Tiger Woods and Miguel Cotto: “Players” in Every Sense of the Word

If nobody else in the world is rejoicing over the news that former welterweight champion, Miguel Cotto is being sued for sexual harassment, I am sure Tiger Woods is.

All we have seen or heard for days, ad nauseum is Tiger Woods alleged affairs and sexual wrongdoings. It would be a breath of fresh air for Woods if the story moved up from page five. Misery loves company, or so they say.

Of course Cotto’s troubles are only alleged at this point. But, then so are Tiger’s, at least the majority of them.

A former employee of Cotto, Martha Chacon Acevedo is suing the boxer for a cool $500,000. She worked in a capacity not associated with his boxing endeavors. According to ESPN, Acevedo claims that she eventually yielded to his sexual advances, out of fear of losing her job. They had an affair, she alleges, for two months before she broke off the relationship. At that point, Cotto terminated her employment in October, 2008.

This would be nothing but a monetary issue if Cotto was not married with children. His family supposedly backs him wholeheartedly, but how many times have we seen this unsightly scenario unfold?

Cotto was whipped like a rented mule by Manny Pacquiao in November of this year, capturing his WBO Welterweight Championship belt in the process. When it rains, it pours.

The “Pride of Puerto Rico” is not the first professional athlete to alledgely extend his “training regimen” outside the bedroom. For that matter, thanks to Tiger he isn’t even the first this month.

Cotto does have an advantage on Woods when it comes to bringing “baggage” into his sports arena. Cotto can use it as a tool to build aggression against an opponent. Tiger, on the other hand, must have keen mental focus in order to perform his sport optimally,

Tiger has reportedly spent millions of dollars in a futile effort to keep his “transgressions” minimized. Miguel does not have the resources to write “big money” checks as a silencer for his alleged wrongdoings.

Sport fans have had their fill, I would suppose, of “off the job” trashings of their favorite athletes. Tiger has always been revered as a consummate professional and loved by the masses. Cotto is one of the most loved persons in Puerto Rico with a huge fan base.

It is wrong for we as parents to expect athletes and movie stars to serve as role models for our children. As hall of fame baseball pitcher, Bob Gibson said, “Why should I be a rold model for your kids. Be a role model for your own kids.”

Cliff Eastham is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report.

Will Professional Golf Suffer Because of Tiger Woods’ Antics?

I have had my limit of the TV being inundated with talking heads, voicing their opinion of the many indiscretions of Tiger Woods. I do not write much about golf, however I have been giving much thought to the sport lately.

I have played golf sparingly and very poorly. I only hit two good balls the whole time I was playing…..I know, you’ve heard that one before.

When a fan looks at the impact an athlete has on a particular sport, he  or she cannot be unimpressed by the dominance Tiger has demonstrated since coming onto the golf landscape in 1996. He has been such a frontman and dominant figure of the sport for so long it is hard to remember golf without him.

What a talent Tiger is!  He shot a 48 over nine holes at the age of three. At three years old, I was still getting stuck in Molasses Swamp in Candyland.

He became a millionaire so fast it was insane. Nike and Titliest were more than willing to wave millions at the “chosen one” of golf. Truly he is the tallest tree in the forest we call golf.

How will the sport deal with his alleged peccadilloes? So far Gatorade is the only sponsor to come forth with any negative news concerning his endorsements. This transaction took place prior to the train wreck we can’t stop looking at.

Endorsements notwithstanding, can the sport endure as prosperously with the questionably best golfer in history embittered in such a public relations dilemma? He had to pull out of his own tournament due to physical injuries administered by his Cadillac or his hostile spouse.

Can he, as great a golfer as he is, overcome all these problems? For that matter, how long will it take him to come outside of his house? These negative and financial strains can only damage the human psyche.

I am not a psychiatrist, and I don’t play one on television, but I have been to one before. I don’t need to hang a shingle outside my office to know that he is damaged goods, and will be for quite some time. Will he be the dominant figure he once was on the links? Or will he be a mere shell of his former greatness?

He is spending money faster than a drunken sailor, a ship full of drunken sailors, to try and minimize the personal scorn that is clearly due him.

Is Tiger the first athlete or public figure to stray from his bedroom? No, but he may be the richest, at least for now. I am sure many of the famous golfers of yesteryear hooked up with another woman or two. Then again they didn’t have the profile, or cast the shadow that Woods does. Most of them could have met at a bar and not have been noticed. The only place to go, for a man with the notoriety and recognizability of Tiger Woods is his own fantasy world.

It is hard for me to believe that golf will be the same as it was before all this became public knowledge. What are your thoughts?

Cliff Eastham is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report.

Is Tiger Woods’ Private Life Public Domain?

Right from the start I want to admit that I am not a writer of professional golf. I am not a writer of celebrity mishaps, blunders or other scandals.

I usually write about boxing, baseball or sports in general. But when a chance to join the thousands of blog writers everywhere, I must say I am intrigued by the “need to know” attitude of celebrity fans.

Tiger woods is arguably one of the most recognizable icons in the world. Not only is he the best golfer in history, the wealthiest athlete in history, he is probably the easiest to fall prey to a financial shake down. Writing checks to his wife in the seven-figure range, paying Gloria Allred’s client a million bucks or more, and editing his pre-nuptial agreement make him look like the biggest fool in the universe.

He now becomes living proof of the axiom, “a fool and his money are soon parted”.

Woods has become the object of late night TV humor, water cooler fodder, and hours of television coverage.

What do we care? Should it matter to us? Should we feel betrayed, scorned or hurt?

The man had extra-marital affairs, I guess that makes him human. Not everyone has affairs, not everyone runs over fire hydrants, not everyone has their Cadillac used as a driving range for a 3-iron. And let’s not even mention the fact that he was injured enough not to participate in his own golf tournament.

When will all the big-time money spenders, egomaniacs, and most recognizable people on the planet, realize they can’t jump into an affair and think they won’t be found out. Please.

Having said all that, do we still think we have the right to know all this?  I think not.

A golfer is a golfer. A millionaire is a millionaire, and a cheat is a cheat. Golfers do it, baseball players do it, TV evangelists do it and politicians do it. What goes on between them and others is none of our business. NONE. Sorry I didn’t mean to yell, but when will we learn?

We cannot put faith in any man, in any walk of life, in any level of culture, because as certain as we do, we will be left holding.

While watching one of the many TV shows covering his peccadilloes, I saw one of the interviewees saying that he believed it is our right as fans to know these things. I find that disingenuous and the pinnacle of absurdity. When did someone’s personal life become our business? If it concerns the president or another elected official, I believe we deserve the apology. Not from sports heroes, however.

A couple questions come to my mind concerning all these events. Why was his wife beating out the back window with a golf club? She said to help him get out;  did both the front doors become ruined during the accident? Why were marks on his face? The car obviously wasn’t even going fast enough to engage the airbags.

A neighbor said he was at the wheel snoring. What is up with that? How could you sleep through a leap-frog of a fire hydrant, someone beating on your vehicle with a 3-iron, and sustained cuts from the alleged accident?

Who else but a celebrity of Tiger’s stature would be able to postpone conversations with John Law for several days? I know I couldn’t. I would be hauled off to jail, without the privilege of 72 hours to craft a believable (?) story.

When asked by the cops how many times she hit the car, she responded, “I don’t know six or seven, go ahead and put me down for a six.” Just kidding of course. If Leno and Letterman can do it, why can’t I?

Cliff Eastham is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report where this article was first published.