if Roger Goodell was commissioner of the PGA, would Tiger Woods have been suspended from a few majors this year?
i don't disagree with Goodell's "sentence" for Ben Roethlisberger. but considering there were no formal charges filed against him, there are apparently no plans to prosecute him and basically all he's guilty of is being a serious idiot loser with tragically bad judgment, i'm wondering why he has to sit out six games while Tiger can play in Augusta or wherever he wants whenever he wishes?
these lines in Goodell's letter struck me: "In your six years in the NFL, you have first thrilled and now disappointed a great many people.... You are held to a higher standard as an NFL player, and there is nothing about your conduct...that can remotely be described as admirable, responsible, or consistent with either the values of the league or the expectations of our fans."
since November, there's been much talk about Tiger's tarnished role model status—how terribly he let down his fans, especially the legions of little ones who idolized him. there are, i'm sure, legions of kids who look(ed) up to Roethlisberger, too. the difference? Tiger's devotees got to see him play in the first major tournament of the season, less than five months his years of transgressions and deception became public. Big Ben's fans, on the other hand, will be midway through the football season before they see their guy play—maybe longer if he gets the boot from Pittsburgh.
the other difference is, of course, that the PGA stands to gain tremendously every time Tiger's on the greens. the NFL has Brady, Favre, Romo, Brees, Brady, the brothers Manning, etc. the absence of Roethlisberger will be inconvenient, i'm sure, but at the end of the day, just a drop in the bucket for the league.
but if this is all really about how we perceive our superstar athletes—how they behave off the field when they know the world is watching—i'm thinking perhaps there should be some kind of standardized sports penalty system. because, in the end, do Tiger's young fans really grasp the concept of sexual addiction rehab? hell, do any of us grown-ups believe that he's really doing anything other than practicing good PR?
Roethlisberger, on the other hand, has been formally punished. not by the law (yet) but by his bosses. which is pretty close to being punished by your parents. which is a lot more tangible to a little kid in a pint-sized #7 Pittsburgh jersey. when that kid learns that even athletes he idolizes get in big trouble when they act dumb, isn't he more likely to avoid getting in trouble himself?
mbm
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