Max Klau: Black History Month: Honoring The Collective…
BlackVoices History Quest: Los Angeles
Nike has stepped forward to be the first corporation to start making money with the Tiger Woods brand again. The company aired a new TV commercial Wednesday, featuring Woods with the voice of his late father, Earl. The ad aired on ESPN and the Golf Channel just one day before the Masters begins.
The ad is black-and-white, with Tiger looking in to the camera without saying anything. His father's voice comes in to the audio, making a series of statements that finally asks Tiger, "Did you learn anything?"
Nike has been one of the few companies to stand beside Tiger during his recent sex scandal. The move makes sense, given that Woods is the cornerstone of Nike golf. He is the face of the company's golf division and will be using Nike products when he plays in the Masters tournament this week. Woods has won the Masters an astonishing four times in his career.
Only Jack Nicklaus has won the Masters more times than Woods, winning six times over 24 years. Woods has outdone Nicklaus dramatically, however, since he has earned his four wins in an 11-year period. This goes further to remind us that Tiger Woods, in spite of his flaws, is the greatest golfer in the history of all mankind. If he can maintain his focus and stay out of trouble, he will break the "unbreakable" record of 18 major championships held by Jack Nicklaus. Tiger has dreamed of breaking this record since childhood, so hearing the voice of his father in his first comeback commercial is both touching, appropriate and attention-getting.
Nike made the right move to channel the voice of Earl Woods in to the ad. Right now, Tiger needs to be sent back to his roots. A strong performance in the Masters would remind America of Tiger's captivating achievement in 1997, when he was the youngest Masters champion ever and the first African American to win the tournament, with the largest margin of victory in history. The brand of Tiger Woods is flawed, but the brand of Earl Woods (Tiger's father) is not. Reminding the world that Tiger is simply Earl's little boy helps them to forget that Tiger also likes the ladies a little more than we thought.
Hearing the voice of Earl Woods chokes up anyone who watched Tiger in his early days. I can recall how sports writers once made fun of Earl for being a crazy old man, when he said that one day his son was going to dominate professional golf. He said that Tiger would be the Muhammad Ali of the PGA tour and elevate the game unlike anyone before him. The "crazy old man" was correct in his prophesy, and the athlete he developed has been unlike any other. In spite of Tiger's personal problems, Earl Woods has many reasons to be proud, and so do the rest of us.
Watch it here:
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book, "Black American Money." To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (13)
Add a comment
By: Dendrea on 4/07/2010 10:41PM
Tiger is one STUPID Black Man. He has ENOUGH money, how long is he going to let these white folks PIMP him?????? Can't he honor and respect his dad and leave him out of this f####$# mess? Why is Nike using/exploiting a DEAD man?
GODDAMIT!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: carla ford on 4/08/2010 8:28AM
Dendrea
I so agree!
Report This
By: oooozzzzz on 4/08/2010 1:04AM
What is wrong with this guy? Is the light bulb on?
To further quote Dendra, Tiger is not just a STUPID Black man but just a STUPID man, no matter the skin color and he continues to see himself as a scared little fatherless boy who continues to allow himself and needs to be breast fed, coddled, pimped, protected & manulipated by his highly paid staff of idiots who have not made a good decision on his behalf (with his approval) since this shiggity, in which he created all on his own, began.
Quit being a p*ssy and start being man! This is way past embrassassing!
Take ownership boy! Man up, face the music head-on, tell the truth, settle up verbally with all these skanks and porn ho's you continue to hide and run from and stop trying to play people with this NIKE "Earl Woods" crap.
If Earl Woods were alive, he wouldn't approve of this and and Tiger should be ashamed of himself to even consider/approve of this but as the saying goes, "stupid is as stupid does"!
And where was his mom when this decision was made? I hope that she thought that this was not OK but if she did, once again, stupid is as stupid does".
Tiger, your pre-Thanksgiving, squeaky clean, All American family man image is forever tarnished and outta here. It is not coming back. Just accept it, win tournments, make the money and move on. You like other superstar athletes, have fallen from grace.
In your mind, you have "answered" all the questions that you wanted to answer with your two controlled & timed press conferences (you should have left it at that) but this Nike ad only continues to leave the door open for more questions, more WTF and more material for comedians.
Your looking into the camera (shot in black & white for effect), looking like a shelter pound puppy and wanting people to feel sorry for you. A 30+ year old, cheating, morally corrupt (on the edge of divorce) sex addict, looking & begging for acceptence & forgiveness like a nine year old?
That is some pitiful shyt!
Even the 17 skanks & porn ho's you banged are going after seeing this ad, "this pitiful azz m*therf_cker!
They would not have even done this weak azz crap!
Someone needs to grab his ig'nant azz and let Tiger know that he is not a child anymore needing daddy guidance & attention. You dad is not here to hold your hand and trying to channel him to pimp the public does not work. You are a grown azz man and when you get into trouble, handle your business like a man.
On the golf course, you are the man and you play grown man golf. Off the golf course, quit being a scared little boy and (1) start living the life of a grown man and (2) start acting like one!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: carla ford on 4/08/2010 8:37AM
oooozzzzz
You just made me understand why I can't stand him; besides the fact that he can't seem to make a decision without a team of people guiding his every thought, he IS a weak man that tries to play the public as a sad, empathetic child.
He's a little boy trapped in a grown man's body who can't seem to accept (as you so eloquently pointed out), that his image is FOREVER tarnished & there's NOTHING he can do to change some of the public's perception of him. I wish he'd STFU & play golf or whatever it is he likes to do in his spare time.
The nerve of him having bodyguards & FBI agents to 'protect him' from the very hoes he was happy to be laid-up with not long ago.
Report This
By: Mike on 4/08/2010 7:20AM
So Tiger is not above whoring out his dead dad to make a buck. Considering his dad repeatedly cheated on his wife, I guess you could say the chickens have come home to roost.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Paulie on 4/08/2010 11:34AM
Tiger has never one time admitted to his fathers culture. He refers to himself as Thai and to use his father now is unforgiveable. The day he consider himself Black is the day he may start to get some respect from the Black community.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: I don't know? on 4/08/2010 11:39AM
I would feel more sympothetic if he actually considered himself black, or at least had some relationship with the Black cummunity. I also think it's a little low to use his dead fathers voice to redeem himself. I do wish him the best.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: blackbear72 on 4/08/2010 8:43PM
Why does this guy write about golf? He says Tigers 4 Masters in 11 years is dramatically better then Jack Nicklaus's 6 in 24 years. Let me again correct his writing errors, this is Tigers 16th Masters and Jack played in 45 Masters. Jack won 5 times in his first 16 Masters compared to Tigers 4 in 15 Masters. So, comparing apples to apples Tigers Masters record is still not as good a Jacks, unless Tiger wins this week and then they are even. The last 20 Masters Jack played in were basically for nostalgia, but he still manages to win one of those 20. This does not like he says "goes further to remind us that Tiger Woods, in spite of his flaws, is the greatest golfer in the history of all mankind." If you go by false states maybe and that is usually what this writer banks on. Bobby Jones was the greatest golfer ever and always will be, he won 13 majors out of 29 he played in over a 10 year career and then retired from competitive golf. Tiger has won 14 majors in 54 events over 15 years. What record is better?
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: L on 4/08/2010 11:06PM
C'mon Boyce enough already!!
Reminding the world that Tiger is simply Earl's little boy? You ought to be ashamed of printing such BS!! We haven't forgotten and you haven't either that Tiger considered himself everything BUT BLACK!
Tiger is a grown man who was caught and should simply tell folks it's none of their business like all the other cheaters do, unfortunately he's a punk who's allowing Nike and his overpaid idiot advisors to pimp him and his dead daddy.
Those of us with an ounce of common sense don't buy Tiger's pitiful ad or the BS Boyce is printing here. The brand of Earl in Boyce's opinion may not be flawed but Boyce your brand certainly is attempting to justify Tiger's and Nike's ridiculous ad.
Shame on you Boyce we expect better from you!! Printing this kind of silliness, you need to stop tappin on the keys, and take a long vacation!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: STORMIE on 4/08/2010 11:20PM
THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS THAT NO MATTER
WHAT TIGER WOULD CONSIDER HIMSELF TO BE -
NONE OF YOU FOOLS WOULD BE IN ACCEPTANCE OF IT,
ANYHOW.
SO, WHAT DO YOU ALL CARE?
BUT, NOTHING!! GET A LIFE!!
Reply to this Comment | Report This