coming out of the woods

later this morning, tiger woods ends his three-month silence and speaks about his infidelity and his future plans. following the press conference (or whatever this is), he will return to therapy.

but just as he does on the course, woods is calling all the shots when he makes his first public appearance since his infidelity scandal broke. while i understand woods' and his agent's need to craft what they want us to see, that is ultimately what it is.....a script. while i don't think woods needs to make some dramatic public apology, if he does (and it looks like that is what this will be), he should have done it months ago. the news cycle would have moved on had he done it in 2009. he would now be on his road to redemption, preparing for a tournament.

i get the sensationalism surrounding the woods' scandal. he's arguably the best professional athlete in history. a biggillionare. good-looking.......who's fallen from his proverbial pedestal (which some will argue was self-imposed).

BUT let's put his situation into the proper perspective. YES, he cheated on his wife. YES, he cheated with (to-date) over fifteen women. YES, a lot of those women were porn stars. BUT he only cheated. he didnt rape anyone, kill anyone, beat his wife, drive drunk, use drugs. there are professional athletes who have done all of the above and are still playing. YES, i realize woods is on a completely different level from your run-of-the-mill athlete who's hanging on to the practice squad by a thread, BUT the bottom line is he didn't commit a crime. the only people to whom he owes an apology are his wife and children.

while i argue that woods' personal life is none of the public's business, there are many out there who disagree and those people buy stuff. woods may be aiming for redemption not just in the public's eyes but also among current and future sponsors.

ultimately woods image will not be restored by this "press conference" because regardless of how much contrition is in woods' statement, it will not be enough unless he takes a few questions and provides honest, difficult answers.


***UPDATE***

CNN's Roland S. Martin sums up exactly how i feel about woodsgate:

"Tiger, let me be as clear as I can as to whether you owe me or the American people an explanation of the events surrounding your car accident Thanksgiving weekend: Hell no.

I repeat: Tiger, you don't owe me or anyone else anything!

I'm sick of these sanctimonious folks who are blabbering about Woods needing to be grilled about his private behavior. Look, Tiger Woods didn't cheat on me. He's not my daddy, brother, cousin, church member, neighbor or friend. He didn't let me down or crush my view of him. He is not and never was my role model.

The only people he owes a grand apology are his wife, momma, family, maybe his friends, and his children, when they come of age. He doesn't have to work hard for me to trust him again. The most important audience he has to satisfy is a very small group of people.

That's it. Nothing more. Nothing less."

The Super Bowl Rundown

a big congrats to the whodat nation for winning the superbowl, it's a long time coming.

growing up in mississippi, just two hours north of nawlins, the saints ***often known as the aints*** were THE hometown team. but to those who act like the saints winning the superbowl is going to shine more light, money, and other goodwill towards the revitalization of the lower 9th ward need to step down from the superbowl euphoria. just enjoy the superbowl for what it was....a great football win, an experience that puts a smile on the face of die hard new orleans saints fans.

on to the next one...the kim kardashian effect

is it just me? but i saw no other nfl wife/girlfriend/babymama on the nfl network. the people who subscribe to NFL network don't do it for the off chance they'll get to see/hear kim kardashian ... they do so because they are die hard football fans and want to hear football commentary by people who know wtf they are talking about.

this is not about my like/dislike for kim k. i actually like her. even though, she became quasi-famous because of a sex tape, she's made the most of it and established a brand. but it just seems like reggie bush keeps getting outshined by the kimster. and she may not even be doing it on purpose. reggie bush is often forced to field questions from the media about kim kardashian.

here's one of the super bowl moments that touched me the most. drew brees shares a father/son moment.

brees' son donned a pair of headphones while celebrating with his father to block out all the noise on the field following the Saints' victory, and had no clue what was going on in the mass hysteria. brees definitely was caught up in the emotional moment.

and just because.......darren sharper

and finally......

while millions were transfixed by the saints come-from-behind win against the Colts last night many more were probably eagerly anticipating this year's crop of Super Bowl commercials. i can't say that i LIVE for super bowl commercials (or that i even saw them all last night), but here are my favorites.

Tech giant Google doesn't usually advertise but this subtle ad about the power of search was like an oasis of tranquility among the Super Bowl ad blitz.

doritos aired ads made by its fans and the results were surprisingly good. i have to go with "slapping black kid" as my favorite. the video starts with a single mother welcoming her date over to the house. but when her son meets her date, things take a different turn.

david letterman re-opened the leno/conan fight with this brief spot featuring oprah winfrey playing peacemaker between long-time rivals leno and letterman. while coco wasn't on-screen, it wasn't hard to see the brief ad as a pie in conan's face.