“Don’t you ever say that again about your fathers, because they are not cowards. You think I am brave because I carry a gun; well, your fathers are much braver because they carry responsibility, for you, your brothers, your sisters, and your mothers. And this responsibility is like a big rock that weighs a ton. It bends and it twists them until finally it buries them under the ground. And there’s nobody says they have to do this. They do it because they love you, and because they want to. I have never had this kind of courage. Running a farm, working like a mule every day with no guarantee anything will ever come of it. This is bravery. That’s why I never even started anything like that… that’s why I never will.”

I have a new level of respect for you …. thank you for sharing that.

I am not a father, and chances are I will never have children of my own. I was brought up in a home that was minus a father in the literal sense, so I had to find a replacement in my mother, my brother and various other men in my family and where I grew up. It’s not ideal, but depending on what kind of person you want to be when you grow up, it can either prepare you to be a great father or destroy you as a person. I’m still on the fence…

When I read articles like the one Diane linked to, I see many reasons for me to not even be in a relationship, never mind being married and/or have kids. I’ve grown cynical about the options, so I choose not to engage in any of them as the safest path. Maybe I’ve deprived myself of a certain level of humanity, but I am not contributing to the depravity of another. And believe me, it’s very hard on me to be this way. I see examples of men who have overcome great odds to be good men and great fathers, and I’ve seen people who have it all and throw it away because of their complacence. And it hurts inside when people ask me if I have kids, then react with shock and wonder why I don’t. It’s because I don’t believe in anything where I am not in a position to try and do my best. And if I were lucky enough to have kids and they grow up to have issues of their own, I want to know that I did everything I could to be a real father, not just someone who has kids. But I’m not in any place where I would want to bring souls into the world armed with a way to make things better.

With that in mind, I can’t say a thing about Tiger or any of the litany of athletes who have publicly failed their family. Who am I to judge? What on earth could I possibly say to these men? I’m not a father, nor did I have one that I could draw experiences from. I don’t expect perfection of anyone, but I do expect that the people I deal with on a regular basis can be respectful to me as I to them, and if they can’t? Let us not be bothered by each other and live our own lives without each others’ interference. I don’t expect anyone to agree with my point, but I do hope you understand the things which brought me and others to this conclusion.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1012762/index.htm

Uber-athlete has trouble conducting relationship with ordinary human! details at eleven

[9] I don’t know why people are so outraged, the guy has been greatest golfer in the history of the sport, everywhere he goes there’s some voluptuous woman throwing herself at him. His wife is beautiful, but there’s no way any person can deal with all that attention and not crack. It’s hard not to. There are some that can resist that kind of temptation, but those people are few and far between.

I’ll definitely never get that kind of attention in my lifetime, being Tiger Woods is not as simple as being a great golfer. It also means having to manage the attention, and with that attention comes a lot of decisions that may hurt others closest to you – whether intentionally or not, it’s not something I’ll ever pretend to understand.

He made his (burning) bed and he’s definitely laying on it now,

The French probably laugh at all of this.

Well, what do Tiger and Elin really have in common? I highly doubt their respective worlds were THAT compatible when they met.

And then again, stories are bouncing around that Tiger was a bed-jumper from an early age … some habits are hard to break.

As for Tiger’s infidelities, this is as strange as when Mutt Lange cheated on Shania Twain with their ugly housekeeper or whoever it was. Elin is a gorgeous Swedish supermodel – is he insane? Was that not good enough for him? Sheesh.

How about athletes who spread their genetic material to multiple partners, and/or abandon the resulting kids?

(I’m looking at you, Larry Bird, Shawn Kemp, Steve Garvey)

(warning … it involves Tiger’s alleged mistress and Derek, and an actor)

I think the Jeter we see, that he allows us to see, is who he is when the cameras and writers and spotlights aren’t there. Thus, there’s no constructed image that will fall to pieces, a la Tiger (or even A-Rod), because there’s nothing hidden.