I Agree With Dentandt...It Is None Of Our F%$@#ing Business

Woods owes the public nothing

By MICHAEL DENTANDT

In the Middle Ages an encircling army would surround a castle with weapons of war and impassable rings of troops and dig in for the long haul. Eventually the poor saps inside would surrender or die.

And so the international media, from the loftiest "quality" newspaper to the lowest scandal-mongering rag, has mounted a siege of golfer Tiger Woods and his family.

We will not be satisfied, according to prevailing wisdom, until Woods makes a tearful public confession and apology -- on television.

Woods' first statement, posted on his website last week, revealed nothing, asking only for privacy.

The second statement, released Wednesday, acknowledged "transgressions," and contained an apology.

But again, Woods declined to bare all, figuratively speaking, for the cameras.

Instead he made as good an argument as any celebrity has ever made for why the media should pack up their satellite vans and go away.

"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."

What? You mean he's not going to give us our show?

Bill Clinton gave us a show.

Hugh Grant gave us a show.

David Letterman gave us a show.

Every public figure caught with their pants down nowadays, it seems, gives us a show. We want our show and we deserve it. Right?

Wrong.

We don't deserve it. The endless gallery of true confessions serves no public good. It is prurient, plain and simple. It is an unhealthy manifestation of a communication-crazed culture.

Woods' fidelity or lack thereof is his business. His family life is his business.

The sophists and pundits of mediadom all say Woods needs to fess up publicly, recount his sins, beg forgiveness from his wife and his fans, before the mob gives him some peace.

Here's hoping he sticks to his guns, says nothing, waits them all out, and then next spring quietly continues being the world's greatest golfer.