"Tiger Woods" by Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian (March 2018)

[iacas]

http://www.golf.com/knockdown/2017/11/28/tiger-full-how-authors-immersive-tiger-woods-biography-unearthed-new-revelations

Quote

In golf circles it has long been whispered that Tiger Woods would focus on the question of whether or not the eponymous protagonist used performance-enhancing drugs, which he has always denied. Woods has been dogged by these rumors since the 2009 reveal that he was treated by Anthony Galea, the disgraced Canadian doctor who was arrested for smuggling human growth hormone into the United States. (In 2011 Galea pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of bringing mislabeled drugs into the U.S.) Benedict and Keteyian acknowledge that there is a meaty chapter in the book examining the PED question but at this moment are not at liberty to divulge any specifics.

Should be interesting…

[Phil McGleno]

I will be picking up a copy.

[MacDutch]

So, what you think? I will be in the US 8-24th may. Should I be able to buy the book in a bookstore, or should I pre order?

[Pretzel]

I'll pick up a copy if only because Tiger's a bit of an interesting guy to me. I grew up watching him play, and read his previous book (golf instructional book) as a kid so many times that the binding started to fall apart, so this would be a fun read for me. The Hank Haney book didn't interest me because I had a feeling it was just a cash grab, but this one interests me enough to pick up a copy.

[iacas]

8 hours ago, MacDutch said:

So, what you think? I will be in the US 8-24th may. Should I be able to buy the book in a bookstore, or should I pre order?

You should probably be able to pick one up. If the date slips by April, pre-order at that time?

[Shindig]

Well, I know what I'll be pre-ordering.  I need to read the article, so apologies if this is in there:  authorized biography or just someone writing about Tiger?  If former, I'm buying.

[iacas]

2 hours ago, Shindig said:

Well, I know what I'll be pre-ordering.  I need to read the article, so apologies if this is in there:  authorized biography or just someone writing about Tiger?  If former, I'm buying.

Not authorized. The two authors apparently have a good reputation for investigative type stuff.

[Shindig]

44 minutes ago, iacas said:

Not authorized. The two authors apparently have a good reputation for investigative type stuff.

Mmm... reliable then.  I'll probably get it. 

[The Recreational Golfer]

This could go in the Reading Room or here. Not sure where. Anyway, read the NY Times review.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/books/review/tiger-woods-biography-jeff-benedict-armen-keteyian-review.html

[ScouseJohnny]

Reading the reviews and the publisher's blurb, I am decidedly non-enthused about this book. The authors did publish quite a good book in 2013 on college football. Underneath all the sensationalist blurb about blowing the roof off the scandals at the very heart of college football, etc, the book was fairly decent. It did explore the morally nebulous world in which players who are "students first' (of course), receive very little in exchange for being the primary actors in a multi-billion dollar entertainment business.

This Tiger book, though....

Quote

Many other details accrue. The authors tally up the lies Woods has told the media since he was young. There's little evidence, for example, that he was mugged while at Stanford as he claimed. They marshal evidence that suggests Woods took illegal performance-enhancing drugs. There is good writing here about agents and ad campaigns.

If this book has a flaw it may be that it's too confident. Reading it can be like watching one of those crime shows in which the bumper music ends with slamming car doors. The authors move about like a supersleuth Starsky and Hutch, or Tango and Cash, or Crockett and Tubbs. To be fair, a bit of wit and play are allowed to sneak in.

Who is Tiger Woods? The authors don't get to the bottom of that question, but does anyone really expect that they could? Woods himself doesn't appear to have a clue.

 

Quote

“Tiger reached that elite club by being the greatest golfer—some would argue the greatest athlete—in modern history. But his imprint on history transcends golf, and his influence reaches across the globe. Yet, he is vastly misunderstood. So much of his family history and his personality has been veiled in secrecy, mythical stories, partial truths, advertising campaigns, and scurrilous headlines. Our objective is to get beyond the veil and reveal in full a human portrait of a true, albeit reluctant, American idol.”

College football is worthy of this kind of intrusive investigation. Although the money that funds it is typically not public money, it is played by state universities - public entities. They should be held accountable, and a spotlight shone on their activities.

Tiger Woods is a private citizen who happens to play golf for a living. He's entitled to his privacy, and I'm not interested in whatever skeletons he has in his closet. The review makes this sound as though we're getting into the trashier end of the biography market - exposé and startling new revelations on every page... I have no interest in that. "They marshal evidence that suggests Woods took illegal performance-enhancing drugs," has a decidedly inauthentic ring to it - reporting "evidence" that allows them to stay on the right side of the law of libel?

There is always the issue of "control" and the extent to which it mitigates against journalistic objectivity, but until Tiger Woods sits down to write an autobiography, or collaborates closely with and authorized biographer (neither or which he is compelled to do), all you are ever reading is some other guy's guesswork about what may have happened, or what was going on, or what he thinks happened based on his interpretation of some old primary source (like an interview), which, in the Youtube age, anyone else can likely watch, too.

I think I'll pass on this one.

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by ScouseJohnny

[iacas]

9 hours ago, The Recreational Golfer said:

This could go in the Reading Room or here. Not sure where. Anyway, read the NY Times review.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/books/review/tiger-woods-biography-jeff-benedict-armen-keteyian-review.html

As I said in the other topic, there have been two articles released on this.

One is here: http://www.golf.com/tour-news/2018/03/12/tiger-woods-book-excerpt-most-dramatic-scene-1995-us-amateur-came-after-final-putt.

One I read in Golf magazine or Golf Digest last night, but it's about Tiger winning his first major, IIRC.

Neither were about PEDs. The NY Times article mentions it this far:

Quote

Many other details accrue. The authors tally up the lies Woods has told the media since he was young. There’s little evidence, for example, that he was mugged while at Stanford as he claimed. They marshal evidence that suggests Woods took illegal performance-enhancing drugs. There is good writing here about agents and ad campaigns.

That's it. They gather evidence that suggests something.

As I said in the other topic, the purpose of releasing an excerpt is to sell books. It's to increase demand. You release something salty, something savory, something tasteful (yes, I'm hungry right now) to whet people's appetite… to make them buy the book.

Something concrete or even remotely close re: PEDs would be a huge appetite whetter.

And yet there's been nothing. The book comes out in a week. And nothing.

I have the book on order (though I'll be gone when it arrives), but I'm now not expecting to find much of anything on PEDs. This despite the duo being a very, very good investigative team.

---

All that said, I'll be the first to change my tune on what TW accomplished if there's actual proof of any PED usage during the great years. That is to say, 1997-2008/2009 time frame. Tiger Woods accomplished most of his accomplishments during that time period.

If PED usage is shown (I'm still not expecting this, hence all of the above) from say 2014-2018… I don't really care. He didn't really do anything during those years. I give Barry Bonds credit for his accomplishments (or in the post-season with the Pirates, lack of accomplishments) before he juiced, and none after he juiced. The same standard would apply here.

Though again, I don't think the book will prove anything, or they'd be leading with that.

[iacas]

27 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

College football is worthy of this kind of intrusive investigation. Although the money that funds it is typically not public money, it is played by state universities - public entities. They should be held accountable, and a spotlight shone on their activities.

They're not doing this as a public service.

They're doing it because they think they'll sell books.

I think a lot of the revelations are going to be about Earl, and Tiger's upbringing. A little about his partying and whatnot.

29 minutes ago, ScouseJohnny said:

I think I'll pass on this one.

I try to read every side of any story that interests me. I don't really care about his non-golf activities. But PED usage would be a "golf activity" if it's there. I don't particularly care - in the way we judge people - about his childhood, his hookers, his father… I'm interested slightly in how that shaped him as a golfer. But that's about it.

[Dr. Manhattan]

Guessing it's just more of the same we've read over the last 15 years.

[nevets88]

There are only 16 holds at the NYPL, that's not a lot, a hot book can get up to the thousands. Anecdotal, but one data point.

[3jacker]

This book is likely no more skewed/biased than one written/authorized/collaborated on by Tiger and team.

[krupa]

Golfdigest posted an excerpt from the book about Tiger and President Clinton here: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/president-clinton-tiger-woods-a-major-breach-of-golf-etiquette

And they also posted a story where a Clinton aide disputes the entire thing: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/former-presidential-aide-disputes-books-account-of-2006-golf-round-between-bill-clinton-and-tiger-woods

As with everything, there are 3 or more sides to every story.

[iacas]

5 hours ago, krupa said:

And they also posted a story where a Clinton aide disputes the entire thing: https://www.golfdigest.com/story/former-presidential-aide-disputes-books-account-of-2006-golf-round-between-bill-clinton-and-tiger-woods

And their response is:

The authors respond: "In reality, it’s Band’s letter that is inaccurate. Our sources for this account were three people with direct involvement in the events that transpired. Let us be clear: We stand by the accuracy of our reporting."—Armen Keteyian and Jeff Benedict

C'mon… direct involvement? The guy who wrote the rebuttal was "directly involved." He was there then and was Clinton's aide for almost 18 years:

Band began working in the White House in 1995 during the Clinton Presidency as an unpaid intern in the White House Counsel's Office. Band then served on the White House Counsel's office staff for four years, eventually becoming a special assistant to the president, and then one of the youngest deputy assistants ever^[8] to serve a president.^[8][15] Band then served as the President's aide, traveling to nearly 125 countries and over 2,000 cities.^[10][1]… Band served as counselor and chief advisor to former President Clinton until 2012.^[1]…

WTF?

Leaving aside just how silly "In reality, it is Band's letter that is inaccurate" sounds, their sources were "three people with direct involvement" - yet Band had "direct involvement," was there that day, was Clinton's aide for a long stretch of time on both sides of the event, etc.

I'm inclined to believe Band.

[GrandStranded]

On ‎3‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 9:19 AM, ScouseJohnny said:

Reading the reviews and the publisher's blurb, I am decidedly non-enthused about this book. The authors did publish quite a good book in 2013 on college football. Underneath all the sensationalist blurb about blowing the roof off the scandals at the very heart of college football, etc, the book was fairly decent. It did explore the morally nebulous world in which players who are "students first' (of course), receive very little in exchange for being the primary actors in a multi-billion dollar entertainment business.

This Tiger book, though....

College football is worthy of this kind of intrusive investigation. Although the money that funds it is typically not public money, it is played by state universities - public entities. They should be held accountable, and a spotlight shone on their activities.

Tiger Woods is a private citizen who happens to play golf for a living. He's entitled to his privacy, and I'm not interested in whatever skeletons he has in his closet. The review makes this sound as though we're getting into the trashier end of the biography market - exposé and startling new revelations on every page... I have no interest in that. "They marshal evidence that suggests Woods took illegal performance-enhancing drugs," has a decidedly inauthentic ring to it - reporting "evidence" that allows them to stay on the right side of the law of libel?

There is always the issue of "control" and the extent to which it mitigates against journalistic objectivity, but until Tiger Woods sits down to write an autobiography, or collaborates closely with and authorized biographer (neither or which he is compelled to do), all you are ever reading is some other guy's guesswork about what may have happened, or what was going on, or what he thinks happened based on his interpretation of some old primary source (like an interview), which, in the Youtube age, anyone else can likely watch, too.

I think I'll pass on this one.

 

I disagree that the best version of his story would come from Tiger himself. I think most people would agree very few people are going to be completely candid when it comes to talking about their shortcoming/ failures in life, when writing their own autobiography. Tiger, from what we know about him, would be one of the last to do so. It's understandable if you're a huge Tiger fan you wouldn't have any interest in a book written by anyone besides him or a trusted associate of his. Again, I think most would agree that any fair minded attempt to write about him has to include what his fans look at as "the outside the ropes" stuff. You cannot fault these writers for Tiger and or his inner circle not allowing them access to their chosen subject. Personally, I think the odds are these two authors and this book will be judged much more favorably then any "authorized" effort the Tiger camp might decide to write in the future.