Should Tiger Woods Still be a Role-Model?

The bigger they are...

The Tiger Woods saga seems to take new scandolous turns every day, as the world's most famous golfer attempts to pull himself out of a nightmare. Accused of everything from adultery to drug-use, Woods has fallen fast and hard, and all his many fans are left wondering whether they should ever trust him again.

The drama started last week when police were called to the scene of a car accident and found Tiger lying unconscious on the ground. The accident was the apparent result of a fight between Woods and his wife, Elin Nordegren, over Tiger's extra-marital activities. Still, Nordegren came to his rescue and reportedly bashed in the car's front windshield in order to pull him out.

Now all kinds of salacious details about Woods' private life are coming to light, including accusations of adultery with numerous other women, kinky prescription drug sex, and tiny calves (say what?). Needless to say, he is not the guy we thought he was.

So the question now becomes, will we ever be able to look up to Tiger Woods again? The man has built his reputation on maintaining a level of professionalism and steely coolness matched only by his appearance as a devoted father and husband.

But as we all know, no one is perfect. Like Michael Phelps and BongGate, or the ever-expanding group of athletes caught using performance-enhancing drugs, it hurts when they fall from the pedestal we put them on.

"The real story here is the meeting of expectations with reality," says Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society. "The guy's a human being and we forget that."

So from now on it may be best to keep your idols on the ground, because who knows what kind of nastiness they'll unearth one day. And as for Tiger's chance of redeeming himself? Only time will tell. Let's just hope the dirt doesn't get dirtier.