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."