UPDATE: Everything that guys said is bullshit.  Thank you.

As Tiger Woods gears up to return to competitive golf, and in the wake of the most open, uncontrolled and public forum he has spoken to the media in since his car accident, it seems we may see a new, more mature Tiger at Amen Corner on Thursday.  I didn't drink the Kool-aid after that half baked "apology" in February and I laughed off his first two interviews, but as he threw himself on the mercy of the press corps, it was clear that something about Tiger Woods is different.

So all it took was the biggest scandal in sports in the last ten years for Tiger Woods to actually enjoy the game of golf. Today’s press conference, I thought was extremely telling of the tortured existence of a misunderstood hero. The whole Tiger Woods phenomenon began with the best of intentions.

A military man who lived his life by discipline recognized serious raw talent in a young man and did everything in his power – including instilling strict, military values in him to help him become the greatest golfer the world has ever seen. Earl Woods could handle the regimented, disciplined lifestyle he set up for himself – balancing discipline with success, family and just a few vices. A military hero and Vietnam veteran, Earl was just wired differently than his son who spent most of his young life on California's golf courses.

There’s no debating that Earl and Tiger had a great relationship or that he loved his son. He wanted what was best for Tiger, but perhaps Earl’s greatest sin was sucking the joy out of a game that most of us use as an escape. Golf, instead of being a fun, relaxing thing, became a pressure packed, disciplined, joyless endeavor. Tiger looked at a golf the way a stock broker looks at a trading floor, the way an M&A manager looks at a boardroom, or how a lawyer looks at a courtroom. For the first time today, we saw a Tiger Woods who looks at a golf course the way the rest of us do, the way Arnold Palmer did – as a place to enjoy playing a game.

Today, for the first time, we saw Tiger as an adult, speaking about his emotions, choosing to answer the way he wanted and saying what he wanted to say, rather than as the arrested development pre-teen who only knew his job was to stay focused on golf and win. What’s different about Tiger? He’s been de-programmed.

The very personality traits that made him believe he could stick it wherever he wanted were the same ones that made him kurt with the media, impatient and ungrateful with fans and blinded to anything but winning – winning at golf, winning at chasing skirt. We saw his guard down, we saw him realize that no matter how much you have, you can still lose everything and that if he doesn’t play his cards right with those whose opinions matter in the sport (media, fans, sponsors) he will do just that.

Yet, as the press conference went on and questions about Ambien, PED’s and his family and private life became more and more prying, we began to see Tiger back in his old, aloof form – flashes of aloofness peppered in between what I believe to be genuine humility, embarrassment and a sense of calm and satisfaction that a guy who has been striving to be the best from the time he was 6 has never felt in his life.

It remains to be seen which side will win out (the supposed “aloofness” could have just been a grown-ass man handling his shit, having the balls to tell someone, even a reporter “you just crossed a line”). For the most part though, Tiger’s answers were well thought out, but not staged, the questions were respectful, but not pre-secreened.

Tiger classily side stepped the opportunity to lash out at fellow players who took shots at him while he was away, saying he was surprised by how graciously his peers had welcomed him back to the sport. This is kind of a big deal – this would be like if tomorrow AIG was just back on the finance scene, fully bankrolled and ready to tear other I-Banks and insurance companies a new one and Aon, Goldman’s and Chase were just like “What up! Welcome back AIG!”

Not to get all Jimmy Nantz about it here, but if what Tiger said is true about the field welcoming back their single biggest threat with open arms, it really does speak volumes about the bond between PGA golfers and the overall level of class that exists in the sport. Honestly, if that’s me (especially if I'm a contender to win majors) and the one guy who has the ability to fuck my entire existence just announced that he’s coming back with a full head of steam for the sport’s single most prestigious tournament, I’m going on an old Tiger inspired rant (GODDAMN MOTHA FUCKIN PRICK!). But it’s nice that all those guys get along though.

Tiger’s smiles, his honesty, his acknowledgement of the fans and (supposed) willingness to interact with fans during practice rounds all point to the potential that this is the best thing that could have happened to Tiger Woods. Every man should be allowed to enjoy his life as it’s happening to him.

At the end of the day, Tiger accomplished more than most people ever will, so if it takes a tragedy like this to get him to appreciate his fans, treasure his kids, value his wife and enjoy his time on earth, maybe it really was the best thing for him. Whether this is good for golf however, remains to be seen.

I would submit that the best thing for golf (the ratings, the apparel, the ad dollars) and for the old Tiger (just win, make the money, pass Jack) would be continued solitude and misery for Tiger. Could you imagine if he had skipped rehab, said “Fuck it,” given Elin $100 million and packed her divorced ass off to Sweden with the kids? His entire life would have been pussy, money and winning – and boy would he have won. No distractions. No commitments. The ultimate outlet for stress. He would have been a one-man wrecking crew with nothing to lose. But the Buddhist, re-habbed Tiger seems to get the point that you can’t take it with you – that all the money, jackets, trophies and fine pieces of trim don’t mean dick if you don’t leave behind a legacy, if you can’t help people – and as Earl now famously tired to tell him – if you can’t help yourself.

I’m a Mickelson fan*, but I’ve always hoped to see Tiger break every record there is – he’s exciting to watch and any time you have the opportunity to witness history, you hope to. I’m still pulling for Tiger on the course, especially in majors (as long as breaks one off for Lefty every year or two) but somewhat surprisingly; I’m pulling for him in life now. I’m not saying he needs to fix his marriage or be father of the year. I just hope he can find and keep some peace.

He needs to decide who he wants to be like. He could be like his buddy Michael Jordan, who most decidedly said “fuck it” and proceeded to live the type of lifestyle that Tiger was headed towards (and MJ seems, for the most part to enjoy it). Or he could be like his hero Jack Nicklaus, who made his fair share of mistakes, but lived his life honestly and enjoyed things other than golf.

It seems like either choice would be great, except when you stop to think what motivated Michael versus Jack. Jack Nicklaus loved golfing and he was good at it – so that made sense for him. Michael, on the other hand had to win. He didn’t just love ball, he wasn’t just a gifted player – he had to win. He had to win to silence any critic he had ever encountered, any player who had ever talked trash or taken him to the hole in a pick-up game.

I’m not passing judgment on which way of winning is better, but I will say that Jack seems to be enjoying his life a lot more than MJ. When Jack talks, you don’t get the impression that he has anything to prove, while Michael was still trying to silence the haters even as he was being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Hopefully this whole experience will remind Tiger that he’s got nothing to prove on the course, that he has a place in history with the Hogans, Nelsons, Nicklauses and Palmers of the game. Hopefully the sense of calm, gratitude and humility we saw streaks of today will replace the brash, aloof, focused intensity we bemoaned so much before he ever ran over that hydrant.

Good luck at Augusta Tiger – and fuck everyone in the blogosphere who wants to kick you while you’re down.

*When I was 12 or 13, I was in a two or three day a week golf camp at the local muni. One of the perks of being a camper was a trip to a practice round of the Western Open at Cog Hill. I filled a Burner Bubble hat with autographs that day, including greats like Ernie Els and Billy Mayfair. I even shot the shit for a minute with Payne Stewart while he broke me off with his John Hancock.

Fun was had all around – until I approached Tiger between holes. Whereas every other player in the field had happily signed autographs and chilled with fans between holes, Tiger cut through the masses like Moses through the Red Sea, eyes fixed on the ground in front of him, black Nike cap pulled over low over his brow, not acknowledging a single person – during a practice round with his old man and Ernie Banks. It was then that I decided Tiger would never be my favorite golfer.

Having said that, I wish him no ill will and hope that maybe the silver ling here is that if Tiger really has changed his attitude, maybe some 12 year old kid won’t get his heart shit on at Augusta this week when he approaches his hero for a signature.

-Wild

Sorry Dwight.

So yeah...nobody told us that part of the deal with having a website was that you have to know, write on it regularly. Admittedly, we've been about as productive as a GM plant the past few days. But in a nutsehell, here's what you missed:

The Lakers now lead 3-1 in the NBA finals after their second OT win in four games.

You gotta feel for the Magic. Homeboys can't finish. Both overtime losses shouldn't even have made it to OT as they blew leads late in both games AND choked in the waning seconds of regulation when they had opportunities to regain the lead and put the game away - twice. Kobe still complains too much and Howard can't hit a free throw to save his life. But how about D. Fisher?!?! OMAGOD!!!! Dude could be the next big shot Bob. His late in regulation 3 poiner, followed by a clutch 3 in overtime did more than anything else to twist the knife in Orlando's back. As much as I hate to admit it, I'll be very surprised if this series makes its way back to the City of the Angels. The Magic are simply outgunned.

Playmakers at 'Bama are in a whole heap of trouble for getting free textbooks.

My personal feelings about Nick Saban and the integrity of any program he's a part of aside - we're missing the point here. These guys weren't getting free clothes, or cars or hookers or blow - they were given free text books. You know - to learn? Like you do in college. Can't we just chalk this one up to "perks of being a student-athlete" and be happy they even wanted text books. I didn't play college sports. Learning was the whole reason I was there - and there were semesters where I didn't have a single text book. Also - let's cut the shit and call this what it is. These guys make millions of dollars for the school every year. We can pay their tuition, but not for their text books? They can take a free x-box from a bowl committee, but not from a booster? They can get free shoes from Nike, but not from an agent? Let's lighten up on the hypocrisy and stop forcing these kids to live in a "take this, not that" environment. Do you remember college? You were 19, poor as hell and far from home. You would have taken just about anything for free.

Getting off the Soapbox...

Game of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight at 8 on NBC for the 5 of you who care.

I'm predicting a close game, possibly an overtime or two, but barring a Marc-Andre Fleury miracle, Detroit's experience and depth will win out.

Apparently Ronaldo is playing for Madrid now.

I have no idea what any of this means, but Sean said it was important. I guess Real Madrid is going around being the Red Sox to ManU's Yankees - flexing their checkbook in an effort to be top dog - Ahhhh Capitalism.

Chicago baseball teams are disappointing.

I'm not sure what's acceptable down on 35th St. but here on the North Side, .500 ball isn't OK. The Cubbies trail The Brew Crew by 2.5 games while the ChiSox are a whopping 5.5 back of the Tigers.

Let's see, what else?

Meth in Nascar...no big shock there. Rednecks + Speed = Meth. Right?

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4245969

Vick cut by Falcons...Canada is in for a treat.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4253231

Manny says the wrong thing...Again.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4249022

Mickelson to play in next two PGA events before family vacation and begininning of wife's treatment. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Mickelson family.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4248964

We'll keep writing. You keep reading. Ready? Break!

-Wild Bill