Normally when you are great at the job you do. You make a lot of money doing it. Everybody idolizes you and respects you no matter what. You have a family and are set for the rest of your lives after you retire from your job. You wouldn’t throw that all away, right. Well, some have and will continue to do that. Tiger Woods is the latest to get caught in the web of cheating and temptation that has and will always plague athletes til the end of time. The circumstances of his though are truly rare. Rarely do they get caught by their own wife instead of having been outed by the media.

The day after Thanksgiving around 2:30 in the morning. He crashes his Cadillac just outside of his property in Florida. The concern is of course whether or not Tiger is okay. However, within 24 hours though, the paparazzi and TMZ’s of the world convened on the scene and immediately began speculation that more was at play here. The story originally was that Tiger’s SUV sped out of control hit the fire hydrant near his property and stopped after hitting a nearby tree. He was laying on the pavement with his wife hovering over him when police and paramedics arrived. His wife had used a golf club to smash one of the back windows to get him out of the car. The only injuries to Tiger were minor cuts to his mouth. The police wanted to talk to Tiger and his wife Elin to discuss the details of how the crash came about. Understandably they declined to talk to them Friday because Tiger had just gotten out of the hospital. But they also declined to talk to them on Saturday and Sunday.

Now my first thought when I heard the original story was that Tiger must have been really tired or really plastered. Alcohol was ruled out soon thereafter. Then with the matter of his wife smashing not just one, but both back windows to get him out. Have you ever heard of the spare key. Click the unlock button, you can get him out much easier that way. If alcohol wasn’t involved, they don’t want to talk to the cops and both back windows were smashed out with a golf club. What was so important that you had to go driving at 2:30 in the morning? All Tiger needed to do was explain what happened not to the public, but to the police if he had nothing to hide. Unfortunately he did.

Reports came out that he was seeing a club promoter from New York, who she denies having an affair with Tiger Woods. Another person from Los Angeles handed over a voice message that she claims is Tiger telling her to take her name off her number when she calls him. Now that all this has come out, Tiger then goes on his website and says this:

“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.”

He does not mention what he is apologizing, but does continue with this gem:

“But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don’t share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one’s own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn’t have to mean public confessions.”

I agree we all deserve our privacy, but don’t try to think that you can brush your troubles on the media. The media didn’t have an affair (allegedly). That’s rich that he or the people giving him advice are suggesting that there is absolutely nothing bad going on here by apologizing for his “transgressions” and that this is being blown out of proportion by the media looking to ruin him. You have managed to stay one step ahead of the tabloids, but they were always two steps behind you looking for you to trip and fall. For the record, Dictionary.com defines “transgression” as a violation of a law, command, or duty. Interesting choice of words there.

This whole incident has changed Tiger. He declined to play in his own tournament in Thousand Oaks, California that benefits his own foundation. The guy actually is avoiding the one thing that would be considered his sanctuary. Fellow golfer Jesper Parnevik (he wears the colorful outfits) today got off this gem about Tiger Woods. He had introduced Elin Nordegren to Tiger.

“I would be especially sad about it since I’m kind of — I really feel sorry for Elin — since me and my wife were at fault for hooking her up with him,” Parnevik said. “We probably thought he was a better guy than he is. I would probably need to apologize to her and hope she uses a driver next time instead of the 3-iron.”

He added this zinger:

“It’s a private thing of course,” he said. “But when you are the guy he is, the world’s best athlete, you should think more before you do stuff … And maybe not just do it, like Nike says.”

Oh no he didn’t. Jesper doing his best stand up. That will make things interesting at the clubhouse of the next tournament they both play in. Now I’m just speculating. This is not what actually happened. It’s just a theory of mine. Elin finds out about the affair(s) during or after Thanksgiving dinner. She later confronts him. He denies and she flips. Things are said, things are thrown. It continues outside where she has a driver, Tiger gets into the car. Elin smashes both back windows. Tiger freaks out, proceeds down the driveway hitting the hydrant and tree. Realizing what was going to be perceived as a domestic disturbance, they both go with the original story explained above and try to brush it under the rug. Again this is just speculation.

Now what would make a man have an affair when he is married with two children. Ask Steve McNair or Rick Pitino. When it comes to others trying to bring you down, take Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. A frat boy releases a photo of him smoking some hippie lettuce in a dorm. The photo released just after setting Olympic records in Beijing. Phelps right away owned it and didn’t try to down play it or cover it up. Tiger should have taken a page out of that playbook and owned it first with his wife. Then tell the story to the public before others tell it for him. I could be a public relations person, but I would never have come up with a bit that included “transgressions.” That was a new one.