If you caught any of Tiger Wood’s press conference yesterday, then you got to see a guy who had screwed up royally beginning to try to make things right. Whether you thought his apology was heartfelt or wooden and carefully scripted,, you have to give it to Woods for directly taking responsibility for all that he had done wrong. He acknowledged that he had seriously lost his way, that he thought he was too “BIG” to follow the rules that apply to all of us little folk, that he had hurt a lot of people, that he was genuinely sorry for that, that he had disappointed those that work for him, that he had humiliated himself in front of the world, that he had been a terrible role model for the thousands of kids out there, etc. etc.
Tiger wasn’t defensive, he didn’t make excuses and he faced up to things head-on. He made it very clear over and over again that it was he, and not his wife who was to blame for all of these problems. He honestly acknowledged that he has problems and that he has and will continue to work on them in treatment.
Finally, he hoped that people would some day forgive him and be able to believe in him once again. However, one of the most important things he said was when he was discussing his apologies to his wife, Elin. He said that his real apology to her won’t come in the guise of words, but in his behavior. This is, of course, the bottom line, because when all is said and done, far more is said than done.
For any apology to have any real meaning is must come in a behavioral change and NOT in words. Talk is extremely cheap, especially nowadays, and people can very easily say that they’re sorry about their transgressions and mistakes. However, it’s a lot more difficult and therefore much more meaningful when these apologies are followed by consistent change in one’s actions. This is how Elin will genuinely know if Tiger is truly sorry for his infidelities and this is how you and I will know if Tiger’s carefully written apology has come from his heart rather than his head.
