[golfgnome]

I have been, and will continue to be, a huge Tiger Fan. Not because of who he is off the course, but because of his work ethic and dedication to excellence on the course.

For those of you who feel like Tiger "owed" you an explanation or don't agree with his "moral compass" please remember what Charles Barkley said, "athletes should not be role models, parents should be."

I would love to see what history would be like if the internet were around when some of our "heroes" were in their prime. Babe Ruth, John F. Kennedy, and countless other public figures have "failed" in the eyes of the public. We are a forgiving society and I think it is time to be fair.

Does Tiger make Millions of dollars? Of course he does, does he make that money because of his "squeaky clean image"? Probably not. He makes bank because he is the best player on the planet. PERIOD! Kobe Bryant was charged with rape and we (society) forgave him.

What many of you fail to recognize is that there is no way any of us could possibly imagine what it would be like to live in the spotlight like he has. For those of you throwing stones, do you think all of the decisions you make would be the same if there was someone watching you 24/7?

Tiger has raised millions of dollars for charity on his own and the PGA Tour has donated millions more because of Tiger Woods. The world is a far better place with him than without him. Can we all learn a valuable lesson from this? Absolutely. Can we all learn more from his charity and game? Absolutely. Should we all just leave him alone to deal with this in the private manner he has requested? ABSOLUTELY.