Tiger Woods and Garth Brooks at Obama Inauguration

The normally reticent Tiger Woods and the all-but-retired Garth Brooks will be featured in Barack Obama’s apparently-starting-early inauguration.

Tiger Woods, who has tried to stay out of politics during his ascent to become one of the world’s most famous athletes, has accepted an invitation to speak at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday as part of President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities.

Woods posted a short statement on his Web site to say he would speak at “We Are One,” a concert and celebration that will be broadcast live on HBO and feature entertainers such as Beyonce, U2, Stevie Wonder and Garth Brooks, along with appearances by Denzel Washington and Martin Luther King III.

[…]

Woods rarely gets involved in political discussions and festivities. He was criticized in 1997 after his watershed victory at The Masters, when he turned down an invitation from former President Bill Clinton to travel to Shea Stadium in New York to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier.

[…]

After Obama’s landslide victory, Woods said on CNBC he had been hopeful that a black man would be elected president in his lifetime. “I think it’s absolutely incredible,” he told the cable network. “He represents America. He’s multiracial. I was hoping it would happen in my lifetime. My father was hoping it would happen in his lifetime, but he didn’t get to see it. I’m lucky enough to have seen a person of color in the White House.”

In fairness to Tiger, he’s not only 12 years older now but also recovering from an injury; in 1997, he likely had a Major for which to prepare himself. And, for that matter, commemorating an event that took place decades before you were born and now seems so unremarkable is a different thing than experiencing living history.

FILED UNDER: Popular Culture, Race and Politics, Sports, US Politics, , , , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Triumph says:

    The big question is why in the hell Garth Brooks is going–I thought he was a right thinking American, not a crazy lib, mold spore.

    Maybe he is trying to resurrect his song “Ive got friends in low places.” Except this time, with Hussein, he apparently has a low friend in a high place.

    This is disgusting. I will have to toss my Garth records on the pyre that has already subsumed my Dixie Chicks collection.

  2. Eric says:

    This is disgusting. I will have to toss my Garth records on the pyre that has already subsumed my Dixie Chicks collection.

    Ruh-roh, call the doctors. Looks like we have the first offical case of Obama Derangment Syndrome. Maybe they can add it to DSMV-IV.

    Say, Triumph, isn’t your reaction to this the same kind of stuff you and your ideological head-in-sand cohorts rail about all the time? Well, there’s no kind of hypocrisy like rightwing nutty hypocrisy.

    Just sayin.

  3. jabberwock says:

    I had a comment about Triumph deleted a while back…it still applies.

  4. Eneils Bailey says:

    The big question is why in the hell Garth Brooks is going-

    There are lot of people I know who are socially conservative and are good people but could not name the three branches of government. More and more of them are talking about the rights they have; free health care, free college for their kids, and the right to live in luxury after retirement.

    When I ask, “Who will pay for this.?”

    “The government; does not cost you anything.” is the usual response.

    Intelligence is cheap, ignorance cost a lot of our money.

  5. Brian says:

    Just FYI, Triumph is being sarcastic.

  6. Richard Gardner says:

    This is disgusting. I will have to toss my Garth records on the pyre that has already subsumed my Dixie Chicks collection.

    When was the last Garth Brooks record? Guess you haven’t bought anything in the past couple of decades. I don’t even have a record player anymore. [Yes, I know it is just a figure of speech. I just find it very dated.]

    I didn’t vote for the President-elect, but there is no way I’ll do a “Not My President” tantrum, like the numerous bumper stickers I’ve seen. I’ll watch and see what actually happens. As only Nixon could go to China, maybe Obama can ???

  7. When you’re rich enough that the president’s skin color matters more than his tax policies, you can really appreciate the historical significance of this occasion.

  8. sam says:

    When you’re rich enough that the president’s skin color matters more than his tax policies, you can really appreciate the historical significance of this occasion.

    Hey! We’ve gotta winner in the OTB Most Cynical Comment contest. BBOW, hands and foot down (the other being in his mouth).

  9. Cynical? Yeah, I guess. But what are the tax implications to Tiger? They’re whether he’ll give more or less to his foundation this year. I’m just saying it’s easier to recognize the historical significance of something when you’re not struggling to get ahead.

  10. caj says:

    This is disgusting. I will have to toss my Garth records on the pyre that has already subsumed my Dixie Chicks collection.

    Posted by Triumph | January 16, 2009

    Now, now don’t get over excited, the man has class that’s why he’s going, Hank Williams Jr trasped around with McCain and the old reck neck gang I bet you were over the moon with that!!!

  11. Eneils Bailey says:

    Who cares who does what.

    As long as he does not have Bill Ayers, The Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Real Estate Developer Tont Resco, The reverend Al Sharpton, The Reverend Jesse Jackson, his friends from Code Pink, and leaders from ACORN, and Chris Matthews creaming down his leg, I guess that Tiger Woods and Garth Brooks are safe bets.

    It’s all an illusion; this person will be influenced and controlled by the far left. Without publicly recognizing that his ascension to power is a debt owed to the far left, not normal people.

  12. anjin-san says:

    It’s all an illusion; this person will be influenced and controlled by the far left. Without publicly recognizing that his ascension to power is a debt owed to the far left, not normal people.

    Tin foil is cheap Eneils, you need to make yourself a beanie…

  13. anjin-san says:

    Those who think Obama is simply going to kowtow to the left should inform themselves about how he conducted himself as President of the Harvard Law Review.

    Lefties that expected to be running the show under Obama got an unpleasant surprise. He gave political opponents a voice, did not concern himself too much with ideology, and focused on producing a top quality publication, which, after all, was the job at hand.

  14. steve s says:

    Lefties that expected to be running the show under Obama got an unpleasant surprise. He gave political opponents a voice, did not concern himself too much with ideology, and focused on producing a top quality publication, which, after all, was the job at hand.

    I’m center-left, and I’m quite happy that Obama’s not very ideological. Ideology can blind people, and I would rather have pragmatic solutions with a liberal flavor than blind left ideology.

    The GOP is in trouble because of ideology. Like that congressman who decided his policy first and then asked if any economists would sign onto it. Deciding what’s right and then looking for confirmatory evidence is guaranteed to lead you astray, as the last 8 years helps demonstrate.

  15. Eneils Bailey says:

    Tin foil is cheap Eneils,

    So is Ignorance…
    How much did you pay for yours?