Tiger's Indefinite Leave Clippings, Vol. 10

The media coverage debates are heating up and Rich Lerner admits to reading all of the tabloid coverage before fending off critics of the golf world's effort over the years:

Were there times when our reporting bordered on fawning? Yes. Did we miss or dismiss other worthwhile stories because we were focused on Tiger? Yes. But no one that I know called him a God. Great golfer, yes.  God, no. Were we surprised to learn of the extent of his affairs? Of course. Tiger ran in a circle that didn’t include any journalists that I know of.

Terry Lefton analyzes the cost for Accenture to drop Tiger and speculates on the future of sports endorsees after the scandal.

So why was Accenture the first to sever Tiger? Simple: Woods was Accenture’s sole marketing platform.

Then there was the matter of the creative from Young & Rubicam, which used phrases seemingly designed to engender double entendres in a sex scandal, like, “Go on. Be a Tiger,” or “Opportunity isn’t always obvious.” Additionally, Woods images were widely used on Accenture internal documents and in recruiting materials.

Another challenge was the media platforms selected. Sure, there was TV and print, but anyone who travels by air knows the Woods/Accenture ads are ubiquitous in American airports and in many overseas air terminals. Those will take months to swap out. So integrated was Woods with Accenture that internal estimates put the cost of unwinding the association in the tens of millions, and it is a process that also will take months.

Another determining factor: Accenture’s clients are probably more conservative than the general population; they include all but four of the Fortune 100. Also not lost on us is that Accenture has a woman as a CMO, Roxanne Taylor, and another key figure in Teresa Poggenpohl, executive director, global image. As women, they might be more sensitive to Woods’ indiscretions. More importantly, Poggenpohl is an architect of the original Woods/Accenture relationship, and we’re sure she is irate, especially since the Woods sponsorship and accompanying creative was widely lauded prior to the recent firestorm.

TLC Vision, another company with ties to Tiger vows to continue their relationship with the golfing great "without change" even as they filed for bankruptcy, reports Bloomberg's Dawn McCarty.

Steve Elling has a different take on the Arnold Palmer Invitational withdrawing Tiger's image from their website:

Last year, the quasi-incompetent organizers of the Torrey Pines event drew scathing and deserved fire for repeatedly using the likenesses of Woods and two other prominent players in marketing print ads, despite knowing full well the trio was not playing (Woods was still recovering from knee surgery). This time, Palmer's people removed Woods' likeness from the banner on the website, where tickets are sold. Simply put, nobody knows if and when Woods will next play, and using his image to hawk tickets is misleading. Removing his photo is not only reasonable from a marketing perspective, it's damned proper -- whatever the original motivations.

Jack Todd, The Vancouver Sun files arguably the most brutal attack on Tiger to date:

Someone wrote to me Friday to say that “we” have torn down the icon that is Tiger Woods. Nothing could be more wrong.

“We” might have built Tiger Woods into the monster of ego and greed he has become, but “we” had nothing to do with tearing him down. Woods did that himself, with his insatiable greed, his roving, relentless sexual appetite, his cynical use of his beautiful family as props to distract attention from what he was really doing.

In two or three years (if not sooner) most of this will be forgotten.

Woods will be divorced, he’ll have as many mistresses as he wants, he’ll go back to winning majors, raking in millions and endorsing half the products on the planet.

Why will he get away with it?

Because sports fans want someone to worship, and the bottom line is that they don’t care if the man inside is worse than Tony Soprano.

The WSJ blog takes a closer look at Tiger's legal damage control team.

People reported a wonderful sounding story about Tiger setting off to the Bahamas with some buds after stocking up at Costco. Unfortunately Radar posted photos of Privacy still docked.

Meanwhile in maybe the strangest report I've seen (and unsubstantiated elsewhere), Elin Woods is reported to have received a police escort to the airport. **Not surprisingly, this report was refuted by the Orange County Sheriffs.

And finally, the spoof endorsements are rolling in and even the Tiger-inspired poetry has arrived. Maybe that Franklin Mint plate collection isn't so far off.