Tiger Wood

          Thank You For Arguing brings now the very interesting topic which touches on argument through character, or as rhetoricians refer to it: ethos. Indeed, who we are or better yet who we appear to be in the eyes of our audience is key to win our argument because how we are perceived affects the response we get directly.

          We have to deal with some small audiences from time to time, and we present ourselves in certain ways to get a better acceptance as well as to get our point across in a more effective manner. Celebrities on the other hand live off their image. Who they are isn't half as important as who they appear to be or who their fan base perceives them as. Take for example Tiger Woods, the pro golfer recognized around the world for having the highest amount of PGA victories, five years ago before any controversy erupted. He earned millions of dollars a year not only through his victories, but through important ad campaigns with some of the biggest brands in sports. Woods had an impeccable utilization of decorum acting just as his audience and his sponsors wanted him to act. Professional, disciplined, talented, and honest he was an exemplary athlete. He had his audience's love. Even if this grand virtue was only rhetorical virtue, which is basically the appearance of being virtuous, his audience believed every single bit of it. This allowed him to be as successful as he was. 

          Later on some events developed that presented an important challenge to this virtue Tiger had in the eyes of his fans, and truthfully the world. His wife caught him cheating not with one, but ten different women. Not only that but she chased him out of the house with his own golf clubs, breaking the windows of his car as he rode away basically trying to save his life. The public was perplexed. They'd been tricked for many years of who this man really was and rapidly his rhetorical virtue was uncovered. His image was destroyed and he didn't have the decorum worthy of a pro golfer. His sponsors parted ways with him as the admiration and love the public had for him began to fade away. He broke rhetorical protocol and as his true character was revealed he lost the battle. There is something, though, I have to attribute to Tiger Woods. He didn't get off the rhetorical horse right away. Looking to refurbish his image he pulled out one last trick. The acclaimed tactical flaw. He wasn't an unfaithful man with horrible decision making, crooked morals, and bad taste. He was a...sex addict. With doctors to back up his claims he achieved the unthinkable. People somehow sympathized with his medical condition, if we could call it that, and he regained some of that lost virtue. 

          In the end it wasn't enough. His wife left him, taking away a big chunk of his money, and his career never really recovered from this blow. Even though it had nothing to do with golf, the scandal transcended all the way to the Green and the ball never got back in as it had done so many times before.