Tiger Needs Earl In His Ear Right Now

By A. Scott Walton
If Earl Woods was among the living, his prodigal son Tiger might still be embroiled in this tragic "sex scandal" that won't go away.
The only difference: the 14-time Major tourney champ would have a paternal (not "enabling") presence he could trust wild boldly returning to modern sports' biggest stage.
Regardless of the original context in which the late elder Woods evoked the words, "I want to find out what your thinking was", and "Did you learn anything?", now looming in Nike Golf's new commercial, those words hover with more haunting earnestness than any shallow punditry rattling around ever since Tiger's PR tailspin started.
For all we know, it might not have been Madison Avenue masterminds who spearheaded the ads slated to run exclusively during the Masters. Maybe Tiger himself insisted that the next big product placement venture shouldn't be about "product" at all.
What better way to show true contrition than to stare down the scorning masses while the only voice of approval you've ever sought calls you to task?
And, whether he conceived the commercial or not, this much is certain: Tiger could have refused to appear in it.
If Nike stood by him throughout the debacle he admittedly caused, the sports giant surely would have obliged a snit-fit on the soundstage.
This commercial shows encouraging signs that Tiger hasn't been "Punk'd" by the ruin of his reputation. On the contrary: he's been "Scrooged".