Don't blame MJ for TIger's fall
It's ridiculous to blame Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley for Tiger Woods' love of gambling, waitresses, Playmates and porn stars.
Long before there were commercials telling kids to "be like Mike," Las Vegas built a three-mile strip of luxury hotels specifically to house and entertain men who love gambling, waitresses, Playmates and porn stars.
Blaming Jordan and Barkley for Tiger's indiscretions is the equivalent of fingering the pair for the wetness of water.
It's silly, naive and dishonest.
And that's my impression of the long-winded Tiger Woods expose in the May issue of Vanity Fair Magazine.
Oh, it was fascinating, too. I devoured the whole thing and highly recommend that you pick up a copy. Just carry with you a heavy dose of skepticism when reading the perspective attributed to John Merchant, a self-proclaimed former Tiger advisor.
Merchant, 77, is the lawyer who points a finger at Jordan and Barkley for the demise of Tiger's squeaky image.
"I told (Tiger), 'Stay away from that son of a bitch (Jordan), because he doesn't have anything to offer to the f***ing world in which he lives except playing basketball, which he did yesterday,' " Merchant told Vanity Fair. "Are they (Jordan and Barkley) his black role models? You've got to be kidding me."
Grow lights
Merchant is black and apparently quite bitter about being cut out of the Tiger gravy train in 1996, shortly after Tiger signed his $40 million endorsement deal with Nike.
Using an unidentified source, the Vanity Fair story paints the picture that Merchant was discarded by Team Tiger because Merchant righteously insisted that $1 million of Nike's $40 million go to a minority golf initiative rather than Earl Woods, Tiger's father.
Merchant boldly claims that he could've steered Tiger clear of temptations of the flesh.
"I honestly believe, if I had been there these things would not have happened," Merchant is quoted as saying. "Why? Because I don't give a good goddam about Tiger's money. I care about Tiger the person, who has earned the right to be respected. Everybody he talks to has to protect their paycheck.
Grow lights I loved that boy. I watched him grow over the years. I watched him relate to his father. I see all of that destroyed."
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