Wow, I never thought the test post on the new blog would be about the most boring celebrity I ever interviewed. I should not be surprised, the connection between a VIP host and a louche celebrity, remains typically Vegas, even if for Woods, Vegas turns out to be only one geographic stop of globetrotting infidelity.
I interviewed Woods for Tiger Jam, his annual charity concert at Mandalay Bay, a few years ago, and I was given 5 minutes with the golf legend. I have turned down a couple interview offers since. We were done at 3 minutes. He was nice and all, but the money was not worth the time. Woods is boring. When I had no golf questions he was without anything to say. He mentioned that he had little to do with the acts that were playing his concert. He could not name a single song he liked by any of the bands that were performing unless you count “All of them” as an honest answer and not an expression of total ignorance. I mean, even John Cougar Mellencamp, the headliner that night, doesn’t like all the Johnny Cougar discs. Woods did offer to me that his favorite song of all time was “Eye of the Tiger” and then he explained the pun with his name in case that could be missed. The most memorable thing about the interview was that it is the single time a publicist has asked to search me before I entered an interview room. Did he think I was dangerous? No, he wanted to make sure that I had no golf memorabilia on my person for Woods to sign. I did not, but I still refused to be searched. They let me have my 5 minutes time with Mr. Excitement anyway.
One advantage to hanging out in a nightclub is that the music is so loud conversation is impossible. Say, you are a Vegas girl who doesn’t mind gifts from a married male friend, in a club, you don’t have to listen to this dull VIP while he is paying for your night on the town. Of course, there is always the risk he could make the DJ play Survivor; history shows, Vegas will do anything for a VIP. (photo: Sarah Gerke)
Such a surprise that Woods was so boring given that golf is such an exciting sport.
Richard,
great to see you back, you were missed.
He said he liked “All of them”? Wasn’t that Sarah Palin’s answer when asked which newspapers she read? I suppose it could be a very useful answer. Next time I apply for a networking job and they ask me which certifications I have, I’ll be ready. It might also be an effective answer the next time someone asks Tiger which STDs he’s caught. Too bad one of his sponsors wasn’t Trojans; they might have given him some condoms to hold in all that Tiger Jam.
Same thing happened to me when I interviewed him for Tiger Jam. I was freelancing for People mag. They just wanted three or four sentences of him talking about music he liked for a tiny mention and photo in the front of the mag. Christina Aguilera was headlining that year. I don’t kid myself that the three uncomfortable minutes of me asking questions and repeatedly receiving boring, dull or non-answers can be considered journalism. Excruciating. The only time in my career that I landed the interview then had to call an editor and confess that I literally had nothing worth printing.
The comments by this James Taylor just made me do a spit take with hot coffee. Hilarity.
Oh wow. You’re back! That’s great. And if you’ll permit me to enter the gold plated door once in awhile, I’ll throw out some pearls of wisdom. But three of my pearls and a dime won’t get you a cup of coffee at Imperial Palace on a slow day though.
Oh. Yeah. Tiger. I laughed at your article. That man is starting to perform the longest freefall off a towering precipice I’ve ever seen. But I do notice he is screaming silently the whole way down so far. This circus ain’t even started yet. National media is lining up to add little barbs here and there in his eventual and deserved crucifixion. And they are already yanking commercials with him in it. The way it’s going, I bet the bearded lady at Ringling Brother Barnum and Bailey Circus has a picture of his privates on her cell phone too.
I would say that the casinos in Las Vegas that have a gambling marker on him, they better get their money quick. Because the mother-in-law, the wife, the wife’s sister, the long line of mistresses and whoever else lines up to deplete his financial resources will suck him dry.
And your article don’t bode well for him neither. Because if he is THAT boring, then he ain’t even got a chance to be a color commentator that broadcasts golf tournaments.
Oh well, he ain’t got no one to blame but himself.
Nice. Wish you would have published this before all the infidelity crap. Would have been a nice look behind his mask.
I can’t believe you didn’t end the interview after his reply with “Eye of the Tiger”!
Very nice post. Interesting, yet boring, encounter. @Mike Kalil, also interesting that you had such a dull encounter. It seems like everyone has some sort of Tiger story (of various degrees) and thought this post, was particularly interesting given the negative vibe: http://ifollo.com/celebritystory/1st-hand-account-tiger-woods-character.
I also found this article by ESPN to provide another interesting perspective:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4727383