PR Genius...fantastic job. Tiger Woods controlled his message without creating a circus around it. And, going back for more "counseling" some period of time while the pr's take the pulse of public perception. Brilliant. Tiger has a sickness. He is realizing it. He is dealing with it. He is probable cranking up his golf practices right now. In 5 years he will likely be a stronger model than before. And to finish top it off was the long emotional hug with his mother.
Tiger Woods delivered his "apology" before a handpicked audience that included family, close friends and members of the professional golf community, but most importantly, business partners.
Sitting in the front row: his mother Kultida, on her right, Amy Reynolds, of Nike, cried through the speech. Kathy Battaglia, of Tiger Woods Enterprises, sat on his mother's left. Also in the front row: Rob McNamara (in a cream-colored blazer), PGA commissioner Timothy Finchem (in a red tie) and his close friend, and fellow Stanford University grad, golfer Notah Begay III (far left). And please, no other Black folk present...not "friends" Mike and Chuck.
Just how powerful is Tiger Woods - his 13 and a half minute apology was carried live on every major television network. Name me any other celebrity who can command such. One pro golfer was whining today that Tiger apology overshadowed this week's tournament - exactly - did you even know there was a tournament this week. The PGA can't wait for his return. It will be their largest rating ever.
He's human, he makes mistakes. I wish him AND his family all the best.
Raise your hands if you are tired of hearing about the Tiger Woods saga. I tried really hard to stay out of it. But after I heard the rumor that Tiger offered his wife millions of dollars to stay in their marriage, I had to chime in.
The first thing that comes to mind is that White women have a temper too. The thought crossed my mind that Tiger, like most Black men with White wives or girlfriends, figured that they could do anything they wanted and get over. Now it turns out that White women have their own weapons for dealing with cheating men. Black women are partial to a pot of hot grits or frying pans. It seems that White women have introduced the golf club as a weapon of choice. The hockey stick can't be far behind.
But seriously, studies have shown that women initiate domestic violence as often as men, that women use weapons more than men, and that 38 percent of injured victims are men. Maybe Chris Brown wasn't entirely the bad guy after all.
Resorting to violence has never been a viable option for me. Hitting women is not acceptable. And judges, the media, and the majority of the rest of the world agrees with me. Just walk away men.
And women, getting hit by men is unacceptable, but hitting men is unacceptable as well. If Tiger's wife really beat him with a golf club we should be as outraged as we were when we heard about Chris Brown and so should the news media.
Women if you angry, no mad enough at a man to hit a man, please realize that usually when you hit a person, they’re inclined to hit you back out of retaliation or reflex.
We really don't know what happened, but just maybe some charges should be filed against Mrs. Tiger since he showed signs of abuse, she should have to pay a fine, endure court proceedings and maybe that may make her rethink requesting $500 million dollars, he needs to be compensated for humiliation, and definitely his stupidity.
In what has already been a great year for New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, it got better still as he was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year award. He was chosen as the magazine's 56th honoree as the December 7 issue will hit newsstands on Wednesday. Jeter also is the first Yankee to be named SI's Sportsman.
Jeter's selection caps another outstanding season for the 35-year-old team captain and future Hall of Famer. In 2009 he batted .334 while leading the Yankees to their fifth World Series title in his 14 full seasons, and their record 27th in franchise history. On September 11 he passed Lou Gehrig's franchise mark for base hits, which now stands at 2,747. Derek Jeter led the American League by reaching base 289 times, finished second in the league in hits (212), third in batting average and on-base percentage (.406), fourth in runs (107) and eighth in stolen bases (30). He was named an All-Star for the 10th time, including the sixth time as a starter. He won his fourth American League Silver Slugger as the best hitting shortstop in the league and his fourth Gold Glove as the league's top defensive shortstop.
He lived up to his reputation as a clutch player, batting .344 with a .432 on-base percentage, three home runs and six RBIs. He batted .407 in the World Series to lead the Yankees to a six-game victory over the defending world champion Philadelphia Phillies. During the Series, Jeter was named the American League recipient of the Hank Aaron Award, given to the best hitter in each league, and the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, given to the player who best displays skill on the field while giving back to the community off it.
It was that combination of on and off-field achievement that helped make Jeter this year's winner. Derek Jeter has always presented himself with class. His Turn 2 Foundation is one of the most efficient, effective foundations of its kind; and he's extremely generous with not just his money but with his time.
Jeter is the first baseball player to win the award solo since Cal Ripken Jr. in 1995. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were co-winners in 1998, as were Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in 2001. The Boston Red Sox won as a team in 2004. The Sportsman of the Year award has been given annually since Sport's Illustrated began publishing in 1954. The first winner was track star Roger Bannister, and subsequent honorees include Arnold Palmer (1960), Muhammad Ali (1974), Wayne Gretzky (1982), Michael Jordan (1991), Tiger Woods (1996 and 2000, the only two-time recipient), Lance Armstrong (2002) and Tom Brady (2005). Last year's winner was record-setting Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
Last night Darius Rucker became the first Black singer to win New Artist of the Year at the Country Music Association Awards, joining the legendary Charley Pride as the only Blacks to win a major individual award. He took the stage to wild cheers from the crowd. Charley Pride won entertainer of the year in 1971 and male vocalist in 1971-72. Rucker’s first country album, "Learn to Live," sold more than 1 million copies.
Darius Rucker is best known for his role as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the band Hootie & the Blowfish since its formation in 1986. Along with his work in Hootie & the Blowfish. Rucker has recorded two solo albums. The first, Back to Then, was released in 2002 on Hidden Beach Recordings. Then Learn to Live followed in 2008 on Capitol Records Nashville. Its first three singles — "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", "It Won't Be Like This for Long" and "Alright" — have all reached Number One on the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart.
As the frontman, Rucker began to be called simply "Hootie" in the media and brought additional attention as the sole Black member of a rock band with otherwise White members. Musically, he was sometimes criticized or spoofed for not being "black enough". He also received death threats for singing the Hootie song "Drowning," a protest song against the flying of the Confederate flag above his native South Carolina statehouse.
In 2001, he made his solo R&B debut album, The Return of Mongo Slade, for Atlantic Records. Because of contractual changes, it was never released by the label. Hidden Beach Recordings, an independent label, acquired the masters from Atlantic and released the album as Back to Then in July 2002. The album included work from the production team of Jill Scott (A Touch of Jazz) and she made an appearance on the track "Hold On."
Darius Rucker made his debut in the famous Grand Ole Opry in July 2008. "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" reached Top 20 on the country charts in July 2008, making him the first Black singer to reach Top 20 on the country charts since Charley Pride in 1988. The single reached number one in September, making Rucker the first solo, Black artist to chart a number one country hit since Pride's "Night Games" in 1988.
Learn to Live was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on February 6, 2009, and received a platinum certification on August 7, 2009. Its lead single, "Don't Think I Don't Think About It", gave Rucker his first chart-topping country hit and was certified gold. The album's next single, "It Won't Be Like This for Long", spent three weeks at the top of the country charts in mid 2009. Its follow-up, "Alright", became Rucker's third straight number one hit, making him the first country music singer to have his or her first three singles reach number one since Wynonna Judd did in 1992. The album's fourth single, "History in the Making," was released in September. When Rucker found that "Don't Think I Don't Think About It" went to number one, he cried.
Darius Rucker is close friends with golfer Tiger Woods; they met in a bar when Woods was 18. Rucker sang at the golfer's wedding and at his father's funeral.
Not only have the Jamaicans replaced the Americans, both men and women, as the dominate force in the sprints of the track world but Usain Bolt shattered the 100 meter record at the Track and Field World Championships. It remains to be seen how far ahead of the rest of the field he will be in the 200 meters this week. The person who probably would have come in second, Tyson Gay, has pulled out of the race due to a “pulled groin muscle”. That is usually the case of the second place finisher in major sprinter. It all seems unlikely to me since his second place finish was the third fastest 100 meter in history.
It seems that Tiger Woods is human after all. He was beaten at the PGA Championship Sunday. This was the first time ever that Tiger has lost when leading the final round of a major golf championship. He was beaten by South Korean Y. E. Yang, who became the first Asian to win a major PGA championship.
Michael Vick rejoined the National Football League when he was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Oakland Raiders head coach broke the jaw of one of his assistants. A star NHL player robbed a cab driver for 20 cents. I’m happy to see idiots are not limited to the NFL and NBA. And Bret Favre is back. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings after all the retirement crap for another year. Probably just didn’t want to go through another training camp.
A high court in South Africa ruled on Wednesday that Chinese-South Africans in the country will be reclassified as ‘Black,’ a term that includes Black Africans, Indians and others who were subject to discrimination under apartheid. As a result of this ruling, Chinese will be able to benefit from government affirmative action policies aimed at undoing the effects of apartheid. In 2006, the Chinese Association of South Africa sued the government, claiming that its members were being discriminated against because they were being treated as Whites and thus failed to qualify for business contracts and job promotions reserved for victims of apartheid. The association successfully argued that, since Chinese-South Africans had been treated unequally under apartheid, they should be reclassified in order to redress wrongs of the past. The Chinese have thrown a lot of money into all parts of Africa in the past few years and are becoming an economic force throughout the world. Looks like in South Africa their money has out done Michael Jackson. They didn’t have to dye themselves to change color. And since Tiger Wood’s mom is Taiwanese, he can move to South Africa and become all-Black.
This is not the first time the ethnic status of Chinese in South Africa has changed. In fact, the racial classification of Chinese-South Africans has often shifted with the nation’s political climate and its international relations. The first significant group of Chinese came to South Africa in the early 20th century, before a formal system of apartheid existed, to work in the gold mines. They were not encouraged to settle permanently and by 1910 almost all the mine workers had been repatriated. Those who remained struggled with racism and lived in separate communities based on language, culture and socio-economic status.
As apartheid took hold with the ascendancy of the Afrikaner government in the late 1940s, the Chinese were classified as ‘colored,’ forced to live apart from Whites, and were denied educational and business opportunities along with the right to vote. But after South Africa established an economic alliance with Taiwan in the 1970s, Taiwanese immigrants were welcomed as “honorary Whites,” and other Chinese in South Africa began to be treated more like Whites. Although they never attained the formal “honorary White” status of Taiwanese, Koreans and Japanese in South Africa and couldn’t vote, Chinese-South Africans were no longer required to use segregated facilities, and in the early 1980s they were exempted from some of the discriminatory laws that applied to other non-Whites.
Since the apartheid ended in the early 1990s, the ethnic status of Chinese has remained in a gray area, though they’ve generally been lumped together with Whites and denied the post-apartheid benefits available to other non-White ethnic groups. Since 1994, South Africa has seen waves of immigrants and investment from China, and today there are as many as 300,000 Chinese living in the South Africa. But the new court decision is unlikely to benefit most of them or trigger another mass migration– it applies only to ethnic Chinese who were South African citizens before 1994 (and their descendants), a much smaller number of around 10,000 to 12,000.
After World War II, Asian babies with Black G.I. dads were shipped off to South America and South Africa, now…Wow, everyone wants to be Black!
Tiger Woods won the 108th U.S. Open golf championship after making birdie on the last hole of an 18-hole playoff to force sudden death and then beat Rocco Mediate on the first hole. He won his 14th major and stayed perfect, 14-for-14, when he has held at least a share of the lead after 54 holes. Woods moved one step closer to Jack Nicklaus's record of 18 major titles.
Woods had forced the 18-hole playoff for the crown with a birdie at the 72nd hole on Sunday evening, worked the magic again on Monday to claim his third US Open title and the 14th major championship of his career. "I think this is probably the best ever," said Woods, who willed himself to the victory despite debilitating pain in his surgically repaired left knee. "All things considered, I don't know how I ended up in this position," added Woods, who hadn't even walked 18 holes since the Masters until Thursday. "It was a long week. A lot of doubt, a lot of questions going into the week. And here we are, 91 holes later."
Oprah Winfrey remains No. 1 on Forbes’ list of the Celebrity 100, a power ranking based on both earnings and fame. Despite weakening television ratings and magazine circulation, Ms. Winfrey earned $275 million before taxes in the past 12 months, and she remains one of the most famous faces in the world. Ratings for the self-made billionaire's flagship production, The Oprah Winfrey Show, may have diminished, but her earning power appears bulletproof. She will debut the Oprah Winfrey Network in partnership with Discovery Communications next year. She also has a three-year, $55 million deal with XM Satellite Radio. Her Harpo production company helped create Dr. Phil and The Rachael Ray Show.
The Celebrity 100 is Forbes' list of the world's most powerful -- and best-paid -- celebrities. To generate the list, Forbes estimates celebrity earnings, then factors in media hype like Google hits, press mentions, TV/radio mentions and the number of times an A-lister appears on the cover of more than 50 consumer magazines. Earnings estimates are for June 2007 to June 2008 and consist of dollars earned solely from entertainment-related income.
Golf star Tiger Woods retained the No. 2 spot on the list, raking in $115 million. Tiger chalked up another monster year on and off the course in 2007. He won his ninth PGA Player of the Year award and a seventh Vardon Trophy (given to the PGA Tour's leader in scoring average) and was the top money winner for an eighth time. He added $10 million by winning the inaugural FedEx Cup. Off the links he parted ways with American Express after a decade together. He still has big contracts with Nike, Accenture, Buick and Gillette. His latest endorsement: a five-year agreement for his own line of Gatorade drinks.
Beyonce Knowles was No. 4 and husband Jay-Z was No. 7. Beyonce had a monster year, pulling in $80 million ($50 million in tickets sales alone) between a highly successful concert tour, private shows, a fashion line, endorsement deals with L'Oréal, American Express and others. Jay-Z left Def Jam Records to sign a $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation. The deal provides the rapper and entrepreneur with money for recording, tours and other entertainment endeavors for the next decade. He also released a second platinum comeback CD, American Gangster.
Will Smith, ranked 11th, is the highest paid actor in Hollywood, bringing home $80 million, including an estimated $20 million for his role in the upcoming anti-superhero flick "Hancock."
Hip-hop star 50 Cent was the third-highest earner on the list (he ranked 26th overall), taking in $150 million before taxes. Last summer Coca-Cola paid $4.1 billion for Glaceau, the beverage company that owns Vitamin Water. Fifty owned a small stake in the company.
