I wrote about how much the Masters means to me as one of the top sporting events of the year. Golf by itself doesn’t usually hold my interest long enough for me to invest hours in a day to play, let alone watch. However, the people in charge of running the Masters set the course right every single time and allow for the tournament to be challenging, yet produce a true winner who has to go out and earn it through exceptional play. It’s too bad those same people need a lesson on how to treat female reporters and probably females in general, but that’s another story.
As I watched Tiger making his run towards the Green Jacket on Sunday, I noticed so many people in the gallery just hooting and hollering every time he would hole a big putt or bomb a monster drive down the middle of the fairway. Every move he made was being scrutinized and every positive shot that he made was being applauded by the guys in the booth just as loudly as those walking the course.
I couldn’t help but wonder though. How many of these same people that were cheering for him yesterday were making him out to be the second coming of Satan just a year and a half ago after all the extra-marital affairs and overall lies were exposed by a probing media that had spent so many years building him up to be the second coming of Jesus? I would venture to guess that a good number of them had nothing but praise yesterday, but quite the opposite just over a year ago.
As Charl Schwartzel, Jason Day and Adam Scott were battling over the tournament and my interest started to fade away, I began to think about someone like Michael Vick. He was another one that was completely demonized by the public for his actions in financing and partially running a dog-fighting circuit. He truly deserved it and I have no problem saying that. However, how many of those same people who were completely trashing him a few years ago were trying to purchase Michael Vick Eagles’ jerseys this year? I would say that number was probably higher than you think.
A lot of people would have a problem with that. I love animals just as much as most people do and I don’t condone what he did in the past, but there comes a point where a person has done as much as he can to prove himself worthy of forgiveness and I think Michael Vick is at that point. Whether or not Tiger is there is unclear because he didn’t break a law by what he did, but he broke a moral code that a lot of people adhere to.
However, I thought what we saw yesterday from the gallery was a sign of humanity that shows compassion and a willingness to give people second/third/fourth chances in life. Imagine where we would be as a society if we were always holding grudges and never ever gave someone a chance to redeem themselves. I doubt we would be as advanced as we are today. I thought yesterday’s round truly was a wake-up call for those who still held a grudge against Tiger. Most people are willing to forgive and forget. Should you?