Tiger’s Troubles

There’s a line from the book “Barbarians at the Gate” that says, “In this world we worship success but what we root for is failure.” Truer words have never been spoken when it comes to our celebrities. Take for example Tiger Woods. I’ll be up front and tell you I have not always been a Tiger fan and for kind of personal reasons. Years ago when he was at the height of his success in golf he was playing a couple of hours away from here in a kind of pro-am tournament; nothing serious. A charity I was helping was going to be there and I suggested at a committee meeting that the person from the charity who was going to see Tiger bring a box of golf balls. I said, “Approach Tiger or one of his staff members and ask them if he would sign the three golf balls so we could auction them off. Better yet see if he’ll tap them with a putter so we could say Tiger actually hit these balls.” I thought it was a brilliant idea but when the person approached Tiger’s team they were flatly denied.

It was probably unfair of me to blame Tiger for that. Being a superstar he probably was getting asked to do a million things to help a million people back then so his people were conditioned to throw up roadblocks and say no. Still in the year or two that followed every time someone else beat Tiger at a tournament I’d secretly think, “See you should have helped us out. Karma.” I guess I can be a jerk that way. I’m working on that.

Jump ahead a bit and Tiger crashes his car one night, news of his marital issues explodes on the front page of the newspaper and he pretty much hasn’t won anything since.

Now I see a new headline, “Tiger in rehab,” and for the first time my heart is going out to the man. You see Tiger Woods, like so many of our neighbors and friends and children, is struggling with prescription drug addiction. We have a crisis in this country and I guess we shouldn’t be surprised that even someone as rich and famous as Tiger fell into the opioid trap.

I don’t know Tiger Woods but if I did I would tell him his addiction is a gift. I would explain to him that there are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of people, quietly struggling with drug addiction and it didn’t come from a drug dealer down by the river or someone selling drugs behind the dumpster. It came from the local pharmacy or at least that’s how it started. And his addiction and publically seeking help is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on what’s happening all over this country and shake people awake to the crisis; especially politicians.

Whatever we are spending on opioid addiction and treatment is not enough. The epidemic of overdoses is shocking. Think about it, if someone sold a type of cell phone charger that killed 20 people across the nation we’d have recalls and warnings in every TV newscast until every last one was unplugged. Yet here we have people dying every day of opioid addiction and the best answer we have is to order more Narcan.

The other night I was watching someone on TV go on another rant about Trump and Russia and the need for another hearing. While I appreciate the grave concern about another country meddling with our elections I applauded when the host of the show asked the politician what they are doing in his state about opioid addiction and overdoses.

These are the battles we need to be waging and I’m shocked what is happening in these small towns isn’t getting more attention. I’m not sure how many people have to die sitting in their cars before we notice. According to the Centers for Disease Control heroin overdose deaths went up 400% since 2010. In 2015 13,000 people died. Think about that number. We go nuts when a dozen people get sick at Chipotle.

So from here on out I’m on Team Tiger. I want him to get better and healthy and beat back this addiction and I hope he does so in a very public way. I want people who don’t live in mansion or drive expensive cars to see this can happen to anyone and anyone can beat it if they ask for help.

If you or someone you know is addicted and needs help there is a hotline you should call, 1-800-662-HELP. The line is open 24/7 and 365 days a year and someone will answer. They will also help you find help in your area to win this struggle.

Tiger Woods was famous for hitting a golf ball and winning tournaments. His greatest triumph could be winning this struggle with addiction.