Polls of sports stars' popularity regularly show that Tiger Woods is well down the list - in fact, the polarizing golfer is near the top of the latest 'Most Despised Athletes - but archrival Sergio Garcia has helped to improve his reputation with one stupid remark.
If you follow sports, you've heard Garcia's hurtful (what he says were supposed to be playful) words about inviting Woods over for supper and serving "fried chicken."
Sergio Garcia, meet Fuzzy Zoeller. Sergio, Fuzzy, say hello to Kelly Tilghman of the Golf Channel.
All three hit rock bottom on the insensitive comment scale because they tried to make funny comments in a public forum about black athletes and used ill-advised stereotypical comments that are generally accepted as slurs.
Zoeller, shortly after Woods burst upon the world golf scene by winning the 1997 Masters by 12 strokes, said in an alleged Scotch-fuelled laughfest something about the 1998 Champions Dinner menu consisting of fried chicken and collard greens - a denigration to African Americans of the highest order. Hey, Fuzzy was being Fuzzy. Hilarious. It cost him millions in endorsements and he's reminded of his stupid remark regularly.
A few years later, Tilghman, the talented Golf Channel announcer, thought she was paying tribute to Woods's talent by saying through laughter that his rivals should "lynch him in a back alley."
Considering America's sorry history of race relations and middle-of-the-night Ku Klux Klan activities, her line was about as funny as a broken ankle. She paid for her inappropriate comments with an internal suspension, but has since rebounded to her former place as one of Golf Channel's best.
And then along came Sergio. His public feud with Woods from a relatively minor spat in the Players Championship in early May escalated two weeks later when he made his ill-advised fried chicken remark that likely will, unfortunately, stain him for life.
Said writer Tom English of The Scotsman.com: "The only thing the Spaniard has achieved . . . was to make a sympathetic character out of Woods."
Thanks to that Sergio-inspired sympathy, Tiger's popularity rating will rise while Garcia's plummets to depths he has never experienced before. If they pass each other on that popularity pole, Sergio should open his mouth one more time, but this time say only two words: "Sorry, Tiger."
And Woods, who sought and generally received the world's forgiveness when he begged for it following his 2010 scandal, should utter an empathetic acceptance. The two should then embrace after realizing that both have failed miserably in the world of public opinion, and carry on with great golf.
Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian Pilot: "Texas is the latest football power to offer a scholarship to 6-foot-1, 217-pound Louisiana prospect Dylan Moses, who also has offers from LSU, Alabama and Florida. Why is this worth noting? Because Moses, projected as a running back or linebacker, is an eighth-grader."
Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald: "Dwyane Wade donned a floral number by Versace for a Miami Heat postgame press conference. You know a guy is secure in his masculinity when he chooses the same outfit that Charlize Theron wore to the Oscars."
Len Berman of ThatsSports.com, on ex-pitcher Tommy John turning 70: "Coincidentally, he was the first player to undergo Tommy John surgery."
Rangers manager Ron Washington, to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, after the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera hit three homers in their series finale: "I'm very happy that he's headed to the airport."
Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Redskins fans flooding millionaire QB Robert Griffin III with wedding gifts: "Nice to know that so many people who probably wouldn't give a can of soup for a food drive will buy new sheets for RGIII."
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: "The Washington Redskins' nickname is under fire again. Am trying to think of a suitable replacement that would reflect the great heritage and legacy of the American Indian, but Washington Casino Operators seems a bit unwieldy."
NBC funnyman Jimmy Fallon: "Four women have qualified to race in this Sunday's Indy 500. Yeah, four women going around and around in circles - or as that's normally called, 'The View.' "
Comedy writer Alex Kaseberg: "Congratulations to 50-year-old jockey, Gary Stevens, who won the Preakness on Oxbow; not to imply Stevens is old, but after the race it was embarrassing when Gary forget where he parked Oxbow."
Ian Hamilton of the Regina Leader-Post: "There are rumblings that a Toronto Maple Leafs-inspired jewelry show is in the works. It's to feature nothing but chokers."
Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press, on the differences between the cities of Detroit and Chicago as the two NHL teams battled in the playoffs: "Our cherished sports tradition is throwing octopi. Theirs is throwing the 1919 World Series."
Brad Dickson again: "A Russian club team has begun playing a crude form of American football for the first time. Team leaders took time out to say they don't want Tim Tebow, either."
