Golf fans, (which include me) and non-golf fans alike were stunned to hear the news that golfer Tiger Woods was “seriously injured” in an early morning car accident outside his home.
A short time later we heard he had been treated and released from the hospital and returned home. End of story? Nope.
As for the accident itself, police reports say it involved him leaving his home early in the morning, hitting a fire hydrant, then a tree. He suffered some facial injuries as a result. Police found him lying on the ground, his wife with him saying she used a golf club to break out the windows of the car to help Tiger get out of the car.
Then the Rumor Express left the station.
I won’t repeat any of them because I don’t know if they’re true. Stuff posted on blogs and other websites, were quoted by “traditional” news outlets. Stories began with the word “Rumor.”
Winston Churchill wrote years ago that, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
Now the call is for Tiger to come clean. He did make a statement about the issue on his website. But almost everyone feels he should make a full and open public statement.
All that the law requires is he show his driver’s license and proof of insurance. He did that.
Personally, I think whatever Tiger says, or doesn’t say, simply fuels the fires of the blogosphere. Because of his celebrity, all bets are off about what is written or said about him.
Tiger is in a rough spot. If he says something, many will run with it and have a field day. If he leaves it with his website statement, many will run with it and have a field day.
Darned if he does, darned if he doesn’t.
Churchill nailed it.
-John
John W. Scherer
John Scherer is CEO and Founder of Video Professor, Inc.
