Michael Jordan Caused Tiger Woods' Fall? Nonsense!

Don't blame Michael Jordan For Tiger's Fall


It's ridiculous to blame Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley for Tiger Woods' love of gambling, waitresses, Playmates and porn stars.

Long before there were commercials telling kids to "be like Mike," Las Vegas built a three-mile strip of luxury hotels specifically to house and entertain men who love gambling, waitresses, Playmates and porn stars.

Blaming Jordan and Barkley for Tiger's indiscretions is the equivalent of fingering the pair for the wetness of water.

It's silly, naive and dishonest.

And that's my impression of the long-winded Tiger Woods expose in the May issue of Vanity Fair Magazine.

Oh, it was fascinating, too. I devoured the whole thing and highly recommend that you pick up a copy. Just carry with you a heavy dose of skepticism when reading the perspective attributed to John Merchant, a self-proclaimed former Tiger advisor.

Merchant, 77, is the lawyer who points a finger at Jordan and Barkley for the demise of Tiger's squeaky image.

"I told (Tiger), 'Stay away from that son of a bitch (Jordan), because he doesn't have anything to offer to the f***ing world in which he lives except playing basketball, which he did yesterday,' " Merchant told Vanity Fair. "Are they (Jordan and Barkley) his black role models? You've got to be kidding me."

Merchant is black and apparently quite bitter about being cut out of the Tiger gravy train in 1996, shortly after Tiger signed his $40 million endorsement deal with Nike.

Using an unidentified source, the Vanity Fair story paints the picture that Merchant was discarded by Team Tiger because Merchant righteously insisted that $1 million of Nike's $40 million go to a minority golf initiative rather than Earl Woods, Tiger's father.

Merchant boldly claims that he could've steered Tiger clear of temptations of the flesh.

"I honestly believe, if I had been there these things would not have happened," Merchant is quoted as saying. "Why? Because I don't give a good goddam about Tiger's money. I care about Tiger the person, who has earned the right to be respected. Everybody he talks to has to protect their paycheck. I loved that boy. I watched him grow over the years. I watched him relate to his father. I see all of that destroyed."

OK, now we're getting to the heart of my problem with pinning Tiger's mess on Jordan and Barkley.

Tiger had a heavily involved father who passed away when Woods was 30. Pardon the cliche: apples don't fall far from trees.

Earl Woods left his first wife and three kids to build a new life with Tiger's mother. Earl Woods, according to this same Vanity Fair story, seemed to share Tiger's affinity for hot and loose women.

We're blaming Jordan and Barkley? What about Earl Woods?

No parent is perfect. Good parents make mistakes along the way. It's my belief that Earl Woods was a good father who made several critical mistakes along the way.

He crippled Tiger with expectations only Jesus could live up to.

"Tiger will do more than any other man in history to change the course of humanity," Earl Woods told Sports Illustrated at the beginning of Tiger's career.

No doubt, all of us in the media should've called bull(spit) on Earl's assertion at the time he said it. Some members of the media did. I'm ashamed I was not one of them.

Why didn't I? Part of me assumed Earl was just talking (spit). Another part of me wanted Tiger to be Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis rolled into one. Important athletes make sportswriting important.

Tiger Woods as transcendent athlete is good for my line of work.

Looking back, we should not be surprised that Tiger lost himself in narcissistic sexual pleasure. His dad wanted him to be Jesus. Preachers' kids often rebel with sexual promiscuity, alcohol and drugs.

That's my fear. That Tiger's demons are worse than his appetite for easy women.

After his press conference in February, I wrote a column comparing Woods to Michael Jackson. No one blamed Elvis Presley or Quincy Jones for Jackson's fall from grace.

We blamed Joe Jackson, Michael's father.

Is there a difference between Joe Jackson and Earl Woods?

Both focused on raising entertainers more than human beings.


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Sources: Fox Sports, MSN, Google Maps

Elin Woods Hires Celebrity Divorce Lawyer...Sluts Win!

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Elin Nordegren Woods hires top celebrity divorce lawyer over star's £337million fortune


Tiger Woods's estranged wife could get up to £169 million of his fortune after calling in California's top divorce lawyer, it was claimed today.

Elin Nordegren is believed to be meeting celebrity attorney Sorrell Trope - who has represented Nicole Kidman and Britney Spears - in the hope of obtaining half of what the golf star has earned in the five years they have been married.

The 29-year-old former model is also likely to file for divorce in California where the couple have a home, and not in Florida, where they live.

Under California law, the 'no-fault divorce' means there is an equal division of assets and property.

This could mean any pre-nup agreement Ms Nordegren has signed with Woods, 33, could be torn up and she could get half of the £337.5 million fortune.

Mr Trope, 82, is said to be the 'best divorce lawyer in the business'.

Elin is also believed to be in talks with sportswear manufacturer Puma about becoming the face of its Swedish-inspired clothing line Tretorn, according to website TMZ.

To add to the billionaire's woes, a 48-year-old blonde, Theresa Rogers, became the oldest woman to be linked with the golfer.

Woods, 33, is said to be living apart from wife, Elin, 29, and a removal van was parked outside Woods's family home in Windermere, Florida, yesterday prompting speculation that his wife was moving out.

The speculation is that she is planning to return to her native Sweden, where she recently bought a house.

A TV news helicopter flying over the £1.7million house spotted the white van in the driveway.

Workmen were seen removing what looked like several pieces of art from the waterfront mansion.

Mrs Woods, who had earlier been spotted out with her two-year-old daughter Sam having lunch at a Thai restaurant, was supervising the men.

There was no sign of Woods at the house. He has not been seen for more than two weeks after crashing his luxury 4x4 into a fire hydrant and tree and sparking lurid allegations about his private life.

Meanwhile, Miss Rogers claimed to a friend she taught Tiger all he knew in the bedroom.

Miss Rogers is said to have been married several times and is described as a mother and 'fitness nut'.

She was said to have had the longest affair with Woods, lasting more than five years with flings both before and after his 2004 marriage.

'She just wanted to be the woman who schooled Tiger in the bedroom,' the friend was reported to have said.

Sources close to the star claim he is 'only just coping'. One told the New York Post: 'He sees everything is crashing down around him. His career, his family.'

It also emerged last night that Woods allegedly paid women regularly to be discreet about the affairs.

Several mistresses reportedly said they received between £3,000 to as much as £13,000 a month in hush money from the golfer.

'The money comes via a wire transfer,' one woman told MSNBC in the U.S.

In among all this, the golfer suffered a new blow when it was revealed that a doctor who performed a controversial 'blood-spinning' procedure on his knee injury was under investigation by the FBI for providing athletes with steroids.

Although there is no suggestion Woods has taken performance-enhancing drugs, he may still have to explain his relationship with Canadian sports specialist Dr Anthony Galea to investigators.

The doctor made at least four 'house visits' to Woods' home earlier this year to treat the golfer's troublesome knee injury with his platelet-rich plasma injection therapy.

The contentious treatment involves spinning blood in a centrifuge and reinjecting it into injured joints in the hope of accelerating healing.

Dr Galea, 50, was arrested in October and his Toronto clinic was raided after an assistant was stopped at Canada's U.S. border and was allegedly found to be in
possession of illegal drugs.

These included the human growth hormone and Actovegin, a substance extracted from calf's blood that is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

He is suspected of providing athletes with banned drugs and is expected to appear in court on Friday.

Woods's advisers reportedly asked Dr Galea - known in sporting circles as the 'miracle man' - to treat the sports star because they were concerned about his slow rehabilitation from knee surgery in June last year.

The sports doctor said he used a centrifuge from a local doctor in Orlando, Florida, to carry out the platelet therapy.

He said he drew blood from Woods, spun it to increase the platelet's count and then injected a small amount directly into the golfer's left knee.

Blood spinning has long been a controversial procedure in sport.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has modified its rules for next year to allow its use when injected into joints and under the skin, but ban injections into muscles because they could promote muscle growth.

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Tiger's friends worried

Charles Barkley says Tiger Woods changed his cell phone number the day after his car accident and is not talking to some of his famous friends.

On a show that airs Sunday on news network HLN, Barkley and filmmaker Spike Lee worry that Woods isn't taking advantage of the invaluable advice that can only be offered by friends who are used to the spotlight.

"You should reach out to your celebrity friends when things go bad," Barkley told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday. "They're the only people who understand what it's like."

Barkley appears on "With All Due Respect" with two other Turner Sports analysts, baseball Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley and longtime NASCAR driver Kyle Petty. Lee is one of the guests in the one-hour special during which the sports stars discuss a variety of topics.

Turner Sports and HLN are owned by Turner Broadcasting System.

"He's insulated," Lee said during the taping for the show. "If Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan can't get to him, and those are his boys, then other people are making bad moves."

Barkley said Tuesday he has not spoken to Woods since the Nov. 27 accident, which unleashed a series of events that resulted in him admitting to marital infidelity.

"I've been trying to get to him and can't get to him," he said. "It's very frustrating."

Barkley said he just wants to tell Woods, "Hey, man, we love you. If you need anything, pick up the phone."

Chatting about subjects ranging from sports to world news, entertainment and current events is a natural for the outspoken Barkley, who has long expressed an interest in entering politics. He said he wants potential voters to be familiar with his views, which include support for abortion rights and gay marriage.

"I hope people get a chance to see where I am on different issues," he said.

While taping the show, the three athletes found they had similar feelings about another of the year's big stories: the death of Michael Jackson. Each felt at peace about the saga after seeing "Michael Jackson's This Is It," the film about the King of Pop's final rehearsals.

During the conversation, Barkley said, "I thought Kyle was going to cry."





How Elin Woods couldn't be less like the women Tiger jumped into bed with


Even in a country with more than its share of fairhaired beauties, the two blondes who arrived at a secluded island off the coast of Stockholm two weeks ago would struggle to maintain a low profile.

And, indeed, the visit of identical twins Elin and Josefin Nordegren did not escape notice by the locals. Their destination was Faglaro Garden, a £1.4 million estate accessible only by boat, with a private beach, harbour and boathouse sauna.

Until a fortnight ago, it was owned by a footballer, but following a whirlwind visit, Elin, 29, is the sole owner.

The property is in her name, not that of Mr and Mrs Tiger Woods, the title for which she is better known.

Her decision to invest in this expensive property - helped by her lawyer sister who, I understand, conducted the negotiations on her behalf - could be evidence of nothing more than a desire to build a property portfolio of her own.

Faglaro, which translates as 'Bird Island', could be a wonderful summer home for the entire family. The speculation in Sweden this week, however, is that it might prove a retreat for Mrs Woods as she struggles to come to terms with her husband's multiple infidelities - or, at the very least, a place where she can hide from the worldwide attention that has left her 'mortified'.

It would certainly be a mistake to underestimate Elin Maria Pernilla Nordegren - as Tiger found to his cost when he crashed his car into a fire hydrant after a furious row at the family home in Florida.

For while Elin is the product of a broken home, following the divorce of her parents when she was just six, she has no intention, I have learned, of playing the stoical, suffering wife.

But then in many ways, despite her appearance - and flirtation as a model - Elin is an unlikely golf WAG.

Even before the ignominy of becoming one of the world's most well-known wronged wives, she had struggled with the expectations of being Mrs Tiger Woods.

Unusually, given her profile since their relationship became public in 2002, she has never given an interview. While polite and friendly, she keeps her distance from the other wives on the circuit.

'She's like Greta Garbo,' says one. 'When she started dating Tiger, it was as if there was this unwritten agreement she would not say anything to anyone. She's nice, but when you talk to her, you don't get anything out of her.'

The twins - and their elder brother Axel, 31, who works for a Swedish bank in Shanghai - were raised in the picturesque coastal village of Vaxholm, 50 miles from Stockholm.

Their liberal, Left-leaning parents encouraged discussions about politics and social issues around the dinner table.

Her mother, Barbro Holmberg, is a leading politician who was once migration minister; her father, Thomas Nordegren, is a correspondent for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation, who describes himself as a former 'revolutionary'.

The co-author of The A To Z Of Drugs - a guide he's admitted was 'controversial' - has married twice since his divorce from Barbro, latterly to Swedish children's author Anna Hoglund.

Elin has four half-siblings, aged between 11 and one, and has children of her own - Sam, two, and ten-month-old Charlie.

She is close to her parents, calling her mother and then her father in quick succession in the aftermath of the fallout from Tiger's infidelities.

'She is protective of them, and they of her,' says a friend. 'All the siblings speak on the phone a lot.'

Following her parents' divorce, the children lived with Barbro in Stockholm, spending holidays with their father before, aged 15, Elin moved with him to Berlin, where he had been posted for a year.

The Nordegrens instilled a strong work ethic in their children and neighbours recall them taking menial jobs in the holidays, including working as a supermarket cashier.

By 1999, Elin had enrolled at Lund University, one of Sweden's top colleges, to study Child Psychology. But it was not her academic abilities that were attracting attention.

Having seen a photograph of her at a social event, Bingo Rimer, a leading Swedish fashion photographer, was quick to spot her potential as a model and asked her to do a photoshoot.

She was initially reluctant. 'Elin doesn't care about modelling,' he says. 'I had to drag her into the studio. Being famous, the whole celebrity thing, she really and truly does not care about that.'

Elin did five shoots with Rimer - some in bikinis, but never nude. But her heart wasn't in it. Even when, in 2000, she made the cover of a men's fashion magazine, she did little to capitalise on it.

Instead, she chose to focus on her studies. But it was a job in a high-end Stockholm boutique, Champagne, that would set her on the path to becoming Mrs Tiger Woods.

One of her customers was Mia Parnevik, wife of Swedish golfer Jesper Parvenik. With four children, she needed two full-time nannies at her home in Florida.

After chatting to Elin at Champagne, Mia all but offered her a job on the spot.

'Elin was smart and down to earth. I could tell immediately that she was great with children,' she says.

Ironically, Mia recalls that her new nanny was unimpressed by the golf world - and the players. 'She thought they were so silly and was always making fun of them,' she says.

Nor was she particularly impressed by Tiger Woods when they were introduced at the British Open in 2001, particularly as, I have learned, he sent an intermediary to ask her for a date.

'Elin's reaction was: "What the hell was that?"' says a friend. 'She thought it was so weird and pathetic. So, of course, she said: "No." '

That wasn't the only reason she declined, according to Bingo Rimer. 'One of the reasons she didn't date him right away was because she did not want to be just a celebrity girlfriend,' he says.

'She knows how it looks. People see her - so young, so beautiful - and assume she is a gold digger. Elin is not like that. She is a smart girl, raised in a family of intellectuals. She has dreams. She didn't want to be seen just as a decoration on Tiger's arm.'

Bingo was not the only one who feels Elin was the prize, not Tiger. In a 2002 interview, Jesper Parvenik declared she was 'almost too good for him'.

She certainly played hard to get even after agreeing to a first date, frequently ignoring Tiger's calls and text messages.

By December 2001, however, Elin felt suitably sure of her romance to confide in Rimer on her return to Stockholm for Christmas.

She also demonstrated an impressive sense of the inevitable international interest in their relationship, insisting they go through his stockpile of photos to establish a handful of which she would approve the release and ordering that the rest should never be used.

Eight years on - following a romantic proposal while on safari and a £1million wedding in Barbados in 2004 - Elin is said to have continued to reconcile her down-to-earth upbringing with her role as wife to one of the world's most famous sportsmen.

She makes only an occasional foray to designer shops and drives a practical 2009 Cadillac Escalade rather than a flashy sports car.

'She has modest tastes considering how much she and her husband are worth,' a friend told me. 'You'd expect someone of Elin's position to have a really swanky car, but she is not like that. She's very practical and not materialistic.'

'Elin's an outdoorsy sort of girl. She's happiest playing soccer on the back lawn,' says another friend.

So, before the recent revelations, what was the state of the Woods's marriage?

Friends have pointed out the extent to which Tiger's golfing commitments have dictated the couple's timetable, and the strain this must undoubtedly cause.

Tiger missed his elder child's baptism in Stockholm in October 2007; he was at a golf charity event in California. Nor was he present this summer when his sister-in-law Josefin married engineer Daniel Lonnbord in the Swedish town of Gavle, with her twin as bridesmaid.

Elin often visits her family in Sweden and by all accounts speaks to her children in Swedish rather than English.

Her mother and sister flew out to the U.S. within days of the revelations about Tiger's infidelities. All have remained tight-lipped, other than to say it is a private matter.

None more so than Elin herself. She has remained publicly silent, just as she has throughout her courtship and five years of marriage.

'She's incredibly hurt by what has gone on, but she's working it out as best she can,' Lindsay Davenport, the former tennis Grand Slam champion and a friend of Elin's, told a network TV news show last week.

'Elin is a strong woman who knows what she wants and who no one plays with,' says an old schoolfriend. 'I don't believe she'll take any c**p from him - she's a tough girl with confidence and a mind of her own.'

In the coming weeks, observers of the Woods' marital rollercoaster would do worse than keep an eye on movements around that vast estate off the coast of Stockholm.



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Sources: Daily Mail, ESPN, MSNBC, NBC Sports, US Weekly Mag., NY Daily News, Access Hollywood, TMZ, WFTV, The Daily Beast, Splash News, EPA, Google Maps

Allen Iverson To Retire From The NBA...Truth Or Rumor?

NBA analyst Charles Barkley spoke openly Friday about Allen Iverson's retirement and future on Mike And Mike In The Morning.



Jalen Rose breaks down Allen Iverson's impact on the NBA following his 14 seasons.







Report: Iverson to retire


Allen Iverson is set to retire from the NBA, according to an online report.

Commentator Stephen A. Smith published a statement on his Web site Wednesday attributed to Iverson. It said Iverson plans to retire but also that "I feel strongly that I can still compete at the highest level."

The statement also said Iverson has tremendous love for the game and the desire to play.

ESPN's J.A. Adande reported Thursday Iverson's college coach at Georgetown, John Thompson, is "vehemently opposed" to Iverson retiring, "especially out of frustration."

"I'm not certain that he's made a decision to retire," Thompson said.

But Thompson said the decision is up to Iverson. He said he will not counsel Iverson on what his role should be, if he is picked up by a team.

"It's not my place to tell him he should start," Thompson said. "It's not my place to tell him he should come off the bench. That's a conversation to be held between him and whoever he's working for. I do know that Allen is a direct person. He has to be communicated with in a direct manner."

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star LeBron James said Iverson's career casts a large shadow.

"His legacy would be huge," James said. "He's one of the best when you talk about guys 6-foot and under in the game of basketball. He played injured and he played hard every single night. I don't think it should end this way, but if it does, he's left a lot of great things behind."

The 10-time All-Star played three games this season with Memphis before taking a leave of absence to attend to personal matters. He was waived after the two sides agreed to part ways.

It was the second straight ugly ending for Iverson, who was unhappy last season playing for the Pistons. He was upset that Detroit coach Michael Curry and Memphis' Lionel Hollins used the former MVP as a reserve.

The New York Knicks considered signing Iverson last week after he cleared waivers, before deciding he would take too much playing time away from younger players they are trying to develop.

The Knicks seemed to be the only team who would consider bringing in Iverson, so there was no guarantee he'd play in the NBA this season, anyway. Still, the announcement Wednesday came as a surprise to George Karl, who coached Iverson in Denver.

"I think he still has something left to give some team out there. If that's his decision, he'll go down in history, I think, as the greatest little guard ever to play the game of basketball," Karl said.

"I was happy to have him for a couple years and hopefully our paths will cross. But I have a sneaky feeling that somewhere along the way an injury or a circumstance with a team will open that window back up."

One of the NBA's great scorers, Iverson entered this season with a career average of 27.1 points that ranked fifth all time. Yet there was almost no interest in him this summer before he went to the Grizzlies on a one-year deal.

Iverson can still score, as he averaged 17.4 points with the Pistons last season. Yet he has made it clear he doesn't view himself as a backup, which has likely hurt his chances of signing with a contending team.

The 6-foot guard thanked former players and coaches in the statement, plus the fans in Memphis and Philadelphia, where he spent his best years. He said stepping away would allow him to spend more time with his wife and kids.

He also said he thought he could still play after 14 seasons.

"I always thought that when I left the game, it would be because I couldn't help my team the way that I was accustomed to," it read. "However, that is not the case."

Messages were left for Iverson's agent, Leon Rose, and his business manager, Gary Moore.

If this is the end for Iverson, he leaves with four scoring titles and a playoff scoring average of 29.7 points that ranks second only to Michael Jordan. He led the 76ers to the 2001 NBA Finals but never won a championship.

Or he could choose to wait and see if a team in need of a scorer comes looking for him later this season.

"I don't ever believe anyone retires until they get to the point they have to," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "He had a great career if it is true, but I still think he has more to offer."



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Sources: ESPN, Washington Post, MSNBC, Wikipedia, Youtube, Google Maps

Charles Barkley Mocks Sammy Sosa's Lighter Skin Tone...Ha Ha Ha

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Sources: Huffington Post, TNT, Newsrunner, Midwest Sports Fans, Youtube, Google Maps