Jeff's Commentary - 2/19/10 - Tiger Woods

Today Tiger Woods held a press conference talking about his indiscretions that impacted his wife and family.

Every major television network carried the telecast as well as all cable news networks. And now they are all following up on what he said, or should have said.

Why? Do we really care? Should we care? I'm ashamed to have wasted the time watching.

Have we become a country so taken in by scandal and sex with the rich and famous that we have forgotten about the core values of what truly is important? Are our lives so empty that we must vacillate in the downfall of others?

This week was the first of a very dangerous and deadly offensive in Afghanistan. Instead of focusing on what really matters in our lives, we are absorbed with a rich, spoiled athlete that couldn't keep his pants on and keep his vows to his wife sacred. But that is often the way with athletes, politicians, and many other people.

Tiger is the current "World's Greatest Athlete" but at the end of the day, he is no more than just another guy who fooled around with women who were not his wife. Maybe his contrition will benefit his overall path in life. While he preached today, nothing will really matter except how he handles his life moving forward.

For millions of Americans to watch, to peer into yet another titillating story, it is a sad commentary on understanding what truly matters in our own lives.

America has lost a lot of its soul these past several months. We bought into the belief that we could have it all without really working for it, or saving for it. The fact that the Democrats and Republicans cannot get a job bill passed with 10-14% unemployment or a health care bill created that treats someone for a pre-existing condition...that we don't have decent health care for millions of children in the world's richest country...that our education system in Arizona is among the worst in the country...that we are in a war few want to look or talk about. When it's not your kid fighting or it's not you who is unemployed...or it's not you that can get prescription medicine to fight the pain of a lingering illness, then we get wrapped in the warped world of "Tigermania." And we watch...

We need to reconnect on what really matters...and it isn't Tiger Woods' sex life.

Jeff