Randy Smith: Tiger's Comeback: Mixed Reviews

Tiger Woods' fifth career Masters Win on Sunday has drawn a lot of mixed emotions. One of the world's most popular athletes being able to overcome numerous physical problems at the age of 43 and win his first PGA Major tournament in 11 years was indeed one of the great stories in sports. However, his personal problems over the past 15 years or so has come front and center in discussions on social media.

That's to be expected. You are either a huge Tiger fan or you're a huge Tiger dissenter. The folks like me who are in the middle are definitely in the minority. A few journalists whom I have utmost respect for debated the subject completely yesterday. One of them, a female, described Tiger as being, "a drunk egotistical adulterer, who never showed real remorse, and those kind of people don't warm my heart. I don't believe they should become cult heroes just because they play a sport."

Another person who appears to have some journalistic experience said, "He is also one of the single largest entitled, egomaniacal, boorish people I've ever met."

Others defended Tiger while at the same time, attacking his dissenters. It was entertaining to read but sad in another sense. Look, Tiger Woods is one of the premier athletes of our time. He is at least among the top three or four golfers of all time, if not the very best ever. The fact that he can be a jerk with members of the media while cheating on his wife with numerous women doesn't make him any less an athlete. There have been other athletes and coaches in other sports whom I did not respect nor like at all but I still did my job and covered the game or event they were involved in. 

When Tiger played in the NCAA Tournament here in 1996 at the Honors Club, I covered him and was impressed not only with his ability on the course but his ability to work with the media. He was not overly friendly but was accommodating. I could tell that his father had a firm grip on his career and would be a guiding force on anything Tiger did in his professional career. No one knew about what he would do personally over the next two two decades. It was just sheer appreciation of his talent on the links.....someone who you would say, "I remember covering him when he played in the NCAA's here." That is my approach. I have no interest in shaming someone for their indiscretions or bad decisions in their personal life. 

I choose not to sit in judgement of anyone whether they're an athlete or a teacher, a firefighter or an attorney. That's because I also made some bad decisions in my lifetime as well. I just don't have five green jackets hanging in my closet.