Word of Artest's halftime ritual came from an interview with The Sporting News, in which he claimed:
"I used to drink Hennessy ... at halftime. I [kept it] in my locker. I'd just walk to the liquor store and get it."
(Ron Ron using his head, courtesy of ngngsports.com)
According to the story, Artest is referencing his time with the Chicago Bulls from 1999-2002. This raises not only the question of why would you be drinking at halftime of an NBA game (I have to believe that would make you feel sick), but how did nobody notice? First, the guy has to sneak in a bottle and hide it in his locker, which I'm sure is not always closed when people are around, and then the guy has to actually drink the stuff at halftime, with the entire team and staff in the same room. Once he's done getting his fix, how does nobody notice the alcohol on his breath when he's huffing and puffing up and down the court and sweating cognac from every pore on his body? Whatever the answers to these questions, it paints Artest, the Bulls and the entire NBA all in a bad light.
On to the story of the week, the story everyone was talking about, but almost no one knew the details behind it. As the story continues to unfold, there are rumors that Woods was in an altercation with his wife over her discovery of his infidelity. While he maintains that she used a golf club to free him from his car, there are also rumors that the club was used more as a weapon and that she may have been the source of all the scratches and bruises on Woods' face. A few days ago ESPN.com reported that Woods was found shoeless and snoring by the first police to arrive at the scene. Since the story burst into the headlines, a handful of women have stepped forward, claiming to be mistresses of Tiger. A few claim to have hundreds of text messages and voicemails as proof. There are even reports that Tiger has paid up to $1 million to get one alleged mistress to keep quiet. As was the case with Artest, although much more in the spotlight due to the involvement of the world's richest athlete, all this news has cast Tiger in bad light and he and his family are suffering the consequences.
These two incidents, while completely different in nature and involving two entirely different caliber of athletes, had us wondering: Which of these two would be the worst PR from the standpoint of a sponsor? If you had a company looking for a spokesman, which would be worse - your guy admitting to drinking on the job, or being involved in an incident where infidelity (allegedly) resulted in what could be domestic abuse (allegedly) and a car crash? Without thinking in terms of Ron Artest and Tiger Woods, but as if it were the same guy - say Michael Jordan. Which incident would make you least interested in sponsoring the athlete?
(Tiger being a great husband, courtesy of intotherough.co.uk)
Jonah: First of all, I think it's really hard to picture these two incidents without thinking of them as actions by the two athletes. It's hard to say how different the reactions would have been if they were by the other guy. However, to look at it from the perspective of a sponsor, I think Artest's actions would probably be worse. If we look through history, fans are much less sympathetic when athletes show they are human while on the job. Think about the the Eight Men Out or Pete Rose. They were banished because of actions that would affect the outcomes of games. I think Artest's actions certainly would affect the outcomes of games he played in. Tiger, on the other hand, seems to have fallen trap to the same fault so many famous men have been plagued by. If we peer back into history for cases of men cheating on their wives (again, this is all still allegedly for Tiger), we find guys that were not banished, but beloved. Guys like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Kobe Bryant have all been accused of cheating on their wives (key word being "accused"), but are all thought of as great athletes. Their personal lives don't affect their athletic performance and these instances certainly didn't seem to hurt their sponsorship dollars. I think Tiger will keep all his sponsors, and not just because he is so great at selling, but because in today's world, we are just so used to hearing about these types of things that we are almost immune to them (I mean how many presidents have we heard rumors about?). Now, I am in no way condoning what Tiger may have done, but I do think that as a sponsor, I would be more concerned with my spokesman admitting to drinking at halftime of his games than with allegations that my guy has cheated on his wife. Jerry?
Jerry: Tiger Woods is sponsered by Gillette, Gatorade, Buick, EA Sports, AT & T, Golf Digest, Nike, Upper Deck, and the PGA. That is simply naming a few. His infidelity is a PR NIGHTMARE for all of these companies. Imagine the emails these companies are getting from groups of women. It is going to take the the whole PGA field and all of the members of Gatorade and Nike to sift through them all. Tiger really messed up and that is putting it lightly. I am not even going to touch Ron Artest, because honestly I'm not shocked at all. That guy was the king of selling out while he was on the Bulls (and if I had Scott Skiles as a coach, I would need a drink now and then as well). But Tiger, you had everything. A beautiful wife, kids, money, and the likes of Phil Mickelson's hopes and dreams locked away in a cellar in your basement. You were one of the most recognizable sports stars ever. Now your going to have angry women standing at the 18th hole, screaming and yelling with signs calling you a "cheater". It is going to be the first time that the PGA tour actually looks like it did in Happy Gilmore, but I guarantee the noise won't help you hit a drive 500 yards. You deffinitely bogey'd on this one. This is a nightmare for the squeaky clean Tiger, but a bigger nightmare for the PR reps of again: Gillette, Gatorade, Buick, EA Sports, AT & T, Golf Digest, Nike, Upper Deck, and the PGA (just to name a few). Good luck spinning this one as a lapse of judgement. With every mistress that comes out, Tiger is going to fall further and further into the sandtrap. A sandtrap that even his beautiful smile, well thought out speechs, his "I Do Everything Right" demeanor, and a Nike sand wedge couldn't even get out of.
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