The other shoe has dropped, and Tiger Woods has given his "I take full responsbility for letting my family down" (I can't believe I got caught) speech. (I've heard about at least three mistresses; would that be a love pentagon instead of a love triangle?)
But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.
So how much privacy does he deserve? Not as much as ordinary people who aren't public figures, OK, but that covers a lot of territory. Woods isn't quite like the politician who seeks to "serve" the public and can control large parts of our lives and therefore earns (I think) maximum scrutiny of his private life. And he's not like movie and TV starts who seek the adulation of fans then complain because, gosh darn it, it's just no fun not being able to be anonymous. But he has (apparently) become the first $1 billion athlete because so many people enjoy watching him dominate a game they wish they could play better themselves.
When I got my DUI a decade ago (how time does fly), it made the front page of our newspaper despite the fact that most misdemeanor alcohol offenses don't even get reported. That was my experience with fame (however limited) having its price. I can't say I liked it, but I understood it came with the territory. That doesn't mean I'd appreciate having every misstep I've ever made trotted out and gossiped about. Whether he likes it or not, that's pretty much the position Tiger Woods is in right now. I don't know whether he deserves it or not, but his wife and kids certainly don't.
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All successful male athletes have mistresses. Well, not the figure skaters.
But most of them don't get beaten by their own wives. This is one case where the wife comes off looking worse than the husband.
But with that said, of course this was overplayed by the media. The funniest part was when the cops fined Tiger $164. Did he even know amounts of money that small exist? He probably can find more than that under his couch cushions.
Word is out that Elin gets a re-write on her prenup of $20 mil after 10 years as well as her very own seven-figure bank account.
That is a whole bunch more than Kobe paid for Vanessa's mega-karat "house on a finger" ring.