When Elin Nordegren made the decision to break her silence about the end of her marriage to Tiger Woods, she didn’t call Oprah, but she did contact a familiar name for celebrity tell-alls. Nordegren, who successfully petitioned the judge in her divorce case to resume using her maiden name, initiated contact with People magazine and appears on the cover of the latest issue to tell her story of what happened to her after the infamous car accident in November, 2009.

Sandra Sobieraj Westfall  of People  met with Nordegren for about 19 hours to record her thoughts and feelings about her husband’s randy behavior and its effects on her both physical and emotional well being.

Westfall appeared on NBC’s Today show Wednesday, to explain how it came about and what the cover story was meant to accomplish.

Nordegren intended to clear the air after months of rumors and public discussion about what should have been the most private of affairs.

The People writer told Today’s Ann Curry:

“She really wanted people to know three things right off the bat: She’s not violent; she’s never hit him; she had no idea any of this was going on — as embarrassing as it is for her to admit that, she never suspected.”

Elin’s other main point was that her marriage to the world’s number one golfer was real. She knew she was in love with Woods and believed he felt the same.  They always discussed having a family and she made that her main focus during the term of her marriage.

She rejected any public life that included anything other than appearances with her husband at golf tournaments and social functions associated with them. Occasionally the couple appeared at sporting events such as Orlando Magic NBA games and the U.S. Open tennis championship to support Woods’ friend Roger Federer.

In accordance with the terms of the final divorce decree, formalized only two days prior to the magazine story, Nordegren refused to discuss the terms, except for the most general of information about child custody. She told Westfall that she and Tiger agreed to share custody of their daughter Sam, 3, and son Charlie, 18 months.  Estimates of the financial settlement have ranged from $100 million to upwards of three-quarters of a billion. The lower figure is more likely to be true, according to Darren Rovell, of CNBC.

No matter what the sum, Nordegren told People, “Money can’t buy happiness or put my family back together.” Nordegren is attending college and working toward a bachelor’s degree in psychology.  She entered counseling after the Thanksgiving weekend that changed her life and those sessions enabled her to give her children what would have to pass for some normalcy after they moved out of the house they all shared. While the couple made attempts to reconcile the efforts were futile because their union was “without trust and love.”

Despite rumors that she intended to take the children to her native Sweden, Nordegren will reside close to her ex-husband to facilitate the child custody arrangement. Nordegren told the magazine that this may be the only time she speaks about her failed marriage to Woods; she fully intends to retreat back into private life now. 

As for Woods, he is competing in this weekend’s Barclays tournament in northern New Jersey. The Barclays is the first of four playoff events to determine the winner of a $10 million prize as well as crown the world’s best golfer for 2010.

For the complete interview, pick up a copy of People Magazine at your local stands on Friday, August 27th.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Now that the Tiger’s divorce is finalized will he legally prowl the streets of Cougartown?

And what about golf?

Should the PGA’s most recent icon be concerned he’s been hitting the ball like Charles Barkley lately? The ladies man is single now and that may become more important.

Unless you’ve been hibernating in a cave since November you’re aware of the excessive prowling Tiger did while he was in the state of holy matrimony. Now imagine how many of those nights a single Tiger is capable of pulling off.

One of Tiger’s fellow golfers, John Daly, who overcame a “slight” drinking disorder, has been expressing himself with his wardrobe which stole the headlines throughout a recent tournament overseas. Maybe Daly’s funky wardrobe is part of his 12-step program.

So how will Tiger express himself?

He may choose to sit around cracking his knuckles while readjusting to a laid-back new life or if he’s ready to move on and really unwind; he could always borrow a piece of Daly’s wardrobe to hit the streets and go out on the hunt.

“The Tigerhood of the Traveling Pants”

Tiger Woods is the modern day Casanova and was named Athlete of the Decade.

As one of the highest paid athletes in the world, with earnings closing in on $1 billion, he could wine and dine his dates with bottles of Cristal and pearl-filled oysters. At the minimum we’ve been told he’s good for a ‘sext’ message booty call.

While we’re doing a run-down and preview of the man and his goods, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room. Some of the mistresses in his life have said he’s packing some major heat. With the endurance to juggle up to 14ish women at a time while wearing a wedding band on his finger, it’s no wonder that he is. . . . was. . . a top athlete on the PGA circuit.

It doesn’t matter that Tiger is no longer the greatest golfer in the world. The guy is a stud in the bedroom and that’s all that seems to matter to most of the country and us drooling media.

At the end of the day, he’s capable of bringing the ladies home. . . . or to a hotel. . . or on his yacht, or wherever he wants to take them.

But what is in the forefront of these future ladies’ minds?

Are they thinking white gowns and a walk up an aisle or loads of cash with a Gucci purse full of bottomless credit cards?

Elin Nordegren just finalized the divorce this summer and is probably taking a huge chunk of that pile of cash and the kids but some guys would say that’s a fair trade to get laid by virtually almost any woman walking the planet. And even after the heist, Elin still leaves Tiger a young, multi-zillionaire with a huge dong.

To a lot of guys that sounds like heaven. No longer having the responsibility of taking care of a wife and kids, having more money than some countries and presented with the opportunity to try to break Wilt Chamberlains alleged record of laying 20,000 women.

Maybe Rod Stewart was predicting the future when he sang his 1984 Top Ten hit, “Some Guys Have All the Luck.”

Logan Rhoades and Jay Donetelli contributed to this article.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

Tiger Woods shot a five over par 77 on the final day of the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. His four-day total of 18 over par is his worst showing at a PGA 72 hole event, both as a pro and as an amateur.

Playing with Anthony Kim in Sunday’s final round, Woods hit shots that some observers thought were amateurish, not just poor. Kim came in two shots better than Tiger on the day.

Speaking to media after the round, Kim opined that once Tiger’s personal life gets in order, we will all see the return of the king.

Tiger has trouble driving, not off the tee this time

Has he hit bottom yet? Fans can only wonder if even Tiger Woods knows the answer to that question.

His highly anticipated return to the 2010 PGA Tour began with a fourth place at the 2010 Masters. It’s hard to remember after this weekend’s showing that he actually shot 11 under par at Augusta National.

Earl Woods asks hard questions in Nike ad (video)

Tiger watchers thought him a bit rusty and lacking in his short game. What would they give for him to seem that rusty four months into his season?

His game seems to have fallen off a cliff in the last thirty days. At The Open Championship in St. Andrews, he managed a three under par for the tournament. It looks like a respectable showing now in hindsight.

Woods’ embarrassing fall from grace off the golf course has now turned into a full blown downward spiral on the golf course. Some athletes can play themselves through turbulence and scandal. Kobe Bryant is one example of that.

Minister to sex addicts thinks Tiger’s quick comeback means the end to his marriage

Flying in from a full day at a Colorado criminal courthouse, the Lakers star shot the lights out within hours after getting off a plane and arriving at Staples Center.

For Tiger it is different. There are no teammates to encourage him and share the burden of winning. His personal life is completely different than it was only eight short months ago and golfers can be creatures of habit.

What seems more embarrassing now, his robot-like press conference or this weekend’s tournament results? Hard to tell at this point.

Some have derisively suggested that he go back to his womanizing days to find comfort in what seemed to be the only outlet he had when he wasn’t playing golf. Who is to say what will work but one thing is for sure, nothing is working now.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

The ESPY Awards kicked off on time at the Nokia Theater in downtown Los Angeles. Host Seth Meyers treated the audience to an opening monologue that could have been written for “Saturday Night Live”.

It was edgy, filled with plenty of references to Tiger Woods, who wasn’t there and there were many jokes at the expense of ESPN, the network that produces and broadcasts the show. All of them related to “The Decision”.

Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd appeared in a taped piece that parodied the awkward interview of LeBron James by Jim Gray. Others who were teased by Meyers were Brett Favre, yes he showed up, Olympic snow boarder Shaun White and even race car driver, Danica Patrick.

The first award of the evening was presented to Tennessee Titan’s running back, Chris Johnson. His category was Best Breakthrough Athlete. Johnson is going through a very public contract dispute with his employer but it didn’t keep voters from acknowledging him as one of the few 2000+ yard runners in NFL history.

The award for the Best Record-Breaking Performance was given to John Isner and Nicolas Mahut for the mind boggling first round match at this year’s Wimbledon Championships.  Their match took more than 11 hours to complete, stretched over three days. It ended with the score of 70-68 in the fifth set.

The Best Sports Moment of the Year was given to Landon Donovan for his game winning goal against Algeria. Donovan connected in the 91st minute of the match and sent the U.S. team to the second round of the World Cup tournament. Most of the team went up on stage to accept the award.

The ESPY Awards are fun and meant to award achievements in and around sports. However, there are loftier goals that are noted by the ESPY’s. The Arthur Ashe Courage Award and the Jimmy V Comeback Award are given to people who personify the traits of the men for whom the awards are named.

This year’s Ashe Award recipients are the family of Ed Thomas, the Iowa high school football coach who took a town on his back after an unthinkable tragedy. He ultimately was the victim of another.

Thomas’ town of Pakersburg, Iowa was leveled by an EF-5 tornado in the summer of 2008. He lost his home and the high school at which he taught and coached looked like it wouldn’t host another game, never mind be ready for the first game of the 2008 season.

Slideshow of ESPY Red Carpet attendees

He worked tirelessly to keep the town’s 2000 citizens focused and together. On cue, the football team took the field and didn’t just play the season, they went 11-1. It gave solace and solidarity to the town.

But one year later, he was shot to death by a former student who suffered from a mental illness. Thomas’ sons and wife not only consoled each other but made certain to reach out to the parents of the boy who had taken Ed’s life

They never even considered vilifying the troubled young man or his parents. It’s a small town, you see and the word “neighbors” means something special in Parkersburg.

The Thomas family led the town’s grieving as well as healing process and gave new meaning to “turn the other cheek”.

This year’s Jimmy V Comeback Award was given to Denver Nuggets’ head coach, George Karl. He was stricken with cancer for the second time within a few years and it kicked his butt.

He had to bow out of leading his team through the end of the season as well as the 2010 playoffs. The Nuggets struggled without him and were bounced in the first round.

Karl had already beaten prostate cancer and lived through his son Coby’s two surgeries for thyroid cancer. But the throat and neck cancer he contracted tested him like nothing else.

Forty rounds of radiation burned through his skin, took his voice and he thought the cure would kill him before the disease.

He appeared on stage in the shadow of the Jimmy V banners and talked of the support he has had as well as his hopes for how to find and fund a cure for the dread disease.

It’s clear he’s ready to return to the rat race that is the NBA season but he will forever be changed.

Used with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax, LLC

AUGUSTA, GA. – Charles Barkley ripped on Billy Payne, one of the execs from The Masters golf tournament, referring to Payne as being a “punk-ass” and calling him an “Uncle Tom” and a “Master on the plantation”.

Midway through his rant he added, “I wish somebody would just walk up to him and just punch him in his face.”

‘Sir Charles’ knows all about punching people in the face.

In 1991, the ex-NBA star was arrested after breaking a man’s nose during a fight after a game when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Barkley found similar trouble again in 1996 when during a night out on the town with the U.S. Olympic Basketball team, he was arrested for getting into a fight at a Cleveland dance bar.

Just for honorable mention sake, we’ll make quick mention of the incident in Orlando when he was charged with assault after being accused of throwing a man through a plate-glass window on Church Street.

Back to Charles’ rant against Payne.

Yeah, Charles, the PGA and golf in general is an arrogant and smug sport but let’s not slug a guy in the face just for saying that Tiger Woods, “did not live up to the expectations of the role model we saw for our children” because society expects certain behavior from guys like you and Woods when you’re raking in mega-millions of cash over your careers.

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

AUGUSTA, GA. – At the Masters on Friday, Tiger Woods was spared the exposure of more airplane banners chiding him for his recent behavior.

The FAA grounded the light airplane that had dragged banners across the sky above Augusta National.

On Thursday, those banners highlighted Woods’ sexual escapades with slogans like:

“Sex Addict? Yeah. Sure. Me Too.”

“Tiger, Did You Mean Bootyism?”

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a minor mechanical problem kept the airplane grounded on Friday.

During his radio program on Friday, Dan Patrick said he had been told that a banner was to go out on Friday that ridiculed Stevie Williams, Tiger’s caddy. Williams had denied knowing a thing about his boss’ exploits in an interview with 60 Minutes.

According to Patrick, the banner would have mocked that assertion.

By the way, golf was played and the feel-good stories of Fred Couples and Tom Watson got pushed aside on Friday. Both men shot over par to slip down the leader board, making way for others who surged ahead.

The golf course was tougher on Friday with faster greens, difficult pin placements and wind gusts that disrupted everything from tee to green.

Filling out the top 9 places after 36 holes are:

Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are tied for first at -8. Tiger Woods, K.J. Choi, Phil Mickelson, Anthony Kim and Ricky Barnes are tied for third at -6. Y.E. Yang ended the day at -5. Tom Watson, Fred Couples, and Soren Kjeldsen are tied for 9th at -2.

Because of the difficult conditions on Friday there were only a few golfers who made any sort of big move. Poulter carded a 68 after going -4, Lee Westwood shot a 69, 3 under par while Woods, Kim and Barnes came in at -2 for a 70 on the day.

The cut is projected to be +3 leaving many big time players out of the weekend play. Some of those projected to miss the cut at +4 and above are Padraig Harrington (+5), Stewart Cink (+8), Vijay Singh at +10 and Jim Furyk at a whopping (+12).

Re-printed with permission of the author.

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

Tiger Woods called Arnold Palmer to apologize for not competing in his upcoming tournament at Bay Hill. Woods instead will make his post-sex scandal comeback at Augusta national Golf Club where he will play in the Masters April 8-11.

The world’s No. 1 ranked golfer player and Associated Press Athlete Of The Decade made the announcement in a prepared statement yesterday.

“The Masters is where I won my first major and I view this tournament with great respect. After a long and necessary time away from the game, I feel like I’m ready to start my season at Augusta,” said Woods.

“The major championships have always been a special focus in my career and, as a professional, I think Augusta is where I need to be, even though it’s been a while since I last played.”

Woods will have to work out the rust while trying his best to ignore all the certain distractions surrounding his personal life and infidelities while trying to win in a tournament he has not won since 2005.

Woods has not competed since Nov. 15 when he won the Australian Masters in Melbourne.

A few weeks after that win, he was involved in a one-vehicle accident in front of his home, where his wife Elin Nordegren admitted smashing out the window of his Cadillac SUV with a golf club.

The couple would soon become the main attraction for both mainstream media and tabloid journalists after several women came forward admitting to affairs with the golfer.

After avoiding the media and going into hibernation for several weeks, Woods finally confessed to the affairs after voice mail messages involving he and one of his alleged lovers were made public.

After avoiding the media for several more weeks, he put together a monitored conference that felt more like a funeral than an apology where several friends and family members attended to listen to him read a rehearsed statement. After the reading,  the golfer refused to accept any questions from the couple of hand-picked members of the media.

The Arnold Palmer Invitational that Woods is skipping is a tournament he has won the last two years and six times overall. This will be the first time Woods has not played in PGA Bay Hill event that is a short drive from his home in Isleworth.

“I called both Joe Lewis and Arnold Palmer and expressed my regrets for not attending the Tavistock Cup and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. I again want to thank them both for their support and their understanding,” said Woods. “Those are fantastic tournaments and I look forward to competing in them again.”

In a recent interview, the Golf Channel asked Palmer about that conversation. “He had some zip in his voice,” Palmer told the network.

“He sounded just fine. He knows what he wants to do with his life and the way he’s going to handle it, and I guess we’re going to give him that respect. I would think for Tiger it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be something that’s going to take him a little time to get used to. He expressed his regret for not being able to play. He said that he was sorry, that he really didn’t feel his game was up to speed to start playing this early.”

More Tiger:

Woods Apology Felt More Like a Funeral  – Sports Climax

Woods Voted AP Athlete of the Decade – Sports Climax

Copyright ©2010 Sports Climax™

LAKELAND, Fla. – Coming off a bad incident that occurred during the Detroit Tigers’ late season run for a playoff spot last year, power hitter Miguel Cabrera has been campaigning with the media to clear the air.The All-Star first baseman while playing in the midst of a giant $152.3 million contract was arrested after blowing a 0.26 blood-alcohol reading which is approximately 3 times more than the Michigan legal limit for driving. He also had bruises that were speculated to be from a domestic dispute he was involved in.

After Tigers’ GM Dave Dombrowski picked Cabrera up from the slammer, Cabrera apologized to his teammates for the incident.

The timing of the event couldn’t have been any worse. The Tigers were battling the Minnesota Twins for a playoff spot when it occurred then went on to lose the AL Central after losing the tiebreaker game against Minnesota.

Cabrera spent the off season undergoing counseling and says he gave up drinking.

“You guys write in the paper ‘alcoholic,’ that’s not right,” said Cabrera. “I don’t know how to explain, but it’s not an alcohol problem.”

“When you want something and you know what you’re doing is bad, you say this thing is not right, this thing is not going to help me in my work,” he said. “So first you’ve got to think about yourself. First you help yourself and then you can help everybody.”

Referring to earlier interviews with the Detroit media, Cabrera said, “I was comfortable talking about everything because I think you can’t hide it. I can’t hide what I’m doing; I can’t lie to people when they see something. If I worry about what everybody is saying, there is going to be a lot on my mind. I don’t want that. I want to do everything I can to play baseball.”

The 26-year-old Cabrera started his career at the age of 20 when he played in 87 games for the Florida Marlins in 2003 and is now recognized as one of MLB’s most fearsome hitters.

Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland agrees with Cabrera’s decision to confront his personal matter head-on with the media. “He took on a challenge that he needed to take on. That’s a sign of maturity,” said Leyland.

“I know it was wrong what I did. but I can’t hide that, you know?” Cabrera said. “It’s there, so I have to be a man and say the truth, and say I made a mistake and I’ll work in the season to be better. It’s part of life to be a man and don’t try to hide something if it’s broken.”

Are you listening Tiger Woods and Ari Fleischer?

Mark Steinberg, agent of one Eldrick Tiger Woods, announced that his client will meet this Friday with a small group of people in Florida at the home of the PGA Tour.The Associated Press reported that Woods will take no questions and expects to explain his past and apologize for his actions.

Although three wire services are invited, Steinberg has asked that a pool be set up by the golf writers. Only one camera will record the session and be available for distribution by satellite.

Fellow golfers had hoped Woods would meet off-site of any tournament that he decided to attend prior to his return to the PGA Tour.

They are getting that wish granted EXCEPT that the meeting on Friday is smack dab in the middle of the Accenture Match Play Championships in Arizona.

And similarly to Woods’ pronouncements posted on his web site, this explanation and apology session will not be interactive.

Hot topics for questions that won’t be asked: did he receive treatment for an addiction, what is his post-treatment recovery consist of, what is happening in his marriage and what his golf schedule will look like this year.

The question Sports Climax has is this; ‘Why even bother meeting the media if you are just reading or making a statement? You can do the same on a video feed without the pads and pens in the room.”

Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles. 

The story of Phil Mickelson being called a cheat by a fellow golfer has circulated this week at the PGA Tour’s Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

Mickelson is using a wedge with square grooves rather than V-shaped grooves. The square-grooved clubs were banned by the U.S Golf Association (USGA) except for those that were manufactured by Ping prior to April 1, 1990.

That exception was agreed to by the USGA after it was sued by Ping. All square-grooved clubs but the Ping wedge are now illegal on the U.S. PGA Tour.

David Feherty, CBS golf analyst told television viewers on Saturday that the old grooves keep more grass from coming between the club and the ball as it comes off the ground.

Yahoo! Sports reports that Mickelson and at least four other golfers have the controversial clubs in their bags for the tournament. Cue the howls of others, one of whom actually called Phil a cheat. Scott McCarron spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday and said: “It’s cheating and I’m appalled Phi has put it in play.”

A fan favorite for years and seen by many as more accessible and pleasant than Tiger Woods, Mickelson is being counted on by the PGA to keep sponsors, fans and television viewers attending and watching the events in the absence of the big kahuna, Tiger Woods.

Mickelson went on the defensive Friday with media and admitted that he is taking advantage of the loop hole but reminded everyone that he follows the rules of golf, if not in spirit, at least literally.

The PGA buttressed that with a statement on Saturday castigating McCarron but not by name. The full statement can be found here. It says in part: “criticisms characterizing their use as a violation of the Rules of Golf as promulgated by the USGA are inappropriate at best.

In the meantime, Mickelson who has carefully cultivated his good guy image is being asked questions that seem strange to him. There’s a way to fix that. Ditch the Ping.

 Paula Duffy is a national sports columnist for Examiner.com and the Huffington Post and regularly comments on sports/legal matters for radio affiliates of ESPN and Fox Sports. She founded the sports information site, Incidental Contact, is the author of a line of audio books designed for sports novices and in her spare time practices law in Los Angeles.