” But he said, “My real apology to her will not come in the form of words. It will come from my behavior over time. However, what we say to each other will remain between the two of us.”

He wanted to be clear about Thanksgiving night: “Elin never hit me that night or any other night. There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage. Ever. Elin has shown enormous grace and poise throughout this ordeal. Elin deserves praise, not blame. The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.”

From CNN:

“I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you,” said the golfer, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a blazer. “For all that I have done, I am so sorry. …

“I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.”

It was his first public appearance since his November car crash outside his home near Orlando, Florida — the beginning of what would become an torrent of bad news for the golfer.

The 11 a.m. ET event, at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, was carefully managed, with a small hand-picked crowd as an audience.

Tiger Woods Issues Statement

I think it’s finally time to bury this.

Why should Tiger Woods have to apologize, unless he has something to hide which it appears that he doesn’t. ‘

Does this mean that everyone who is issued a ticket needs to make a public statement.

The police have let this go so why can’t everyone else? Thoughts?

From The Statement:

But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don’t share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one’s own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.