Who says gays can’t be sporty? This post was submitted by Arthur D. Hartnett.

The focus of the sports world since Thanksgiving has been the private life of Tiger Woods. It has now come to light that Tiger, despite being married to a European underwear model (we should all be so lucky) and having two children with Elin Nordegren, has roamed a bit from his marital vows.

You’ll forgive me if I am neither surprised nor really care that much. Though Tiger has always tightly controlled his image, his decision to wed was always a little strange. Elin and her twin sister were au pairs to a Swedish golfer when she was introduced to Tiger in 2003; they wed in 2007. Without real argument, Woods is the greatest golfer who ever lived, and one of the best athletes this country has ever produced.  He is a marketing machine, and getting married hasn’t really increased his market appeal. In fact, one of Tiger’s most famous ad campaigns features a very famously single athlete, who since 1996 has gone from Miss USA to Miss America to Mariah Carey and back again without anyone batting an eyelash. I speak of Derek Jeter, and his primal desires have not hurt his bank account in any way.

Professional male athletes are more often than not big, harmless guys who are very, very, very talented at what they do, but are not particularly bright. They want to do their job, get paid, go out and have fun. The idea of the rich athlete with the happy family is a nice one, but doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense, practically speaking. I don’t need my favorite players on my favorite teams to be committed to monogamy. I need them to play really well and win championships so that I, as a fan, am happy. Tiger owes the public no explanation for what happened between himself and his wife (although he clearly gave the wrong answer when she asked what the text message was if she went after him with a golf club).

Tiger Woods is not a politician railing against the LGBT community, trying to pass anti-gay laws all while hitting on men in an airport bathroom. Tiger Woods is an athlete, has always been apolitical and always wishes to be apolitical. Though the public may want an explanation, they are not entitled to one. It’s juicy gossip, but nothing more. Also, considering that Elin has demanded (and is apparently receiving) a “substantial increase” in her incentives to stay married to Tiger (according to the Chicago Sun-Times), it’s hard to feel truly sorry for her. Yes, no one should be publicly humiliated and it is important (especially given the arguments against same-sex marriage we hear over and over and over and over and over) for wedding vows to be taken seriously, but Elin knew what she was getting into. Their original agreement called for a 10 year marriage in order for a $20 million dollar settlement in divorce. Chump change to Tiger, given that his reported worth is well over $700 million, and if she knew she had to stay married to get at least $20 mil, wouldn’t it stand to reason that she expected him to go out and uh…try other driving ranges?

Tigergate, though fun, is pointless. Countless other highly successful pro athletes have had dozens of ho-bags throughout the history of pro sports. Wilt Chamberlin alleges he slept with over 20,000 women. Babe Ruth and Derek Jeter could argue quantity over quality till the cows come home. Michael Jordan…are you kidding me? The stories out of Chicago are great. If you think that guys like Eli Manning and David Beckham aren’t doing the same thing, you are deluding yourself. Given the context of this situation, the money involved, and the fact that this has nothing to do with anything other than a guy wanting to get some from another women, everyone needs to calm down.

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