Tiger Woods’ best plan of action

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It developed quickly into the top sports story of 2009, the stunningly fast decline of Tiger Woods as a national icon. There’s no way of knowing whether Woods has been following the advice of his inner circle or ignoring advice in his approach to dealing with the crisis in his marriage and an expansive list of reported extramarital affairs.

What is easy to see is that his apparent strategy -- a few non-specific press releases on his website offered up until the controversy dies down -- is a marked failure. The story is a recordbreaker for tabloid newspaper covers and continues to grow daily with reports of sponsorship defections and partnerships falling by the wayside.

While he hunkers down in seclusion at home in Florida, Woods’ personal life as well as his reputation are in tatters.

Much has been written about how Woods should have gone about dealing with this from the start, and a blog post on NewYorker.com by John Cassidy hits the nail on the head. Much of this has been written before, but it seems clear that the only way this situation can be put behind him is for Woods to get out of the bunker and address it, honestly.

Cassidy’s point is that Woods needs to make a very public appearance to address his ‘transgressions,’ ask for forgiveness and get back to doing the thing that made him the world’s No. 1 sports figure: playing golf.

It’s not going to go away on its own, and until Woods actually comes forward, the story will continue to play out as it has, continuing to drop the golfer further from the lofty perch he once inhabited.

-- Mike James