Character counts for a lot in my book

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The world stopped for over 13 minutes today.

In that span, Tiger Woods was the king of the universe.

Big deal.

Woods finally came clean ...well, sort of.

He did admit to cheating, but didn't give a total body count. Was the over-under 20?

Anyway, do we really care that he's finally come clean?

Personally, it doesn't bother me either way.

What he does in his personal life is his own business, but being a pro athlete he obviously realizes that he's always on center stage.

So by coming clean, he at least let the public know what we've suspected all along -- that he did cheat.

Woods is the best -- by far -- in his sport, but you can bet he's lost a lot of fans along the way now because of his off-the-course issues.

His image has been wrecked, but we're a forgiving society, so it's only a matter of time before he's back in the good graces. Kobe Bryant was once Public Enemy No. 1 after his debacle, but now he's one of the most popular player again in the NBA.

Just like Bryant, Woods will be forgiven at some point.

But as far as I'm concerned now, Woods is no longer a role model.

What he's done is downright wrong and his character has been tarnished.

It's something I'll never forget, either.

Yes, Woods is a great athlete but somewhere along the line character must play a factor in the total athlete -- just like the Average Joe you seen on the street or at work every day.

Character counts for a lot in my book.

If you don't have character, you don't have much as far as I'm concerned.

I hope Woods gets rehabilitated and I don't wish anything bad to happen to him, but I've lost a lot of respect for Woods the man. Sports is so secondary right now.

Tiger's taken a hard fall, sort of like all his opponents have done on the course while trying to battle him for a win. But maybe one day we'll all forget about it and call him the perfect golfer, husband and father.

But not right now.

Can he now be as successful in rehabilitating as he's been at winning majors?

Woods' character is in question. The ball is on his course now.

Some want Woods to come back to golf and become a better player (if that's possible).

But I'd be more impressed with him coming back a better man ... a man of character.