"I felt entitled."

During his closed door, no questions allowed “public” address three weeks ago, Tiger Woods used this reasoning to explain the choices he had made over the last two years. In his first interview since the incident just released by ESPN on Sunday, March 22, he again cited entitlement as his downfall.

If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the interview here:



The Breakdown

The combination of his previously aired public statement and this seemingly staged interview shows me that Woods continues to feel entitled. Because he is the most famous athlete in the world, he thinks he can answer his own set of questions to his own set of reporters. And he feels entitled to make his comeback at the single most controlled tournament of the year – reporters have been banned from Augusta for life for simply insulting the quality of the grass.

The Eyes

Why does it look like Woods’ eyes were intentionally pepper sprayed prior to the interview? Are we supposed to feel like he’s been crying for 4 months straight? Or that this is what a person looks like after going through 45 days of in-patient therapy? This attempt to evoke a sense of sympathy within only makes people angry.

The Answer

Tiger, until you tell the world how you came to crash your Escalade into a tree, and what it is you’re even being treated for, people are going to guess. They will keep drawing conclusions and continue making jokes. And although TMZ and ET are pretty harsh, you created this monster with your actions. When you were perfect, you were allowed space and put on a pedestal, but it’s gone now.

The time has come to lower yourself to the level of the fans: open up; be real. If you do, the public will open up their arms and help you get back to what you want to be.

"I can't suspend Matt Cooke for being a repeat offender, I have to find a reason. Right now our rules say that shoulders to head are legal." – NHL Head Disciplinarian, Colin Campbell, explaining the non-suspension to Matt Cooke.

Mr. Campbell, there’s also nothing in the rule book saying that I can’t poke the butt end of my stick into a player’s left eye. There are a lot of things that aren’t explicitly laid out in the rule book, but the rules do explicitly say that a player should not intentionally commit an act that could injure another. Is this not precisely why there is an NHL disciplinarian – to watch and police the rules of the game?

You’ve probably seen it many times, but here is another look at Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard:




Campbell compared it to a hit by Mike Richards on David Booth from earlier in the season in which he also handed out no suspension. He stated that since there was no punishment for that hit, the NHL had to be consistent and not discipline Cooke for the hit in question.

For comparison, here’s a look at Richards’ hit:



In conclusion, upon taking a closer look at the Cooke hit, he comes from the side at a player who doesn’t even have the puck, and he means to injure him. Not any regular, measurable injury either, like a broken bone or a sprain, this is a blow to the most delicate, important part of the body.

There should have been a suspension on both hits, and it should have sent a message. Unfortunately, the message now sent is this: “Until the end of the 2009-10 season, take your liberties with people’s heads. We can do nothing to stop you!”

For more on my thoughts on the headshot epidemic, read my previous post on headshots here.

The Vancouver Canucks lead the entire NHL in third period comebacks with 10 this season. 3 of them have come in the 5 games since the Olympic break. Punctuated by Tuesday’s 6-4 win, in which the team trailed twice by 3 goals, everyone is wondering how they’re able to keep doing it. Here are five theories:

1. Now that the players are past the Olympics and the substance testing, the Canucks’ Olympians are taking full advantage, and like BC Bud, BC Sudafed is the most potent stuff you can find.

2. The Canucks are attempting to single handedly reverse the over-referenced stat: “The team that scores the first goal of the game usually wins.”

3. Since the Olympic games, Roberto Luongo has been trying to emulate the thrill he felt in the gold medal game. The following conversation was overheard in the dressing room after Tuesday’s 3 goal comeback:

Henrik Sedin: So is that how the gold medal game felt, Roberto?

Roberto Luongo: Not even close, buddy.

(at the other end of the room Ryan Kesler growls and breaks a hockey stick over his knee)


4. The boys get sh*ts and giggles from seeing Vigneault’s head looking like it’s going to explode, and they keep one upping each other to make it happen. Case in point – the sharp angle goal let in by Luongo from Colorado’s Chris Stewart - he obviously let it in on purpose. Mason Raymond took it too far with the blatant giveaway at his own blueline, though, and he paid for it by only being played for one shift in the entire third period.

5. I went through the Sedins’ contracts and found this interesting tidbit:

“The Player shalt be paid a bonus in the amount of $100 for every point scored in the third period. If thou scores a point in either the first or the second period, nary a bonus shall be paid!”

I also discovered that NHL contracts are written in old Shakespearian English – who knew?