did you realize that you were a champion?

peer pressure's a bitch...

what is it about being rich and famous that means people expect you to be a champion of social and political causes?

tiger woods has accepted an invitation to speak at an inaugural event for President-elect Barack Obama. for this, some people have criticized the normally politically neutral woods as riding the coattails of a trailblazer instead of using his fame and influence to blaze the trail himself.

this isn't the first time. in the past, the likes of charles barkley and jim brown have complained that many high-profile black athletes have not used their prominence to promote a particular agenda.

having extra zeroes at the end of your bank account gives you a lot of things. a greater sense of social or political activism isn't necessarily one of them.

different people have different reasons for not thrusting themselves in the midst of national discussions. everything from not wanting to offend people to lack of knowledge to (gasp!) lack of interest.

add to it that as a fan, i don't care to hear these people give their thoughts on life. i marvel at tiger woods because he can hit a golf ball longer and straighter than i could ever dream to...not because of his hypotheses on how to resurrect the economy. his iq or social conscience does not increase with his bank account. and we're stupid for believing it should.

as this generation has matured, we've seen plenty of our cultural "leaders" grow more irrelevant as a function of the era and their own need for constant attention.

see: jackson, jesse

when do we realize that the true leaders among us attain that designation because of a sincere desire to affect change? not because of some forced obligation that comes with an entry into a higher tax bracket.

peer pressure really is a bitch. thankfully, tiger's immune to pressure.