I of the Tiger

The official website of sports figure Tiger Woods, who is caught up in an adultery scandal, has tried to adapt its message to changing news conditions. First there was a "Statement on Tiger Woods" about his car accident, and then the prepositions changed with a "Statement by Tiger Woods" about the event. Now the millionaire golf hero with the clean-cut image has issued a message called "Tiger comments on current events," in which he admits to "transgressions," "personal failings," and "not being true" to his values, as news stories emerge about marital infidelity that may have been involved in a fracas prior to the accident. However, as the passage below indicates, much of his disclosure and confession is constituted by a refusal to disclose and confess.

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

Update: This Tiger Woods phone message remix is worth playing.