The Pellucid Perspective - November 2011 - (Page 16)

THE LAST WORD Williams’ slur boomerangs in Tiger’s favor T By revealing his own ignorance and insensitivity, Williams provided Tiger with an opportunity to gain back some of his former popularity. he recent ill-considered and grossly inappropriate comments by caddie Steve Williams at the annual Caddie Awards Dinner held this year in Shanghai may have inadvertently, and ironically, helped to undo some of the damage suffered by former boss Tiger Woods caused by Woods’ wandering eye (and at least one other organ) and his ailing golf game. The spin doctors in Tiger’s camp could hardly have concocted a more brilliant strategy for upping Tiger’s public sympathy quotient if they’d thought of it themselves. If there is one sure way for a public figure in America to revitalize a sagging approval rating, it’s to be blatantly slandered by a racial remark. By revealing his own ignorance and insensitivity, Williams provided Tiger with an opportunity to gain back some of his former popularity. For those cave-dwellers who are not aware of Williams’ remark, or the Neanderthals who saw nothing wrong with it, Williams was being “honored” for the “Celebration of the Year” by a caddie. Granted, the tone of the annual event, like an oldtime Friar’s Roast, was tongue in cheek at best and frat boy salacious at worst (and supposedly off the record by agreement of the participants). But when Williams accepted the award calling his stint on the bag for Adam Scott’s WGCBridgestone Invitational victory “the greatest week of my life,” he opened his mouth and stuck both FootJoys in it by saying “I wanted to shove it up his black ---.” Brilliant. Whether Williams had a right to be ticked off at his dismissal from Tiger’s employ or not, his subsequent “apology” claiming that he meant nothing racist by the remark means one of two things: either Williams is so naïve that he has his chimneys cleaned before Santa’s arrival on Christmas Eve, or he’s so inherently racist that he thinks nothing of demeaning another human by including skin color as part of his characterizations. Casey Alexander, an analyst with Gilford Securities and frequent commentator on many things golf in his personal blog, cited Fuzzy Zoeller and radio personality Don Imus as examples of celebrities who paid a p.r. price for their ill-considered public comments. In the realm of sports, he could have added Al Campanis and Jimmy the Greek before them, both of whom lost their jobs after spicing their televised comments with hurt- ful racial stereotypes. Alexander feels that Steve Williams should have paid a similar price with a year’s suspension from the PGA Tour, and that PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and European Tour head George O’Grady were entirely too lax when they condemned Williams’ remarks, but levied no penalty on their author. Similarly Australian Adam Scott, New Zealander Williams’ current employer, wrote it off as an unfortunate and unintended slip of the tongue, and said Stevie’s job is secure. In an ironic turn of events, Tiger’s schedule called for him to be in Stevie’s part of the world for the Australian Open and the following week’s President’s Cup matches, smack dab in the spotlight’s glare. Given the timing of this writing, and the likelihood that some tabloid cretin or drunken spectator will cause a flap Down Under, I may be premature, but as of the first round of interviews, Tiger had comported himself absolutely perfectly. He told the eager press that he and Stevie had met privately, Williams had apologized and Tiger accepted it, and that no, he didn’t think Stevie was a racist. As usual, I doubt we’re hearing what Tiger really thinks, and it would be interesting to hear what the other African-Americans on the Tour think about it all. Oh, wait, there aren’t any to ask. Come to think of it, despite the visions of Masters gone by, I doubt that there were many black faces (or ---es) present at the caddies awards either. In any event, assuming that no inflammatory incidents take place in Australia, or that Jesse Jackson doesn’t suddenly realize that he’s missing a photo op, Tiger Woods is to be congratulated for taking the high road amidst all the furor. It had to take a certain amount of self control, and perhaps some wise counsel from his advisors, not to fire back at Williams and tar him with the racist brush. On the other hand, nobody knows better than Tiger what it feels like to have one’s public persona defined by an ill-considered act (OK, quite a few more than one act in Woods’ case, apparently). And, as ignorant and unfortunate as Williams’ slur was, there is a certain poetic justice in the likelihood that the sympathy for Tiger that it engenders may go almost as far as the return of his deadly putting stroke would to resurrect —Jim Dunlap Tiger-mania. November 2011 16 The Pellucid PersPecTive

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - November 2011

The Pellucid Perspective
“Know your customers”: PGA sending members into battle unarmed
They’re stealing your money
Does industry health need health?
Golf seeking keys to tap growing Hispanic market
October weather impact: No favors from Mother Nature
San Diego, CA Core Business Statistical Area (CBSA)
Comings & goings
Williams’ slur boomerangs in Tiger’s favor

The Pellucid Perspective - November 2011