THE FALL FROM GRACE

"Wake up with a stranger, it's not something you plan,

One night in a world of pain, and you finally understand,

Not all the kings horses, not all the kings men,

Could put it back together again"

Stevie Nicks Fall from Grace

Tiger Woods, the prodigal son, the intensely loyal son and family man. Strong in habit, strong in will, standard bearer for self-discipline, Tiger Woods. What a character corporate America built. The King of endorsements and America's champion.

But what we did not see was what was lurking behind the tears shed over the loss of his father and the pride he displayed over his wife and two newborns. What we didn't see was a secret life allegedly so sordid, so against the grain of the mainstream, that the fall from the top he is enduring may take weeks in a slow motion free fall unlike any other American icon.

If one is to believe the daily reports from the parade of wanton women and porn star prostitutes, in addition to his personal mea culpas, Tiger Woods began his philandering before and throughout his marriage. Where it begins and where it has ended is anybodies guess; the latest report being sex parties on his boat with 10 to 15 women at a time. What transpired in the privacy of his multi-million dollar yacht will be speculated for years to come. My guess is, anything goes...sex, drugs, alcohol, whatever. My speculation is, the worse is yet to come.

So what now? He has broken no law, only the hearts of millions who idolized him, and the game he so dominated. Needless to say, many of the reports, if true cannot be ignored, and quite possibly never forgiven. His penance began almost immediately with legions of press dogging his every move, and television coverage 24/7, which has yet to recede three weeks later.

For the record, I cannot place the blame for his predicament on anyone but Tiger himself, but I can tell you one thing....on the professional golf tour there are bags of temptation only equaled by the bags of money you can make. Temptation and boredom is a killer combination. Add to this legions of predators waiting to get their hooks into him, and it spelled disaster from day one.

Temptation any man would be weakened by, let alone a boy struggling to become a man. A boy coddled and propped up on a pedestal by his father, and his every action quietly controlled. And when the controls were lifted, he succumbed to (apparently) every temptation available to him. The prodigal son has fallen from grace, and with everyday of his gutless silence, his reputation and stature falls a little more towards the depths.

Strange and ironic, this self imposed exile from the public that loved him and lifted him to the lofty status of an icon. For someone next in lineage of a full blown Green Beret to meekly hide behind his web site as his sole source of communication is as ignorant as it is yellow. The American public....YOUR American public deserves much more from you, Mr. Woods. This is as good a time as any to become a man, sir. And a man stands up and faces the music...it's what you father would have done. Of course you are a mere sliver of a man your father was. Your post accident actions (or inaction) proves that you have indeed betrayed everyone in your life; your wife, your children, your family, and with your gutless hiding, the very public you will soon want so despirately to forgive and forget.

Everyone makes mistakes, but a man owns up to them. It's called character, look it up. For unlike golf, in the game of life, not many get mulligans.