The Tiger Metaphor

Tiger Woods is probably the most known golfer in the world. He has a huge gallery following him. People line fairways and surround greens when he is hitting a shot. They yell "in the hole" every-time he hits the ball - I'll ignore this obnoxious trait for the moment. They also just yell for no reason. He does little to earn these accolades most of the time. He is pretty much living on his laurels at the moment. (Funny this really sounds like I am talking about a politician doesn't it?)

Anyway these crowds I believe give Tiger an added edge over the less well known an popular golfers. They surround him and the hole he is playing on. When he hits a bad shot that strays offline, more often than not it hits one of his fan and stops - usually in not too bad a position - usually a whole better position than if there were no fan there to stop it. So for example, rather than his ball going way past the back of the green when he hits it too long, it hits someone and stops a few feet away from the edge of the green leaving him an easy chip shot. All this leads to his having, in my opinion, a much easier round of golf than most other golfers. His throngs of admirers protect him from really bad shots, insulating him from the realities that other golfers must face. He has an advantage. He probably gains a few strokes a round from what I have seen - all for the slight expense of some of his fans (those hit by his golf ball) ending up with a bruise. Those without huge throngs of followers have no such protection. This sounds like us regular Americans - taking the bruises for the powerful to achieve what they want.

Put this all together. Those who are popular and have followers are protected. Those who go it alone or think independently are much less so - but all the stronger for it. Certainly this is true in politics and for big corporations whose followers or employees take the hits (blame) for things so the main man or woman or entity can removed ahead unscathed and can stay on the course.

I am not sure what all this means really except what I know already - those who are in a privileged position to start with are protected. Their position is protected. This makes it much harder to unseat them or evoke change. Tiger's failing was that his throngs could not protect him from himself - though if they could I am sure they would. In our world success is almost a self perpetuating fact with perhaps a high nepotistic coefficient. Not good odds for the rest of us. Good news for those in control - of us though.

While I ponder this I am thinking I may read up on how to play golf as I seek more meaning from the game and of course, my stripes.