Today marks the 19th consecutive day that Tiger Woods has graced the covers of the New York Post and the New York Daily News. For the New York Post, the consecutive coverage has matched the record set by 9/11 coverage. There is a website that displays all the covers of the New York Post and Daily News dating back to November 28th.
In case anyone is unaware about how Tiger Woods' life has unraveled these past few weeks, the New York Post has Tiger Blog to fill you in. For someone who knows absolutely nothing about Tiger and his fall out, the New York Times has a Tiger Index that summarizes his life, the tabloid coverage, and contains recent articles. Personally, the whole controversy both sickens me and is unavoidable to watch. Tiger Woods was (as, for the present, I'm not sure) one of my favorite athletes. He was great, he had an undeniable will to win, and the nerves to win under pressure. You never want to see someone you admire go through what Tiger has gone. But at the same time, its almost impossible to not follow.
Every day it seems like there's a new angle to the story whether a new mistress coming out, advertisers cutting his exposure, or the occasional story related to his athletic performance (no, not that). Yesterday, Tiger was named athlete of the decade by the Associated Press. There was also a New York Times Article about Accenture's process to completely remove his image. Also it appears that a divorce may be impending.
In the meantime, the whole saga has blown out of proportion. Bill Simmons, a respected columnist for ESPN, is even willing to call Tiger's fallout the biggest sports story of the '00s. I think I agree with him, its hard to think of a similar story that has dominated the media like this one. In an article entitledTiger Zoo, Simmons writes that it has all the components of a big-time story, not just a sports story, as it has all of the following:
1. One of the most famous living athletes
2. It started with a definitive incident
3. The story got momentum and became part of mainstream conversation
4. It changed our collective perceptions and opinions of a person
5. The story grew so big in a quick matter in time
6. There is no sign of the story slowing down
7. The story has sex, violence, and a cover up
8. The overarching moral question of who Tiger's affairs matter to
9. It's conspiracy friendly
Stories like these, are one of the few things that brings our society together. Most Americans do not watch the same TV shows or movies, read the same books, or listen to the same movies. However, "celebrity watching" is what gives are society a forum to discuss the same issues. In this week's cover story of Newsweek, Neal Gabler defends our tabloid culture.
For years, Tiger Woods was both one of the world's famous athletes and one of the most private athletes at the same time. He had a clean and calculated image worth multimillions to advertisers, a seemingly beautiful marriage, success, the admiration of fans and peers. Today, it is all in shambles.
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