More Than Just An Athlete: Tiger Woods (Part 8)

Interestingly, the escalating dominance that sports figures have in the cultural and especially economic areas of our society has resulted in decreased power when it comes to their political impact.[i] Jackie Robinson’s actions led to a greater acceptance of the Civil Rights Movement and Muhammad Ali’s charged words certainly had effects on the anti-war movement against Vietnam. But modern day examples such as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods make hardly any social waves. Some even charge that their apolitical ways are in some ways inspired by their loyalty to their corporate sponsors.[ii]

The increasing importance of sports figures in US society is somewhat of a modern day phenomenon. Originally, sports served more individualistic purposes, as it aspired to create a healthy mind and a strong body. Gradually, it came to serve great social objectives as sports instilled values of teamwork and self-sacrifice for the achievement of greater ends. Sports also served as a vehicle to create young boy soldiers, instilling rigorous physical exercise and combining it with like-minded values. Sports, and the competition that came with it, was a playful demonstration of battlefield conflict. But that relationship has seemingly switched directions.[iii] No longer do we look towards war heroes like Audy Murphy to find “true American values” of courage and hard work. Today, we find those values in athletes.

As Yu notes, “Athletic teamplay and character traits such as self-sacrifice, acceptance of one’s role, and courage in the face of adversity are no longer coded behaviors that predict success on the battlefield but the clichéd tropes of television sports programs that have conquered American life.” In a pessimistic, but somewhat realistic way, sport has become a business. With multi-billion dollar television rights being signed to the ever-inflating prices of tickets to cover the cost of ever-increasing player salaries and endorsements, sports for sports sake seems a bit lost. Indeed, this is where criticisms of Woods’ silence on social issues comes into play: Woods is silent because he is protecting his endorsements. But who can blame him? After Woods signed his 37 million-dollar contract with Nike, the company launched an advertising campaign featuring their new star. The TV and print ads centered on golf’s exclusivity and its less than stellar racial past. Tiger, glaring into the camera, said, “There are still courses in the United States that I am not allowed to play because of the color of my skin. Are you ready for me world?” The ads were popular but they also incited much controversy and criticism. As a result, Tiger retreated back to the driving range and away from the public spotlight.

The public spotlight can be a hot and burning place. Never before has the media been so attune to the lives of athletes. Partly a voracious need for a juicy story, the media seems to almost search out stories of scandal and moral degradation. The murder trials of OJ Simpson and other football players and the greediness of basketball players were all signs of the apparent declining moral character of our nation’s athletes. But such behavior is hardly new. Ty Cobb, an infamous racist and rude man, only attracted headlines describing his baseball skills and not his moral character. Babe Ruth was known for his towering home runs, not his deviant sexual escapades. Journalists turned a blind eye to such behavior because sportsmanship only mattered when it was on the field of play. Today, that has dramatically changed. Yu takes this dichotomy further: “What the spotlight’s glare on athletics revealed was not just the moral defect of sports stars but also the fact that Americans wanted them to be heroes in the way that were not required fifty years before.” This distinction helps to illuminate the public’s ardent desire to see Tiger Woods as a mover and shaker for social causes. We have come to expect more out our sports heroes: much more. We want them to be more than the best at shooting a basketball or swinging a golf club. We want them to be exemplary citizens of our society and to speak up when the world is wrong. In a way, we have taken an athlete, Tiger Woods, and are trying to make him into a modern day Gandhi.

Is this even fair? Tiger Woods is a golfer and that is the choice he has made for himself. Surely we can extend to him the benefits of autonomy and self-determination? But on the flip-side, can you really blame all the attention Woods is receiving, especially considering the almost ludicrous sums of money that are being poured into the sports and entertainment industries? Whether Tiger likes it or not he occupies a large space in the public realm. He is a public figure, but is he a public object? Can we make him be what we want him to be? Is that right?

Luckily for us, in the case of Tiger Woods we are likely to have our cake and eat it too. In all likelihood, by the end of his career, Woods will go down in history as golf’s greatest ever; or at least until another Tiger, perhaps next time a Lion, comes along and wows our sports driven minds. Tiger will continue to win tournaments and break records and many will rejoice in sitting back a simply watch while he paints masterpieces on the golf course. For those who want more out of Tiger, they are likely to be pleased too; though they may need to wait a bit longer than those simply wanting to see Woods hoist trophies. Despite all the criticism that Tiger receives he is doing the game a world of good. He may be the only “African-American” on the PGA Tour today, but it would only be fair to take Woods at his word when he says that such things take time and that he plans to focus more on such issues once he leaves the golf course.

[i] Leonard Steinborn and Barbara Diggs-Brown, By the Color of Our Skin: The Illusion of Integration and the Reality of Race (New York: Dutton, 1999) 168.
[ii] William H. Rhoden, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete, (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007) 221.
[iii] Yu, 338.