ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .MsoNormal {} h1 {margin-bottom:.0001pt; page-break-after:avoid; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; } .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">Tiger&#39;s Smoke Blowing</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright Dec. 1, 2009<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">&nbsp;C</span>aught with his pants down, the world s No. 1 golfer Tiger Woods, continues to blow smoke following a Nov. 28 early morning car accident, refusing to come clean, fueling wild speculations about a possible affair with New York socialite Rachel Uchitel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Canceling three interviews with the Florida Highway Patrol, Woods signaled he has no intent of flashing his cards, preferring instead to engage in more calculated damage control through his Orlando attorney Mark NeJame, the same lawyer that represented NBA star Shaquille O Neal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Police 911 dispatchers received a call that the 33-year-old golf phenom had run his black Cadillac Escalade into a hydrant, before hitting a tree on his neighbor s property.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>A 911 transcript, reported by an unnamed neighbor, revealed that Woods was found unconscious, lying on the ground before carted away by ambulance to a local hospital. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Sustaining $5,000-$10,000 of front-end damage, press reports make no sense about Tiger s Swedish former supermodel wife Elin Nordegren smashing his back window with one of Tiger s golf clubs to rescue her husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Why Nordregren couldn t open one of the vehicles five doors is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Tipping his hand that something embarrassing took place, Tiger wrote a dramatic mea culpa on his Web site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  I m human and I m not perfect, said Tiger in response to the media feeding frenzy seeking answers to some feeble explanations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way, Recent reports about Tiger running around in Australia with his alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel raise speculation about an early-morning domestic dispute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Of course Tiger feels embarrassed, preferring to keep the matter under wraps to protect his multimillion-dollar professional brand.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Tiger s reported facial scratches appear inconsistent with injuries sustained during a car accident in a Cadillac Escalade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While unverified, Tiger s reported facial scratches were more consistent with domestic abuse, perhaps resulting from Elin s fury over his alleged affair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>She was the first person to help me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Any other assertion is absolutely false, said Tiger, alluding to her smashing in his Escalade s window out of rage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be, asking the press to back off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If the incident were only about a freak car accident, Tiger wouldn t have hired Shaquille s ex-attorney to manage the media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Nor would Woods alleged mistress hire Los Angeles celebrity attorney Gloria Allred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>So far, Uchitel has emphatically denied an affair with Woods.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>When former U.S. Senator Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards was caught red handed at the Beverly Hilton July 21, 2008 by the National Enquirer with his mistress Rielle Hunter and love-child Francis Quinn, Edwards emphatically denied the allegations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Over a year later, he finally admitted the baby was his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Tiger s need to bury the incident or pretend that something other than an innocent car accident took place will continue to dog him until he comes clean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Tiger Woods is the world s first athlete to earn, together with prize money, over a billion dollars from commercial endorsements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Considered sport s most marketable brand, he can ill-afford a nasty affair to sully his immaculate image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The more you stonewall these things, the longer they tend to drag on, said Seton Hall sports marketing professor Larry McCarthy, concerned about eventual damage to Tiger s brand.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>No celebrity engages in a public mea culpa unless they ve done something egregious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Regardless of the time of day, a minor traffic accident involving only property damage doesn t qualify for a major damage control strategy involving a high-wattage criminal defense attorney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether admitted to or not, hiring Atty. Gloria Allred to insulate Tiger s alleged mistress raises far more suspicions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Former President Bill Clinton found out the hard way that there s nothing criminal about clandestine affairs, only lying under oath and covering them up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Tiger s 39-year-old IMG agent Mark Steinberg, emphasized that an expected interview with the FHP was  both voluntary and optional. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Failing to come forward throws gasoline on an already incendiary PR mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What Steinberg and Woods don t get is that the media won t rest until real facts of the story finally get out.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Tiger s image and reputation for being one of professional sports most respectable athletes has taken a hit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His alleged affair with Rachel Uchitel won t go away until the winner of 14 major golf championships does a better job of damage control.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Stonewalling the press, concocting stories and pretending the event didn t occur won t stop the wild speculation now burning up the tabloids and sports pages of Internet, broadcast and print journalism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Athletes know that the currency they trade in is their own personality as well as their own performance, said David Carter, executive director of USC s Sports Business Institute, concerned about damage to Tiger s brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Celebrities must accept the good-and-bad when it comes to fame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When they get into trouble, they must zip their mouths, rely on experts and follow a carefully planned damage control strategy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><bAbout the Author</u><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <i><a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> </i>and <i><a href="books.html"> Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>