YA HEARD: The tiger finally shows his stripes

"When I disagree with a rational man, I let reality be our final arbiter; if I am right, he will learn; if I am wrong, I will; one of us will win, but both will profit."

-- Ayn Rand

TIGER A CHEETAH, WORLD SURPRISED?

Someone once told me that when it comes to someone that you admire, to always admire that person's success and not the person. The same is true today, as many have seemingly been taken by surprise in light of recent problems concerning golf phenomenon Tiger Woods.

Arguably the greatest golfer of all time, Tiger has built a vast empire throughout his career by giving his all to the game of golf while on the course and keeping his private life very private. This in turn made Tiger a cultural icon that the world fell in love with.

Now it seems that much of his prior image is in danger of being permanently tarnished as a result of his admitting to "transgressions" against his wife and family. These "transgressions" have been reported to be at least one extramarital affair that Woods was allegedly involved in.

Over the last couple of weeks, Woods' once very private life has become an open book that has been plastered on television screens, magazine covers, Web pages and radio airwaves.

Media outlets have been scrambling all over the place to out-dig their competitors when it comes to Tiger's "transgression." Many people have used this moment to point the finger and say "Look, I knew he was this or that," but the fact remains that this is nothing more than an example of just how human everyone of us is no matter how high society places them above the rest. Anyone who acts as if they are surprised at Tiger's situation is either naïve or playing the situation for their own gain. After all, it's not as if he committed some inexcusable act that isn't committed each and every day. Mind you that infidelity is a serious violation of social welfare, but to attempt to permanently tarnish the man's reputation is a bit of a stretch.

Now if there are any psychological casualties to this situation beside Tiger's family, it's the disappointment that some young minds may feel in seeing one of their idols caught in the wrong. However, situations such as this are a part of life and they would figure that out eventually one way or another.

In my view, I'm not even sure that the public is actually as disappointed in Tiger as the media would lead you to believe. If anything, I believe that people are interested in the life of a celebrity such as Tiger Woods because we're intrigued but also because we're nosy by nature. Yet, I do not think that the average person is really that hurt or surprised by Tiger's mistakes.

The man has made some mistakes and is in the midst of his first "scandal" after more than a decade in the spotlight. At the end of the day, the world is in love with the success of Tiger Woods and not Tiger Woods himself. When the smoke settles, and Tiger gets back to doing what the world really knows him for, he will emerge from this ordeal triumphant.

So Tiger was a cheetah; the world will get over it. It's just time for some of the finger pointing to fade away as well.

Talk to you all soon.

YA HEARD TRIVIA

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Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-200-4928 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.