Men behaving badly

Here we go again - yet another high profile sports star has migrated from the back pages to slap bang in the middle of the front pages of the tabloids. Peter Crouch is the man in question on this occasion - if reports are to be believed, the Spurs and England striker cheated on his fiancee, Abbey Clancy, with a teenage Spanish prostitute going by the name of Monica Mint, while on a stag-do in Madrid shortly after England's exit from the World Cup this summer. Quite how Crouch thought his name would stay out of the papers (it never does for a public figure) is open to question, as is why he would cheat on the model in the first place. But it will not sit easy with England coach Fabio Capello, who has already had to endure the tabloid scandals which engulfed John Terry and Wayne Bridge, and Ashley Cole, since the turn of the year, which undoubtedly caused dressing room tensions which were a crucial factor in the disappointing showing in South Africa.
Ironically, Miss Clancy has contacted John Terry's wife, Toni Terry, for both a shoulder to cry on and what her next course of action should be. Mrs Terry, who is bracing herself for more revelations from her husband's affair as Vanessa Perroncel is giving an 'exclusive' interview to GMTV in the not too distant future, is understood to have advised Miss Clancy to stand by her man for the time being. The trend seems to be that these big stars are allowed one indiscretion, and then they're given the boot. Almost one strike before they're struck out. That was the case with Ashley Cole, which lends itself to another question - why do sports stars never learn?
It is clearly not breaking the law to cheat on your partner, but sports stars do seem to think they are 'above the law.' But why is this? In my opinion, those in the public eye on the sporting field have a duty not just to give their best on the field, but they also have a duty to give their best off the field. They are role models, who people of all ages look up to to set a good example in terms of behaviour and good clean living. If impressionable young fans see such negative headlines (the case at the end of last year surrounding Tiger Woods springs to mind), then isn't it likely that they will think it is fine to behave in this manner, and treat women like that?
It is so easy for the star of a sporting star to fall. Woods is by far one of the most famous sporting icons in the history of any sport. But this is not just about what he does around 18 hours in a day (and 72 holes over four days). His achievements in terms of majors are extraordinary. Only the great Jack Nicklaus (with 18) has claimed more major trophies than the 34-year-old (born Eldrik Tont Woods, with 14), so there is still plenty of time for Woods to overtake the record of the legend.
However, there is more to being a sporting icon than merely trophies and accolades. The great Muhammed Ali was almost as famous for conscientiously objecting to partaking in the Vietnam War, while someone like Roger Federer is a fine example of how a sports star at the top of their chosen game should behave off the pitch. And Woods was a bigger icon that most. He broke barriers when he not only penetrated probably the most elitist sport bar horse racing, but took it by storm to establish himself as one of the greats of the game. For an African-American to even compete in golf would be an astonishing achievement - but to achieve what Woods' has, is another story entirely. He won his first major at the tender age of 21, and he has never looked back. But he is off the course, using his status at the first prominent African American golfer, where he has both made a killing and giving something back to the community which made him. Charitable projects such as as the Tiger Woods Foundation and the Tiger Woods learning centre show he is aware of the chances and opportunities he has been given. He is also an icon off the course, and this is reflected by his endless list of endorsements and sponsorship deals which have come his way since he burst onto the scene. Companies who have used Woods as their face include - General Motors, General Mills, Titleist, American Express, Accenture, Nike and Tag Heuer. He has his own brand of video games (Tiger Woods PGA Tour), his own branded sports drink with Gatorade, and in 2007, he signed his biggest deal - a marketing campaign with Gillette, where he joined fellow superstars Federer and Thierry Henry in a bizarre cross-sports message. It played out almost as a fairytale - the local lad made good on the course, and off the course, he seemed a perfect gentleman, married to a Scandinavian supermodel in the form of Elin Nordingen, with two beautiful children. A seemingly idyllic existence it appeared.
Or was it? The higher your standing, the further there is to fall, and that's exactly what happened to Woods at the end of last year. And the full, sordid details only emerged after the golf star crashed his car at the end of his own driveway in November last year. An American tabloid had printed a rumour that Woods had an affair with nightclub owner Rachel Uchitel. Then, a couple of days later, the famous crash. At first, it appeared that Elin Nordingen, his now-estranged wife, had dragged him out of the car after an innocuous accident into a fire hydrant as he set off down the drive. Woods refused to speak to the police about the accident, but this refused to stop the fanning of speculation. It soon became apparent that the reality of the situation is that Woods was fleeing from his furious wife, who was trying to attack him with a golf club (I'm sure the irony was lost on Woods). Women started queuing up to 'air' Tiger's dirty laundry. They included: Jaimee Grubbs, a 24-year-old Las Vegas cocktail waitress, Jamie Jungers, a 26-year-old aspiring model, Mindy Lawton, a 33-year-old waitress, Cori Rist, a 31-year-old New York socialite and Kalika Moquin, a Las Vegas nightclub executive. It is thought the potential number of 'friends' runs well into double figures - Woods missed his own charity golf tournament, Chevron World Challenge, and decided to take an indefinite hiatus from professional golf. Never has someones star fallen so rapidly in the space of a few days and weeks, and this also impacted on his endorsements - General Motors, Tag Heuer, Gillette, Nielsen, Gatorade and American Telephone and Telegraph all dropped Woods, with only Electornic Arts keeping Woods on until the end of his computer game deal.
And it's not just there that Woods pocket has been hit. The divorce from Miss Nordingen is going to cost Woods $500 million, a record in a celebrity divorce settlement. He will not be allowed to introduce girlfriends to his children (Sam three, and Charlie one), and Miss Nordingen will keep their main property in Windermere, Florida. But here is the crux of the settlement - Woods does not lose out completely. His soon to be ex-wife cannot pass comment on his many affairs in any newspaper columns, on any television program or chat show, and on the Internet. So basically, the astronomical sum of money buys her silence - basically, Wood's values his reputation more than he did his marriage. Since he's returned to the course, in the first major of the year (The Masters in early April, where he perform admirably to finish tied fourth) he has tried his level best to rebuild his reputation. A source close to the former couple said, 'the price of the huge sum is Elin's silence: no interviews, tell-all books or TV appearances about this for the rest of her life - even if Tiger dies first - or she'll lose the lot. Tiger's main fear is her telling her story after he's rebuilt his reputation, sending him back to the gutter.'
Why do sports stars always want more? Surely Woods had everything he could have ever wanted - talent, trophies, fame, fortune and a beautiful wife and loving family. Miss Nordingen has stated that Woods desire to return to the course so soon after his voluntary break, when he claimed the sport was not as important as saving their marriage, was the final straw for their marriage even after all the affairs. The sport and his name are what are most important to Woods, and this has the main reason his marriage has ended - even after all the ghastly things he did, there was still hope. It has been claimed that Miss Nordingen doesn't think Woods will 'see the kids too much due to his busy schedule and commitments.'
Woods isn't the first high profile American competitor to find themselves in the headlines for the wrong reasons - Kobe Bryant was accused of raping a hotel employee in Colorado in 2003. He denied the allegation (which the LA Lakers basketball star was cleared of) but admitted sleeping with her. He subsequently lost endorsements with the likes of Nike, Spalding and Coca-Cola. His wife, Vanessa, stayed with him but not without making him do a great deal of squirming first! Fellow basketball legend Michael Jordan also found himself in the news for the wrong reasons post-retirement. Jordan, who retired from basketball twice and also played professional baseball, sullied his reputation when he divorced from his wife of 18 years, Juanita Valoy, in 2007, after it became apparent he had an affair with Karla Knafel, and paid her $250,000 to keep their relationship a secret. Woods, Bryant and Jordan - three sporting megastars, and it is shuddering to think how much money they have amassed, and how much their combined worth is.
Woods, along with the likes of Crouch, Cole and Terry, should hopefully learn one thing from all their mistakes - no matter what you do on the pitch, that is no excuse for indiscretions off the pitch. The mark of greatness is about personality and character as much as talent of the field of play - Lance Armstrong is a great because he overcame cancer to consistently win the hardest competition in sport, while Michael Schumacher is not due to constantly putting competitors in danger in his pursuit of victory. And this is why, no matter what he has achieved and what he will go on to achieve, Woods career will always be tainted by the repercussions of crashing into that fire hydrant.