Did Tiger Satisfy?

If you didn't hear or see, Tiger Woods broke his 3-month silence this morning with a fourteen minute long apology. The statement aired at 11 am and was not only carried on ESPN but also the three major news networks. I was sitting on my couch at ten and getting fed up with the constant Tiger coverage on ESPN that was taking over SportsCenter. At about 10:45, it reached a peak, and I got fed up enough that I told myself I wasn't going to watch, and I left the couch to take a nap. But before long, it was 11, and I was not asleep. So I went back downstairs.

Tiger came out a little after 11 and looked pretty distraught; not surprisingly, you could tell that the ordeal was really affected him. He spoke very slowly reading a prepared statement and seemed extremely genuine and honestly sorry for his actions. At times, he looked directly into the single camera in front of him when he was apologizing to or addressing his children and wife, Elin. They were not in attendance, and I think by looking into the camera, Tiger was doing his best attempt at directly addressing them without them being there, and I appreciated it.

My thoughts about his speech are pretty simple, and he mentioned many of the same ideas himself. He had to make a statement like the one he did today apologizing, but I think that what he said today will do little to nothing in determining his future and how he is remembered. It was little more than a necessary lip-service; he had to make sure to mention everyone possible that he hurt, and he seemed to do that. However, his legacy as a man, husband, and father will not be made by some speech but rather by how his behavior and actions improve or don't in the future.

Journalist Rick Reilly, who I used to respect a lot more, has launched a campaign of Tiger advice and seems to have become Tiger's self-proclaimed psychologist. I understand Reilly has a relationship with Tiger and has covered him and the sport of golf for years but Opera, really? I think that's a bad idea and would do more harm than good. Tiger gave his apology on his terms today, and regardless of his stipulations like no questions, he relied on himself and himself alone and did not do it through some third party like Opera.

My only thought about how Tiger handled this is that it should have come sooner. He should have pulled a David Letterman and talked within a week after it happened. Instead, he let the media and public speculate about every aspect of the story, and it simmered for far too long.

One thing is certain: when Tiger does return to the tour, either get out of his way or get run over.