Rickochet
The truth is never as simple as it looks sometimes. While I don't think Earl was exactly a perfect role model for his son, I also know that we're only allowed a very small window to look through regarding Tiger's life, and outside of the scandal - we really don't have much of a perspective of how he lives off the course.
I do think however that the scandal revealed a few things.
He obviously led a different life when he wasn't home. He showed no interest in coming clean when the initial allegation hit the airwaves with the first mistress, and when it became obvious that all of these other women he bedded saw an opportunity to make some serious money in tell-all interviews following that - he was left with no other choice but to admit it and deal with the consequences.
That different life he led, imo, wasn't public knowledge to his closest friends, or at least his true friends. Looking back on it now, I have no issues believing what Steve Williams said when he claimed that he had no idea. A lot of people in his inner circle had no idea. Which brings up the second point - Tiger's inner circle wasn't nearly as big as some initially believed. And even those considered to be inside his circle were relationships maintained at a guarded, commercial existence; they were there to serve a purpose for his career more than anything else, which is why a lot of his alleged "close friends" were genuinely shocked to hear the reports coming out on the news about the scandal.
Then with what we learned via Hank Haney, about Tiger's obsession with Navy Seal training... about the weekends spent at the navy seal center in California, training with one of the teams... training with the Special Forces unit in NC, doing live-fire exercises... the skydiving, the deep-sea diver training with certified military trainers, his several-mile runs around his gated neighborhood with military rucksack on his back in combat boots, and all of those times Hank said that he would come by only to see Tiger playing military-action themed video games in his den. Do I think Hank made that stuff up? No way.
And that last revelation, imo, better describes Woods' obsession with high-risk activities when he felt bored, whether it was trying to win a golf tournament by 12 strokes, or seeing how many women he could bed, without getting caught, when he wasn't home with his wife and kids.
Don't misunderstand - these are not excuses. He acted like an ass on the course sometimes, acted like he was entitled and that the fans were little more than nuisances who distracted him while he was playing. He was a major league douchebag for destroying his marriage the way he did. And I do think that he resented getting caught and being humiliated more than he genuinely regretted the various occasions he was unfaithful to his wife.
Tiger has always had an enormous degree of narcism, which has probably morphed to a clinical level. Which, mind you, means that he isn't prone to admitting mistakes, and perhaps (but hopefully not!) means that if he is dealing with a prescription-drug dependency - it will be difficult for him to admit it and get help.
And that's why I think he might have more serious problems on his plate than his image now.
Mugshots never look good, but that mugshot (to me) spoke volumes about where his life is at the moment. With two little kids especially - I find it very sad.
