Welcome back, Tiger

Have you heard? Tiger Woods is back on the golf course! Yes, after months of non-stop Tiger coverage in the tabloids, we get to see him do what he's actually famous for: play golf. And, in case you missed it, Nike has released a new Tiger ad.

The voice speaking to Tiger is his late father, Earl Woods, and the reaction to the ad has been largely negative. Critics have used the words "manipulative" and "vile" and "crass." And perhaps it is all these things to a certain degree. Using his father, a man who passed away nearly four years ago, to speak to him in a sort of from-the-beyond kind of way, it seems as though Nike is trying to create an almost spiritual inspiration of sorts. Does that belong here? Very debatable.

But here's what I think: it's actually a pretty well-done commercial. First off, it's simple. No gimmicks or special effects. It's just a 30-second black and white, single shot of Tiger. Second, Tiger doesn't say anything. He listens. I think that at this point, it's important for him to not be making any big speeches or offering more platitudes because he's tried that a couple times now and people just aren't taking him seriously. Third, it talks about the scandal. Granted, it does it indirectly, but it's clear that the purpose of the commercial is to address it and not try and act like it never happened.

Finally, what I think is most striking about this commercial is that it shows that Nike is committed to Tiger. The swoosh had been saying for a long time that they were standing by their man, but this was their first opportunity to show it. And in the commercial, Nike acknowledges that Tiger messed up. But at the same time, the last question of whether he learned anything (and by asking, it's implied that he did learn) I think it shows that everyone is ready to move on.

On that note, in the end, the best thing that Tiger can do to move past all the tabloid talk is to get out there and win. If there's one thing that we've learned from American athletes who get into trouble, it's that winning solves everything. Remember the Kobe Bryant rape trial? Yeah, neither does Kobe. Or the rest of America for that matter. Remember Ray Lewis? People forget that this was a man who was charged with murder! MURDER! You want to know the backlash of that? He was on a Super Bowl-winning team next year and then was put on the cover of a Madden video game a few years later. What a country.


Anyway, Tiger's doing his part with a -6 through the first two rounds. Soon enough, this will all be but a distant memory, and we can get back to fun Nike-Tiger ads.