Tiger out of the cage, but still cagey

Let’s get this out of the way.

Tiger Woods took the spotlight Friday with his televised apology in front of a hand-selected group of onlookers.

Some people thought it was as well done as it could have been.

“One of the most remarkable public apologies ever by a public figure,” said ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.

I don’t know whether that says more about Tiger or celebrities as a whole.

Others thought it was less than sincere.

Olympic skier Julia Mancuso, who lived here on Kaua‘i until she was five, posted her reaction on Twitter from Vancouver: “do we think this is coming from the heart or the paper! come on Tiger! give us some reality here.”

I’m more in Julia’s camp than George’s.

Though well-intentioned, I think the whole event followed a pattern of poor public relations he and his handlers have taken throughout this entire scandal.

The atmosphere was awkward and felt like either a bad business conference or a snooze-worthy graduation speech.

Tiger’s never been known for being a great public speaker, which is not a dig because most people are not great public speakers. Yet the overly dramatic way he seemed to be trying to speak made his words sound less truthful than they may be, taken at face value.

His cadence reminded me of Martin Short’s impression of Hillary Clinton giving speeches, clearly emphasizing words that made her sound absolutely robotic.

I appreciate the fact that Tiger finally spoke to the public and gave an apology to just about everyone on the planet. He needed to do it, though I would have thought more of it had he spoken off the cuff and fielded questions from reporters.

The part of his speech that I found the most honest and emotional was his apology to both parents and children that have used him as a role model. He looked right into the camera and seemed as vulnerable as I’ve ever seen him when asking for their forgiveness.

I think he is sorry he has put his wife, children and mother in this position.

I’m sure he wishes that someday people will look at him the same way they did three months ago.

That being said, it’s still hard to say if Tiger really is sorry for his actions, or if he is just ashamed and mortified that he was caught.

I don’t say that as some high and mighty figure who’s judging the man. I really don’t think any less of him or feel any differently about him this week than I did last week, or last year.

I’ll still cheer for him and tune in to every major he decides to play, because he’s so compelling. Maybe even moreso, now.

But when a person consistently repeats the same behavior over and over, to an excessive degree, they must get some satisfaction and enjoyment from it. If they don’t get caught, they probably won’t stop.

So it wasn’t some realization Tiger had that made him re-assess his choices. It was his wife and, ultimately, the media finding out.

Again, no judgements. Tiger lives a life far different than any of us can imagine and he has more opportunities to do good, as well as to get into trouble, simply because of his name and bank account.

But he has demons and issues just like everyone else and I hope he and his family have some type of happy resolution, whether it is together or apart.

Yet I also hope that if he chooses to speak about this again — which he very well may not — he does so in a way that makes him appear to be more Tiger the person than Tiger the product.