Monday Morning Halfback: Tiger still commands our attention, and picking the perfect hockey panel
Columnists discuss the enduring public fascination with Tiger Woods following his recent legal issues and the shifting landscape of Canadian sports media. The piece reflects on how celebrity culture and corporate contract negotiations are reshaping the sports industry.
Why it matters
It captures the intersection of celebrity culture, sports journalism, and the changing business models of major media networks.
The source of people’s continued fascination with Woods is that he has been the greatest athlete in the world, and then its most spectacularly failed athlete, Cathal Kelly writes. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Jamie Ross is the Globe’s Sports editor; Cathal Kelly is the national sports columnist.
J.R.: Cathal, Tiger Woods lost his driver’s licence for five years this week after a brief court appearance related to his latest car wreck.
You could hear the presses screech to a halt at the outcome, and the news interrupted whichever war the TV anchors were droning about. Has there ever been an athlete with this tight a grip on our attention?
C.K.: Jamie, the ability to command attention is now the ultimate power. If you can make people turn and look – for whatever reason, however debased – you occupy the highest perch in our culture.
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