Sunday, December 13, 2009

A Tiger in the Circus!

Zeta Interactive, a New York company that monitors message boards, blogs and social media posts, said the buzz around Tiger Woods as measured by its technology became overwhelmingly negative in the past two weeks. His positive rating, once higher than Oprah Winfrey’s, has plummeted. The company’s chief executive, Al DiGuido, said the turnabout was “the quickest fall from positive to negative we’ve ever seen” in the approximately five years his company has measured what computer users are saying. As the Tiger watches his ratings plummet & sponsors, taking him off their boards, he would rue his escapades or should we say sexcapades. From being a role model for kids around the world Tiger Woods, is now associated with sleaze and poor character. The last few months has been a tragicomic series of events for the Tiger as skeletons or should we say damsels of all hues & color tumble out of the proverbial closet.Thus far, amidst the mayhem his wife has held her counsel and maintained a dignified calm. Fortunately for Wood's he has taken good advise & has broken from golf, on what he calls as a sabbatical. Time to put balm on bruised relationships. On this entire circus, I have a few points to make: 1. The arrogance of the man, in thinking that he could get away with the kind of reckless behavior that he was indulging in or was it a severe lack of emotional stability. 2.His idea of impression management which turns out to be abysmal.Maybe fame lowers the levels of inhibition? 3.His sponsors who seem to want to cut him adrift cast him away in a hurry and seem to have little idea, as to how to manage him as a brand, which has gone sour. Amidst all the brouhaha, the only person, who in my opinion, stands out for some kind of integrity is Wood's wife, whose stated concern seems to be her children. Generally, with kind of golfing skills that Tiger Woods has, you would credit him with some intelligence, but I would not bet my last rupee on the contents of his occiput or are our primordial urges so strong that we are ready to throw caution to the winds! During his sabbatical Wood's would be well advised to do some serious introspection on his life and maybe would be better advised to take a few tips from the old charmer Bill Clinton.Bill should know, he got out of the wood's, despite Monica Lewinsky. Watch a cute Tiger ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wHkA_983_s )

9 comments:

Shankar said...

Problem of too much adulation, too much money and a weak character. It was a case
waiting to happen. Another thing I suspect is that too many of these girls really going after celebrities obviously for the sake of popularity, feeling of high and may be some money. TW has been successfully seduced. One need to succumb only once for the crack to start widening.

Shankar HN

Radhika said...

Somehow I am not so much for being part of the "action" when a celeb is being pulled down bcoz I strongly feel that a common man has as much vices, the difference is that a celeb has to pay the price. Moreover one's achievements and expertise remains rooted and his personality cannot do much to undermine that fact. I am not justifying his actions in any way whatsoever but I also feel that fame brings with it loads of extra baggage of slime and dirt, more than a person may deserve, coz you never really know what the truth is.

Aakanksha Agnihotri said...

Why do we care about sexual escapades of Tiger Woods its his life.. he faltered maybe... the only person to be bothered about is his wife.. does his character effect us at all..he is an international player.. and i guess with all this baseless adulations Accenture must be desperately looking for a new ambassador and grumbling why the paparazzi does not for once let it go... sir your feed back please

Capt A.Nagaraj Subbarao said...

Radz & Aak,

I think you folk are being too kind to Mr.Wood's.

Please remember that he is a not a mere mortal but a role model and ambassador.So we care!

A great many young people adore him & it is because of that he is a celebrity.

With a status like that comes responsibility, which was sadly missing.

A common man having a lot of vices-I agree.

I always get this question- Do you smoke & drink a lot? Why? Because naval crowd does? The fact of the matter is that youcannot drink on a ship & more imp; do people on shore abstain.

There is a price & we pay!As for Woods I do not think there is much doubt in what he did!

As for Accenture, they need to find another icon, maybe MSD?

Aakanksha Agnihotri said...

sir, i know people look up to him but they do that only professionally .. he is good at his game and youngsters want that.. i dont think youngsters want to ape someones' sexual escapades because he/she is famous.. tomorrow do young american girls want Britney Spears.. as personal life models.. considering her 'drives'??

Radhika said...

I agree. Celebs are sought for their larger-than-life image but it is also true that that image is gained after immense sweat and dedication. Thus their personal live should not override their previous accomplishments. It is not fair as they have never vouched of being saints but rather have proved their expertise in their profession/field. We should be able to distinguish among the two. As for Tiger Woods, 10 years later his name will still remain in the Hall of Fame!

Capt A.Nagaraj Subbarao said...

Hi,

I will not agree with the two of you on this one!

For the simple reason, that society would drift into chaos, if the likes of Wood's & his behavior are condoned.It scares me.

When I was growing up, Sweeden was experimenting, by jettisoning the institution of marriage.The result-society as they knew it went into a tailspin.They corrected course quickly.

I agree, that monogamy may not be very natural,as we seem to be the only species confirming to it. But that is why we are human.

Finally, I think somebody should answer the question, as to how Wood's would have reacted, had his wife played a similar game?

Also, good deeds in the past or talent, does not justify poor behavior. Remember Shane Warne- the guy missed out on Captaining Australia for much the same behavior as Wood's.

What say's you?

Aakanksha Agnihotri said...

Hi, well i dont think we as individuals today are influenced by the likes of Wood's or Shane Warne.. our roots run deep.. celebrity upholding ethical persona might be relevant for other societies but not Indian society at least. Why is Salman Rushide forgotten in all this moral upholding?? sexual escapades are personal and celebrities too are HUMAN

Capt A.Nagaraj Subbarao said...

AAK,

Roots! The last I heard of them was when Alex Haley wrote a book by the name.....

Sadly, most of us are rootless, so don't count on it.