The global media has entered the jungle this week with all things Tiger dominating our newspapers, TV screens and computer monitors, following the revelations that golfing superstar Tiger Woods has been having extra-marital affairs.
The news broke last Friday when Tiger crashed his SUV near his home in Florida that morning. Apparently, the fact that Tiger was driving a Cadillac Escalade ensured his safety. Although, it will be General Motors who foots the bill for the damage to the car, given Tiger was not the owner. It was not long before the cause of the accident became the hottest news in town: an apparent row between Tiger and his wife about his sexual indiscretions.
By Monday the global internet rumour mill was rollicking along at full steam. US cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs claimed she had a 31-month long affair with the famous golfer. New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel has also been named as another of Tiger’s mistresses, allegedly having a secret rendezvous with Tiger during his recent visit to Oz. And now a third woman, Kalika Moquin from Las Vegas, has entered the fray.
And the best way to report this delicious scandal according to media outlets around the globe? Collages of Tiger and the women in his life, of course!
First off we have examiner.com:
The Daily Beast compares the similarities between Tiger’s mistresses and other high-profile mistresses:
Closer to home, The Sydney Morning Herald came up with this gem:
And from The Age:
Not to be outdone by its online counterparts, the Herald Sun went to town today, devoting its front page, and an additional five pages to all things Tiger.
The rest of the Australian media seems to be following the Herald’s example, with statistics from Media Monitors showing just how much we like talking about Tiger:
|
Press |
Radio |
TV |
Internet |
Total |
|
|
Tiger Woods |
497 |
5,128 |
6,926 |
1,894 |
14,445 |
In the Twitterverse, Tiger Woods has become one of the biggest trending topics, with many twits declaring that they too have bedded Tiger.
This video from YouTube, however, must surely top the cake for the most creative Tiger media moment of the week:
And it seems that in reporting about famous athletes who cheat on their partners, timing is everything.
Men’s Style Australia’s Summer 2009/10 edition features cover lines pointing to a Tiger Woods quickie (interview that is) with the golfing legend who’s fond of playing a round (or is that around?). There are five questions (to the man who has won on many courses — does that make him an inter-course champion?) under the heading: 5 Under With Tiger:
Question two: Family – “Playing professional golf and my life as a husband and a father are completely different. On the golf course, there’s nothing better than being at home. Regardless how I played that day, when I see (daughter) Sam and (son) Charlie smiling at me everything else disappears”.
Question five: Public Tiger vs Private Tiger — “At a golf tournament, I’m completely focused. When I compete, I’m playing to win. At home, I’m like most guys and love spending time with my wife and kids. Elin and I go out to dinner, watch a movie or play video games. Sam and I will throw the ball, play with the dogs or maybe even putt. Charlie is still a baby, but he’ll be playing with us soon”.
A quick Wankley mention this week must also go out to the Aussie media and their love of “celebrity” weddings, with the wedding of Brynnee Gordon and Geoffrey Edelsten last Saturday creating a media storm. Australian celebrities dominated the guest list, but here at Crikey we were most impressed with the presence of Jason Alexander and Fran Drescher as the evening’s MCs, especially Drescher who told reporters that she didn’t know the couple personally, but that they were “big fans” of her.
On one level I agree with the whole “who cares” attitude to whatever Tiger does in his private life, however on another level I think we are bombarded in our media by the manufatured images of these sort of athletes to sell product. Nothing personally peeves me more than when someone has a fight with their partner and their partner responds with a “why can’t you be more like [insert famous celebrity name]”. So on that level I’m quite happy when the wizard of oz the marketers have created is exposed.
No one cares if John Daley is screwing around with cocktail waitresses because he hasn’t been trying to sell a happy family, high moral standard image to the world for years.
” Nothing personally peeves me more than when someone has a fight with their partner and their partner responds with a “why can’t you be more like [insert famous celebrity name]”. ”
Seriously? Who the hell does that?