Tiger Woods announced last week that he will be absent from the PGA tour for an undetermined amount of time to be with his ailing father.

This week, Tiger is bungy jumping and driving race cars?  (see this link)

Am I missing something?

This past weekend, Tiger Woods was in New Zealand to be the best man at his caddie's wedding.  Tough to blame Tiger for that.  What was Tiger supposed to do while his caddie was off getting married?  Do we expect Tiger to carry his own clubs?

On Sunday, Woods and caddie Steve Williams enjoyed a 440 foot bungy jump.  Instead of making drops on the course at the Shell Houston Open, Tiger was making a daredevil drop from a cable car in New Zealand.

Later this week, Woods will be driving a stock car in a celebrity charity race (also in New Zealand).

Didn't Tiger claim that he was taking time off to be with his ailing father?

Because when you think of family crisis...you think of bungy jumping and stock car racing.

You might be surprised to know that I am not going to criticize Tiger Woods for his New Zealand vacation.

Whaaaaaa?

That's right.  I'll support Tiger Woods 100%.  If anybody deserves a vacation, it's Tiger.  He is the best golfer in the world.  His profession requires endless hours of practice.  Whenever he's not on the course or at the range, it is likely that he is busy with a charity event.  Even on his New Zealand "vacation", the celebrity charity race will be raising money for disadvantaged youth to pursue sporting careers.

I expect some people may have a negative reaction to Tiger's little vacation.  At first glance, I even thought it was a bit odd for him to kick off his leave of absence in such fashion.  Then I realized exactly what I was looking at.  A superstar athlete's life...underneath a microscope.

Do we really need to know why Tiger Woods is taking a break from golf?  Do we need to know every single activity that he does off of the golf course?  Do any of us have a clue how it feels to be the most recognized athlete on the planet?

This story is much different from other selfish athletes under the microscope.  This is not Terrell Owens threatening to hold out of training camp.  Golf doesn't even have a training camp.  It is an individual sport.  There is no requirement for how many tournaments must be played.  It is the sole responsibility of the golfer to determine when and where to play.

So just for a while, maybe we can turn the microscope off.  What do you say?