Sports Thread, -NFL: Saints Win Super Bowl 44

2005 World Series.

Good luck to the Astros! :clap:

2005 World Series News

~ EDIT ~

Update: the Sox won

Sox Celebrate

Oct 28, 2005

CHICAGO -- This incredible journey taken by the White Sox during the 2005 season began a couple of days after Valentine's Day, at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz. Pitchers, catchers and coaches were pretty much the only ones on hand, joined by six or seven media members.

It ended Friday afternoon, a little more than eight months later, at LaSalle Street and Wacker Drive in Chicago.

.... Oh, yes. The trophy given to the Major League team winning the World Series also was present at Friday's victory parade.

I watched a few moments of a kick boxing match the other night. That has to be the dumbest sport I've ever seen.

I've mentioned this before, but I wish the sports channels would stop airing poker games. Poker is about as much a sport as Monopoly, Hungry Hungry Hippos, or Clue.

The Tour De France has been going on.

Done? Hardly. Landis is back

July 21, 2006

MORZINE, France - In a stunning turnaround a day after he was all but written off, American rider Floyd Landis moved back into contention at the Tour de France on Thursday, winning the final Alpine stage in a solo finish to jump from 11th to third.

Barry Bonds is in trouble.

Bonds escapes indictment

By DAVID KRAVETS and PAUL ELIAS

SAN FRANCISCO Jul 21, 2006 (AP)— Barry Bonds' camp had two reasons to celebrate: his 722nd home run and federal prosecutors' decision not to indict the slugger for now on perjury and tax-evasion charges.

.... Meanwhile, Bonds' attorney seemed to back away slightly from the slugger's earlier statements that he didn't know substances given to him by his personal trainer were steroids.

I heard on TV that this Owens guy is 'controversial', 'weird,' and 'narcissistic.' Instantly I was reminded of another celebrity!

Owens denies suicide attempt

Cowboys' Owens denies he tried to kill himself

A plea for help, or more attention?

Interview from 2001 provides insights into what troubles Owens

A chronology of Terrell Owens

Another bizarre chapter in the Terrell Owens Saga

Sep. 28, 2006 / By Gary Myers / New York Daily News

NEW YORK - Terrell Owens says it was an allergic reaction to pain killers and natural supplements, the police report claimed it was an attempted suicide, and Bill Parcells, in his only sign of compassion, claimed the latest event of Life With T.O. was not a distraction to his team.

"Well, I don't think something of this nature is what I would term a distraction," Parcells said Wednesday. "This is apparently an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Parcells, who spoke about one hour before Owens met with the media, said at that point he had not had a chance to speak to his receiver. He was typically evasive, pleading "ignorance on the subject."

He was asked if the team researched Owens' background before signing him to a three-year $25 million contract and had concerns about any psychological or behavioral issues.

"You're going into places I'm not going," Parcells snapped.

.... While Parcells didn't want to comment on Owens' situation, Cowboys linebacker Bradie James said, "Anytime you hear suicide, then you know it's going to be serious. When somebody says it's T.O., I was like come on. He embraces himself too much to do anything to harm himself."

Owens is such a waste of media time and attention, I do think he's got some kind of mental illness, doesn't he realize he's jeopardizing his football career pulling stunts like he does? What a freakin moron...



MH

~~~ EDIT below ~~~

I watched the interview Roger Clemens gave to 60 Minutes. He was pretty defensive.

I don't know after listening to him and reading articles about it if he used HGH or steorids or not.

Clemens seemed sincere in his denials, but there's some factual stuff that doesn't work in his favor.

We listened, but Clemens doesn't have the goods

by MIKE VACCARO, New York Post
Jan 8, 2008

NEW ORLEANS - Working with Roger Clemens was the most important thing that ever happened to Brian McNamee. It opened doors for him. It exposed him to a lifestyle, and a life, that most of us only dream about. If he never got rich himself, he was able to taste an ever-so-fleeting sample of what it's like.

He walked with kings. He worked out with princes. None of that would have been his if he'd stayed a cop, or an anonymous professor at St. John's, or if he got $30 an hour working out grandmothers at the neighborhood Bally's.

Remember that as you listen to the frail, terrified voice on that 17-minute tape Roger Clemens played for us yesterday. Factor that into the equation.

Clemens and his lawyer want you to believe that is the voice of a liar, of a guilty man, of a rat who was willing to sell out a friend for his freedom.

What I heard was the voice of a man who was given the keys to the kind of exclusive palace available only to the very rich and the very famous, who was actually allowed to call Roger Clemens "friend,'' and has now had that all taken away from him.

Maybe it's the voice of a man with a sick child and a ruined career, too, who at the very least dabbled in some highly illicit behavior and who now listens daily to his former friend lash out at him with venom in his voice and menace in his eyes.

Think of that as you listen to the pathetic sound bytes of a broken man, talking to the star he once idolized, who also happened to be one of the most intimidating athletes who ever walked onto a playing field. Think about how daunting it was to be Barry Bonds or Mike Piazza or Derek Jeter staring down Clemens. Now think of what it's like to be Brian McNamee.

"I'm with you, I'm in your corner, I'd also like not to go to jail, too," McNamee pleaded.

"All I did was what I thought was right,'' McNamee whispered.

"Just let me know what you want me to do,'' McNamee murmured.

"Everything I have to this day I have because of you,'' McNamee sighed.

"I learned from you how to raise my kids.''

That's a very different McNamee than the one who spoke to Sports Illustrated in November 2006, the one who said, almost defiantly, "I've been to his lake house with the jet skis, it's nonstop moving. He's got more energy than anybody I've ever seen. It's a genetic thing. It's analogous to the beautiful woman who stays beautiful throughout her life without cosmetic surgery.''

He sounds like a schoolgirl with a serious case of puppy love there; now he sounds like Carrie on prom night. Clemens was his meal ticket, his chance to be a Somebody. Now he's been reduced to a pawn, the focus of Clemens' desperate plan to rescue his reputation.

It would have been helpful for Clemens' case if a smoking gun had surfaced in those 17 minutes of tape, a confession from McNamee. If you're going to stoop to the slimy depths of recording a telephone conversation and then offer it up to the world as an audio version of the Zapruder film, it would be wise to have the goods first.

There are no goods here. There is a sad, scared man whimpering and whining, the regular-guy equivalent to getting buzzed under the chin with 97 mph gas. There is Clemens, ever the bully, trying to get McNamee to cleanse himself before he voids himself, and failing.

Brian McNamee is no hero. And he has done nothing heroic. Remember that, too. But neither has he been exposed as a liar. That makes him as dangerous to Clemens now as he was before this silly little charade of a press conference.

Clemens? Before he left the stage yesterday he bared his teeth and cursed on live TV and tried to treat the rest of America the way he treated Brian McNamee. And if McNamee didn't break, even if he sounded as if he were about to break down, what chance did Clemens have against the rest of us?

We're the ones with the clear consciences.

McNamee's lawyers demand release of recorded interview

Clemens is doing everything Bonds wouldn’t

Roger Clemens finally goes on attack

EDITED TO ADD:

St. Petersburg police records: Clemens' ex-trainer lied during 2001 rape case

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Detectives believed the former Toronto Blue Jays trainer who says he injected Roger Clemens with steroids lied to them during the 2001 investigation of a possible rape, according to documents released Tuesday by police.

Police said Brian McNamee denied having sex with a possibly drugged woman in a hotel pool, even though security guards and other witnesses said they saw him.

McNamee hired a New York lawyer, who called detectives to arrange an interview.

"I explained to him that his client did talk with me once, and he lied to me," St. Petersburg Police Detective Donald Crotty wrote in a report.

The state attorney's office, however, decided not to press charges.

Clemens cited the incident as an example of McNamee's dishonesty in a defamation lawsuit filed Sunday in Texas.

The seven-time Cy Young Award winner says his former personal trainer lied to baseball investigator George Mitchell to avoid prosecution when he said he injected Clemens at least 16 times with steroids and human growth hormone in 1998, 2000 and 2001. Clemens acknowledged receiving injections from McNamee but said they were vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine.

"The significant thing is, when this guy's rear end is in trouble, does he lie?" said Rusty Hardin, Clemens' lawyer.

The defamation suit states: "McNamee's explanation was totally at odds with the conclusions of the police officers conducting the official investigation in St. Petersburg."

Earl Ward, one of McNamee's lawyers, denied the St. Petersburg incident had any bearing on his client's credibility. He said McNamee's statement about Clemens was found credible by the staff of former Senate majority leader Mitchell and federal law enforcement officials investigating steroid use in professional sports.

"The bottom line is that allegation in Florida was investigated, and it went nowhere," Ward said.

"It's just an attempt to further damage his character," he said. "It has no relevance."

The records released Tuesday by the St. Petersburg police show McNamee was suspected of raping a woman he had met at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in October 2001. The Yankees were in town to close out the regular season against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and many players and support staff were staying at the upscale resort.

McNamee was having sex with the woman in the resort's pool and didn't stop when confronted by security, the documents say. Police were notified. When they arrived, they found McNamee had helped the woman out of the pool and get dressed, according to the documents. Groggy and incoherent, she was taken to the hospital, where the documents said she was found to have GHB, the "date-rape drug," in her system.

The woman told detectives she could not remember details of the encounter in the pool. She said she did not give McNamee permission to have sex with her, and witnesses told detectives they had heard her saying "no" during the encounter, according to the documents.

Detectives later recovered some of her jewelry, an empty beer can and a water bottle containing GHB at the side of the pool.

Police interviewed McNamee hours later, according to the documents, and he denied having sex with the woman or knowing Yankees batting practice pitcher, Charles Wonsowicz, who was also in the pool. McNamee refused to submit a saliva sample for DNA analysis, the documents said.

Although the state attorney's office decided not to press charges, the accusations ended McNamee's career with the Yankees.

The Yankees did not give a specific reason for terminating McNamee.

Clemens then hired McNamee as his personal trainer. According to the pitcher's lawsuit, McNamee told him that his actions were "actually a life-saving attempt."

2008 Olympic stories.

Why Michael Phelps eats 12,000 calories per day

Excerpt:

He told NBC that an average day might have the following menu:

Breakfast: 3 fried egg sandwiches, 2 cups coffee, 5-egg omlette, bowl of grits, 3 pieces of french toast, 3 chocolate chip pancakes

Lunch: 1 pound pasta, 2 ham and cheese sandwiches, energy drink (1,000 calorie)

Dinner: 1 pound pasta, 1 large pizza, energy drink (1,000 calorie)

Angry Swede Throws Down Medal, Quits Olympics

By Douglas Hamilton

BEIJING, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his greco-roman bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for Olympic gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics.”

Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.

“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” he said.

A bitter Abrahamian, silver medalist at Athens 2004 who had high hopes of top honors in the 84kg competition in Beijing, announced he was quitting the sport.

“This will be my last match. I wanted to take gold, so I consider this Olympics a failure,” he said.

The Swedish wrestler had to be restrained by teammates earlier when a row erupted with judges over the decision in a semifinal bout at the Chinese Agricultural University Gym with Andrea Minguzzi of Italy, who went on the take gold.

Abrahamian shouted at the referee and judges then went over to their seats to speak to them up close. He angrily threw off the restraining arm of a team official then turned and left.

Swedish fans booed loudly as the judges filed out of the arena. Abrahamian said nothing to waiting reporters but whacked an aluminium barricade with his fist as he left the hall.

Abrahamian later said he believed his loss to the eventual gold medalist Minguzzi was “totally unjustified.” The wrestler said his friends “called me just 20 minutes before the (bronze) competition, begging me to compete.”

“I decided that I had come this far and didn’t want to let them down, so I wrestled,” he said.

Swedish coach Leo Myllari said: “It’s all politics.”

Myllari did not say if he intended to lodge a formal protest over the decision by referee Jean-Marc Petoud of Switzerland, judge Lee Ronald Mackay of Canada, and mat chairman Guillermo Orestes Molina of Cuba.

Jamaica’s Bolt breaks 200 mark, gets sprint double

BEIJING (AP)—Usain Bolt of Jamaica broke the world record by winning the 200 meters in 19.30 seconds Wednesday night, becoming the first man since Carl Lewis in 1984 to sweep the 100 and 200 gold medals at an Olympics.

Bolt is the first man ever to break the world marks in both sprints at an Olympics. Not even Lewis or Jesse Owens managed that.

Showing what he can do when he runs at full speed all the way through the finish—something he hadn’t done yet in the Beijing Games—Bolt eclipsed the old record of 19.32 seconds set by Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996.

Super Bowl Sunday: Steelers prevail in Super thriller

Excerpt:

By John Clayton, ESPN.com
TAMPA, Fla. -- Super Bowl XLIII featured -- in my opinion -- the greatest play in Super Bowl history, but it also might have been the greatest game.

The Steelers' 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals had it all. James Harrison's 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the last play of the first half was the greatest play in 43 Super Bowls because it caused a 14-point swing at a critical point in the game.

Had the Cardinals scored a TD from the Steelers' 1-yard line, they would have led 14-10. Instead, Harrison's amazing return gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead.

A British tabloid published a photo of Olympic swimmer Phelps smoking marijuana or what not.

Phelps Could Face Charges in Marijuana Photo Scandal

Michael Phelps facing criminal charge for 'bong shot'

Here are editorials by people trying to defend Phelps' drug usage:

Swimmer Phelps' punishment way out of proportion

So what if Phelps smoked pot he's in good company

Alex Rodriguez news:

A-Rod admits to ESPN he used performance-enhancing drugs

'I was stupid': A-Rod admits steroid use

By Bob Raissman
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Monday, February 9th 2009, 3:33 PM

Alex Rodriguez admits to using performance-enhancing drugs in an ESPN Monday night interview with veteran baseball reporter Peter Gammons, but says he did not know exactly what substance he was taking.

In the first interview he has given since he was outed for steroids use by Sports Illustrated on Saturday, A-Rod apologizes for using the substances in what he described as a "loose era" for drug use in baseball.

"I felt an enormous amount of pressure," said an emotional Rodriguez of the impetus to perform after inking a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers in the winter of 2000. "I was young. I was stupid."

Yao’s absence looms as giant loss for league

Excerpt:

By Adrian Wojnarowski

As soon as he bought the cash-strapped Shanghai Sharks, Yao Ming(notes) was pressured into a most defensive declaration: This wasn’t done as a retirement toy, but born of obligation to his hometown team.

That’s how it goes for him now. That’s the reality of his every move.

All across the world, the fears that Yao never plays basketball again are real and justified.

The Houston Rockets are counting on an innovative and complicated surgical procedure to repair the hairline fracture in his left foot. They hope it’ll ultimately create a base for his body that’ll withstand the unprecedented pounding delivered beneath his 7-foot, 6-inch frame.

Nevertheless, Yao will miss next season and Houston officials operate with private doubts he’ll ever be a sturdy player again.

They won’t say this, because it does no good for Yao’s rehabilitation and the psyche of the Rockets faithful. Whatever happens, this has turned into one of the sport’s saddest stories.

Yes, it’s reminiscent of Bill Walton’s saga, but Yao is a far bigger, far more important figure in basketball history. Yes, Walton could’ve been one of the most accomplished centers in history, but Yao’s powers have been truly transformative.

He changed everything for the NBA and David Stern, for China and the Far East. Together, they all conspired to use him, wear him out and ultimately toss him aside. For years, the Rockets played him too many minutes, and China played him too many summers for the national team.

As the global game goes, he’s basketball’s most important player since Michael Jordan. He’s the reason the world’s most populated country grew smitten with the NBA. He’s the reason that the NBA makes hundreds of millions of dollars out of the Far East, why its American players were treated like rock stars in the Beijing Olympics.

A lot of NBA players and commentators treated Yao with disdain upon his arrival, an overhyped stiff they promised to embarrass. Truth be told, there was a racial element to the criticism.

Perhaps they didn’t want to believe an Asian could become an NBA star.

Perhaps they feared an impending wave of Chinese 7-footers to gobble up jobs. Whatever the genesis, the criticisms of Yao pushed beyond legitimate basketball doubts and were nasty and needlessly personal.

Woman Charged With Prostitution in World Series Sex-for-Seats Case Gets Tickets to Game

Diehard [Baseball] Fan 'Offered Sex To Watch Match'

Fan held over 'sex for tickets' ad

Woman charged with offering sex for baseball tickets so she and her husband could attend World Series game

Lawyer: Woman in sex-for-tix case has 'Phillies fever'

The lawyer for a Philadelphia woman charged with offering sex for World Series tickets says she is "a nice lady overcome with Phillies fever."

The woman, Susan Finkelstein, tells Inside Edition that she was only flirting, not engaging in prostitution, before being arrested in a Bensalem, Pa., bar by an undercover cop.

"I was really looking for a way to get reduced World Series tickets … If I can flirt with someone and maybe get cheap tickets, more power to me," she tells Inside Edition.

Her lawyer, William Brennan, says Finkelstein -- a self-described "buxom blonde" -- might have dropped double entendres in her Craigslist ad but never explicitly offered sex, the Associated Press reports.

Bensalem safety director Fred Harran alleges that Finkelstein "said she would trade sexual favors for Phillies tickets," The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

"She wanted the tickets at any cost and was willing to go the extra mile," he says.

Or as Finkelstein's ad in Craigslist put it: "I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!"

The Yankees won the '09 world series. I actually watched the first few games.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Has CML Form of Leukemia

Nov. 10, 2009 -- Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar today announced that he has suffered from leukemia for nearly a year.

Abdul-Jabbar, 62, has chronic myelogenous leukemia or CML. Once a fatal disease, oral medications now keep CML under control for 80% to 90% of patients, says leukemia expert Michael Deininger, MD, PhD, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

Tiger Woods now playing 10 over par as more sordid details of his affairs emerge

Tiger Woods Now Linked To 10 Women Who Are Not His Wife

I was, for awhile, getting tired of hearing about Tiger Woods (the golf player).

Now that more and more information is leaking, it's taking on a circus atmosphere and so has gotten me a tad interested.

(Although I can see myself getting burnt out by it again if it keeps dragging on and on and on.)

When the story just at first revolved around him being in a car wreck/ beaten over the head with a golf club by his wife/ the one extra-marital affair, then it was revealed he had been boinking one or two other chicks as well... it bored me.

I didn't understand the media's fascination with the story at that stage of events.

But now there's so much more going on.

He's apparently been whoring around with tons of women (latest count was ten), his wife is rumored to have left him, and his Mom- In- Law was taken to the hospital recently.

I never understood why people made a big deal out of Woods, or why he made billions of dollars. Golf is such a boring, dull sport, and he seemed like such a bland person.

His blandness also makes his sex addiction seem all the more weird to me.

Who would've thought that a guy who seems so dull would be boinking so many chicks, including porn actresses?

I feel so sorry for his wife.

She must be heart broken and must feel humiliated.

Woods was behaving like a total dirt ball and bimbo.

Woods might be able to redeem himself if he stops with the affairs, and apologizes to his wife - and a public apology might be nice, too.

Tiger Woods scandal: America held hostage

Is Tiger Woods a Sex Addict?

Woods' mother-in-law in 'stable condition' in Florida hospital

"Saturday Night Live" Blasted For Tiger Woods Domestic Violence Sketch

Playgirl Trying To Authenticate Tiger Woods Nude Photos

David Letterman Making Tiger Woods Jokes? No Joke

Tiger Woods' serial flings hospitalize Elin's mom

There's a whole slate of Tiger news out this morning, such as that his wife Elin Nordegren bought a house in Stockholm and is calling it quits; that Tiger hooked up with porn star Holly Sampson (aka Nicolette Foster), which gives us at dscriber the long awaited Denver connection to this story (OK, it's pretty specious: her attorney is in Denver);

and that a woman was rushed to the hospital from Tiger's gated community last night, which also sparked searches for the phrase "advanced life support," although that could also be referring to Tiger's reputation.

Early morning reports are that the woman was Nordegren's mother, who arrived from Sweden yesterday to support her daughter.

Blount: Tiger the false idol an old story

Tiger Woods' mother-in-law 'stable' in hospital

Tiger Woods wife moves out; porn star Holly Samson 8th woman

Tiger Woods humiliated by link to porn star Holly Sampson

As more lurid claims about his private life emerged, experts questioned how long sponsors would stand by a sports star who has turned into an international laughing stock.

The golfer had to grit his teeth through a particularly humiliating few days in America as he was lampooned on the popular US television show Saturday Night Live and the tally of women with whom he has allegedly had affairs more than doubled.

The embarrassment increased with the ill-timed publication of the latest edition of Golf Digest magazine with a picture of Woods and Barack Obama on the front cover and the headline 10 Tips Obama Can Take From Tiger.

Internet pranksters meanwhile have found new Woods-related uses for "Just Do It", the motto of his biggest sponsor, Nike.

The latest woman to be linked with the hapless sportsman is Holly Sampson, the 36-year-old star of films such as Diary of A Horny Housewife and Emmanuelle in Paradise. Her lawyer said yesterday that she had nothing to say on the matter.

Sampson joins an assorted list of busty and usually blond cocktail waitresses, aspiring models and nightclub promoters who have been named as mistresses of Woods.

Four more women have been included in the tally although not named. They reportedly include a British television presenter.

Woods, the first billionaire sportsman, earned an estimated $100 million (£67m) last year, much of it from sponsorship deals.

While major sponsors, including Nike and EA SPORTS, insisted yesterday that their relationship with Woods remained unchanged, some observers believe they must be increasingly concerned about the repercussions for them of the scandal.

"Sponsors re-evaluate such relationships every day and they must be worried that this is damaging their brand," said Mike Paul, a New York crisis public relations specialist.

"It's Christmas season, every retailer and company is pushing every product and what they'd like to run in their ads right now is Tiger. He's supposed to be the safe – the given – brand. But right now, he's the risk."

Zoe Turnbull, a US marketing consultant, said the controversy could weigh against Woods with sponsors if he plays badly next season.

"The dust will eventually settle. If he's still a very good golfer he'll be fine but, if not, all this could be very convenient for sponsors to use as a reason for ending deals," she said.

Tiger Woods Mistress Count Jumps To 10, Identity Of Several Woman Still Unknown

Tiger Woods Update: Mistress Count Reaches and All-Time High

Tiger Woods List of Mistresses: Cori Rist, Mindy Lawson, and Jamie Jungers, Who is Next

Elin Nordegren moves out after Tiger Woods linked to porn star (Holly Sampson photos)

Woods had sex with mistress in garage

Waitress Mindy Lawton is the another woman in the golfer’s list of mistresses. Mindy the ninth women with whom Woods was said to have had extra marital affair has revealed that the sportsman had sex with her in his garage and hall while his wife was expecting.

Woods had met her in the The Blue Martini bar and had taken her home home.

Mindy said that she was excited to get drunk with Woods although she knew he was married. She also claimed that Woods never seemed to be happy when he was accompanied by his wife.

She said that on a dark morning Woods stripped off her clothes sitting on a brown sofa and had sex with her. Mindy complimented Woods by saying that as a sportsman he was in great shape, but he is also very well endowed man.

And I bet there's going to be a 12, 13, 14, 15....

Porn star Joslyn James brings the number of women linked to Tiger Woods to 11
-she appears to be wearing a black wig in a photo on that page.

Tiger Woods mistress count at 11: Joslyn James porn star linked to Tiger

Gatorade Drops Tiger Woods Drink

Tiger Woods and Wife Mulling Leaving the Country

Tiger Woods' Endorsement Deals Are Toast

Pal: Tiger Woods' Wife Doing "the Best She Can"

Congressman in California drops effort to honor Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Paid for Alleged Mistress' Liposuction

Tiger alienates black community with scandal
^(More links like that in the Racism thread in the Outlook forum; scroll down page to get to those links)

Tiger Woods Attempted to Silence Affair Witness with Cash

Why we can't let Tiger Woods off the hook for alleged affairs with a 'sex addiction' defense

by S E Cupp

In Britain's News of the World - whose editors and readers have such an insatiable appetite for sex scandals that the tabloid is fondly called "Screws of the World" - an addictions manager at North London's Priory Clinic says declaratively of a beleaguered Tiger Woods, "I see him as ill, not bad."

Here it comes. Amid all the sordid details of Tiger's numerous "transgressions," we should now prepare ourselves for a forthcoming announcement by a very somber-looking Woods spokesman, or perhaps even by the golfer himself, that Tiger is, in fact, a sex addict.

We can stop questioning his character, for this - we're being told - is a medical issue. No less an authority than Drew Pinsky, the host of VH1's reality show "Sex Rehab," told "Entertainment Tonight" that "it's safe to say that sex addiction might be part of his problem."

Pinsky and the rest of the world are trying to help us understand what otherwise seems inconceivable: how such a rich, powerful and focused man ("and with such a beautiful wife!" some add, suggesting that ugly wives require no explanation) could risk his reputation, his fortune and his family to play the field with floozies.

We can't let them get away with it.

If the psychologizers win, they will allow brain chemistry, instead of free will, to co-opt habitual infidelity, thus completely and utterly absolving Woods of everything. Including driving barefoot, no doubt.

And thereby absolving the rest of us of our sins. Yes, I said it: sins.

The facts here are pretty simple. Woods made repeated and calculated decisions to deceive and hurt his family. For that he should get no sympathy. Pawning off bad behavior on some nebulous psychosis makes public apologies and professed remorse merely perfunctory, not sincere.

In fact, that sex addiction even has a name (and its own television show) speaks volumes about our culture - and our collective psyche.

The affliction may be real, but it also keeps us from acknowledging the immorality of our actions. After all, we don't call serial killers "murder addicts." Yet, anyway.

Buying into the notion gives us license to embrace a psychology gap that keeps us divorced from our own behavior. Discussing a clinical condition is easier than actual soul-searching. Who needs confession when you can just be absolved through therapy and rehab?

Over the past decade or two, psychologizing of this sort has become big business, crowding out so many basic moral judgments. The intelligentsia has so successfully marginalized morality to the far corners of its collective attics (where it also keeps religion) that the manic and predictable rush to medically explain immoral behavior has built a permanent, Bill Clinton-style wall separating the things we do in our private lives from who we really are.
We saw a similar justification after the Fort Hood massacre, when scores of mental health experts decided from afar that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan wasn't a hardened terrorist - he was just really, really stressed out from absorbing everyone else's stories of posttraumatic stress.

The Tiger drama is of course worlds apart, in every imaginable way. But the aftermath shares the same frantic search for a simple explanation that does an end run around free will.

And as for Tiger's mental health, sex addiction may just be the tip of the iceberg. In Psychology Today, Stanton Peele writes (with a whiff of that inimitable shrink's humor) that Tiger's success and stamina on the golf course may have predicted his behavior in the bedroom: "Rather than being a sex addict, the same single-mindedness, skill set and gift for robotic calculation that make Tiger Woods the world's greatest golfer make him an avatar of the bedroom."

Amazing: For both his strengths and weaknesses, psychology manages to surgically remove Tiger, a man whose power and wealth have bought him more free will than most of us will ever have, from his own life.

It's hardly a comforting thought. But Peele leaves us with an intriguing question. If we can blame Tiger's troubles on his addictive behavior, why don't we blame his successes on a personality disorder, too?

This man is a golf addict, to be sure - he's downright obsessed. But for that he earns our praise and respect. And tons of money.

Forgive me for sounding old-fashioned. But the best prescription for a long, healthy life isn't pricey rehab, therapy and psychological reprogramming. It's a clear conscience.

Is Tiger Woods considering quitting golf?

Tiger Woods will take break from PGA, cites 'infidelity'

Tiger Woods, you give man sluts a bad name
^ pasted in at end of this post

Woods wins UK court ban against nude, sex photos

Tiger Woods Disappears From Accenture Web Site; Ads Pulled

^ (there are more links like that one in the "Advertisements" thread)

I heard on a TV show tonight that the Tiger Woods mistress count is up to 13. Wait...

I just saw this headline on the web- now it's fourteen:

Tiger Woods Mistress Scorecard: Tiger Tally is 14
-the mistress list from that page is pasted at the bottom of this post

EDIT: Scratch that, some sites are now saying the count is 15 (FIFTEEN). Loredana Jolie Photo: Tiger Woods 15th Mistress

Look, I predicted up above it would jump to 12, 13, 14, and higher, but dude! Dude. DUDE!

ALL BUSINESS: Tiger flubs crisis management 101

From the article linked to above:

by Saul Relative

If Hollywood madame Michelle Braun is to be believed, the number of women who had sex with Tiger Woods is quite excessive -- and that would be only the women Braun knows about. If true, Tiger Woods' ultimate mistress list is going to be extensive.

Therefore, to keep track of all those alleged mistresses thus far named and unnamed, you need a list.

Here goes (bearing in mind that there might be some disagreement as to the exact order of the women as they come forward and with the understanding that they are not in chronological order):

1. Rachel Uchitel, 34, New York nightclub promoter and event planner. Rachel Uchitel allegedly began dating Tiger Woods in May and was outed by the National Enquirer on November 25. She at first denied the allegations, but after Jaimee Grubbs came forward and Woods apologized for his "transgressions," word spread that she was indeed a mistress. To date, Rachel Uchitel has yet to admit to an affair.

2. Jaimee Grubbs, Las Vegas reality show contestant's girlfriend and waitress. The first of Tiger Woods' alleged mistresses to come forward without being outed by a publication. Grubbs claimed that she had a 31-month-long affair that ended shortly before his accident. She also claimed that she only came forward because she felt betrayed that there was another "other" woman.

3. Kalika Moquin, Las Vegas nightclub marketing manager. Moquin is alleged to have had a brief fling with Tiger Woods in October. However, she has yet to admit to an affair or deny it, telling Life and Style Magazine (the publication that outed her) that she felt it "inappropriate" to comment either way. A Deadspin article quotes a source that maintains that Kalika Moquin helped procure girls and set up parties for Woods (which they also insist Rachel Uchitel did for Woods but became involved) but probably never slept with him.

4. Jamie Jungers, Las Vegas lingerie model and waitress. Jungers had originally planned to tell her story to the Daily Mirror but did not. Her ex-boyfriend, Derek Schmidt, had no problem telling the story. Jungers two-timed him with Woods. Schmidt, an avid Tiger Woods golf fan, said he never suspected that Jungers was cheating, although Woods called her every time he came to Las Vegas.

5. Mindy Lawton, Orlando waitress. Mindy Lawton told her story to the News of the World and left out very few details. However, although sex was good, she realized that all Tiger Woods wanted her for was sex. Lawton's affair ended a few weeks before Woods' first child was born.

6. Cori Rist, New York nightclub fregquenter. Outed by the New York Daily News, sources said Rist met Woods after would often be flown to his golfing venues, a recurring theme in the lives of many of Woods' mistresses. Cori Rist has yet to confirm or deny any involvement with Woods.

7. Holly Sampson, porn star and escort. Holly Sampson's relationship with Tiger Woods seems to have been more professional than romantic. She stated in an interview in May that she had had sex with Woods at his bachelor party (which would have been in 2004). Others maintain that Sampson was one of Woods' regulars. Madame Michelle Braun said that Holly Sampson was one of the "playmates" that she set Woods up with, an untold number of women that include Jamie Jungers (although Jungers denies those allegations) and Loredana Jolie. Holly Sampson and her publicist remain silent about her relationship, if any, with Woods.

8. Unidentified British television host. Said to be married. Unwilling to come forward and share her story.

9. Unidentified female, rumored to have a corporate position and wishes to keep her relationship with the golfer quiet to keep her professional reputation intact. She is said to have hired Orlando attorney Michael O'Quinn to protect her interests. Said to have met Woods in an Orlando nightclub.

10. Unidentified female, described as a "sexy cougar" or "sex-addicted cougar."

11. Joslyn James, 32, porn star. Outed by Deadspin, James is said to be one of Tiger Woods "full-time" mistresses. A source told Deadspin that Joslyn James has been a steady on-call sex partner for Woods for years. James, however, refuses to comment.

12. Loredana Jolie, Playboy model and escort. Michelle Braun, in an interview with the New York Daily News, named Loredana Jolie as Tiger Woods "favorite" among her "girls." Braun was unsure if Woods met Loredana Jolie in 2006 or 2007, but she insisted he went out with her a half dozen times, spent $15,000 a night, and had a predilection for multiple partners.

13. Unidentified female, said to be in her 40s, represented by Gloria Allred, who also represents Rachel Uchitel. This female is said to have also had a multi-year affair with Woods.

14. Unidentified female, supposedly a lawyer who wishes to remain anonymous.
******
This list will not remain static. Updates and alterations will occur frequently, so, if keeping score of the growing list of Tiger Woods' mistresses is your kind of game, check back often.

From the editorial, Tiger Woods You Give Man Sluts a Bad Name

By Tony Parsons
Dec 12, 2009

Tiger Woods doesn’t just seem like a male slut, a wanton he-hussy and an adulterous man whore. Suddenly he seems ­unbelievably stupid.

The sporting world’s first dollar billionaire, 90% of his income comes from endorsements – a figure in some doubt now he has sampled the wares of 90% of American cocktail waitresses.

Personally, I would not buy a Gillette razor from this man. You don’t know where it’s been.

How thick is this guy? Why marry that beautiful girl in the first place if you intend to jump on anything with a pulse and a pair of Jimmy Choos every time she looks the other way?

Even Tiger’s sweet nothings are rubbish. One sexy text message to Jaimee Grubbs read: “Quiet and secretively we will always be together.”

Ah, the words every girl dreams of hearing!

You might think that having unprotected sex with a porn star is about as low as a dirty boy can go.

But just when you thought that the tsunami of cocktail waitresses, club hostesses and assorted slappers was receding, the mother-in-law has a funny turn.

And how can that be forgiven? Panic attack? Food poisoning?

Who knows? But I can almost hear Elin Woods screaming at her faithless husband: “And then you almost kill my mother, Tiger!”

Tiger? More an unneutered old tomcat.

Plenty of powerful men have a bit on the side. But never in the history of male sluts has someone had such a gigantic bit on the side. Tiger’s bit is bigger than his side.

Tiger Woods is not merely a disgrace to men. He is a disgrace to man sluts.

But in the end it is not his promiscuity that is truly shocking. It is his total lack of respect for his wife.

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His thoughtlessness, his cruelty, his total lack of humanity.

Tiger appears to have been screwing around almost before they swept up the crumbs of the wedding cake.

This isn’t infidelity. It is sadism.

What we have seen is probably just the tip of a rumpy-pumpy iceberg.

And I wonder about the women who have not come forward – the ones who mistook those intimate five minutes on their knees at the nineteenth hole for love.

The girls with too much pride to flog their tawdry story, the women who are afraid it would hurt their boyfriend, the ones who don’t want to be another notch on tiger’s grime-encrusted little putter.

I don’t think the problem is that Tiger doesn’t love his wife enough. I think the problem is that he doesn’t love her at all.

That level of male slutdom could kill someone.

Reports suggest that Elin Woods is going to stand by her man-whore. She would be better off getting three things immediately.

An AIDS test.

Half of his fortune.

And a divorce.

If you want conclusive proof that Tiger Woods has an IQ lower than his 9 Iron, then it is this – he played around with all those women.

And not one of them is in the same league as his wife.

Report: Tiger Woods Cheated With Mistress as Father Lay Dying

Caddie denies knowledge of Tiger Woods' 'indiscretion'

Tiger Woods and I are still together, says Rachel Uchitel

Playgirl Won't Publish Alleged Nude Photos Of Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods Update: Elin Nordegren Out; Rachel Uchitel In?

As Dad Died, Tiger Shacked Up With Galpal

Tiger Woods was not at his father's bedside the night Earl Woods succumbed to cancer because he was in bed with a lingerie model.

Jamie Jungers tells the UK tabloid News of the World she was with Woods in May 2006—at the home he shared with his wife—when his mother called to let him know "his dad was in a bad way."

After a visit from his son, Earl Woods died later that night.

Upon returning from the hospital, Woods seemed subdued, "but when we went to bed he still wanted to have sex as usual," says galpal No. 4. After his mom called with the news, Jungers says, "Tiger looked utterly devastated and didn't say a word."

Meanwhile, Tiger's caddie says he's shocked by his boss' extracurricular activities. "I had no knowledge of what Tiger's indiscretion was," Steve Williams tells the Sunday News of his native New Zealand. "I had no knowledge of what was going on. If I did, I would say I did."

Accenture ends relationship with Tiger Woods

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Technology outsourcing and consulting firm Accenture Plc on Sunday said it was ending its six-year sponsorship arrangement with golfer Tiger Woods, who is embroiled in a scandal involving extra-marital affairs with numerous women.

"Given the circumstances of the last two weeks, after careful consideration and analysis, the company has determined that he is no longer the right representative for its advertising," Accenture said in a statement.

Woods had appeared in Accenture's print, television and online ads.

Accenture's move comes a day after razor maker Gillette's statement that is would limit the role of the No. 1 golfer in the world in its marketing and Woods' own decision to step away from golf in order to repair his life.

The announcement by Procter & Gamble's Gillette, which had featured Woods in its razor ads, was an early sign the sex scandal already was taking its toll on his marketability as a global sports idol.

I always knew I didn't like the man. My dad was a golf afficionado so I daren't say anything in front of him but something always rubbed me (no pun intended ) the wrong way with him. He just seemed arrogant. I'm a tennis fan and I remember him cozying up to Roger Federer. The two biggest and bestest at what they do. They did commercials together. Made me sick. Well GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR ENDORSEMENT PACKAGE, TIGER! You'll have to live off of the principal of your almost $1 billion fortune. He's also cheap, in my view. Windermere, FL is a nice spot but the homes are only a couple of million, I understand. Is he kidding? Why isn't he on an estate in the middle of an island somewhere? I heard he had to get to Kay Jewelers (mall jewelry store) to get Elin her "I'm sorry gift." I also heard that he missed his son, Charlie's birth, because he was busy fornicating. What a moron. He's going to suffer for a loooonnng time.

I saw on the local news last night that someone made an online video game of Elin chasing Tiger Woods -you play as Elin and hit Woods over the head with a golf club. It's called "Tiger Hunting."

Here's another one, though:

Now Nickelodeon’s online videogaming site AddictingGames is turning the incident into a game called “Tiger Parking Slam.” It’s a far different game from Tiger Woods’s offical Tiger Wood Golf game, which is published by Electronic Arts. The objective of the new game from AddictingGames is to figure out how to park in neighbors’ driveways without crashing the car.

Weird, computer- generated, Japanese- created Tiger Woods news spot

Tiger and wife headed for permanent split

A source said that Tiger Woods has a long road ahead if he wants forgiveness from his wife, Elin Nordegren. “Elin is not going to be one of these ‘stand by her man’ women,” the source said.

Pro golfer Tiger Woods and his wife Elin Nordegren are headed for an imminent split that will likely be permanent, according to sources who are familiar with the couple’s situation.

Recent photos taken of Elin without her wedding and engagement rings were meant to be a public message that the breakup is coming sooner rather than later.

You know darn well that pun was fully intended!

I didn't really know much about Tiger Woods, so I never had much of an opinion of the guy, other than he seemed bland and dull.