Ron Artest and Tiger Woods

Ron Artest of the Los Angeles Lakers is standing up for the disgraced Tiger Woods.

On his blog, Artest wrote an open letter to Woods, offering words of support and encouragement.

The formatting is odd, but here's the text of the letter as it appears on Artest's site:

Dear Tiger,
In reading the statements you have made, I can tell you are a stand up guy. Please remember only Jesus is perfect. You made a mistake and you admitted your infidelity.
I have made the same mistakes. Before I got married to my wife, I had a baby with another young lady, after I already had two by my girlfriend who is now my wife. We also had another baby which makes three for us and four for me. Two boys and two girls.
My wife is a much better wife than I am a husband. We still argue and disagree after being together 16 years. and I still cope with the fact that there are so many women out there and I choose to stay loyal to my wife.
I want to be home every night, but with traveling I can’t, and sometimes I might want to go to a bar or club and be one of the fellas. Most of the time I stay in, because I have my kids and wife.
I cannot sit here and say the thought to have many women has never crossed my mind. If I were Jesus I could.
I have known my wife for 16 years– since I was 14 years old.
She was my first.
On the way to 2010 we had many ups and downs on the way, mostly my fault. But I really choose to work hard and play ball to support her and my kids. The same reason you are building your legacy.
I have been disturbed by this because there are many people who are happy that this bad news has come out.
There are a lot of sports announcers and regular reporters who are not perfect in their own homes, yet they want to bring you down.
You have done so much for people, the sport of golf, and your family and you gave your wife a life that people can’t even dream of.
I thought you were 36 or 37 until I read the news today. A 33-year-old man who has been a model citizen with so much at stake. This is your first publicly known issue since you started your career, compared to my 50 or more publicly known issues and mistakes.
You have been the perfect role model for me and my sons for longer than anyone I have known.
With the exception of a few legends.
As your fan, I can’t wait to see you golf again.
And us athletes know how much you personally love your family.

One love,
Ron Artest
This is just a fan mail letter to Tiger Woods fans and indirectly to Tiger himself.
Please, everyone support Tiger in these tough times for his family.

Also if you are a sports announcer or regular everyday reporter or blogger please step up like Tiger and tell your wife or husband if you have any skeletons in your closet. Especially if you were one of the few attacking TIGER!!
One Love People

I see nothing wrong in Artest showing compassion for Woods or noting that some of Woods' critics are hypocrites.

What's very wrong is for Artest to state, "You have been the perfect role model for me and my sons for longer than anyone I have known."

Woods was only a perfect role model because he managed to keep the truth hidden for as long as he did.

A serial adulterer and liar like Woods is not a perfect role model for Artest and his sons. Woods shouldn't serve as a role model for anyone.

Of course, no one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all have done things we knew to be wrong. We're human. We're flawed.

If perfection were a requirement to be a role model, there could be no human role models.

That said, I would never hold Woods up as a model for my husband or sons.

His mistakes were major and many. If he truly loved his wife and children, he would not have repeatedly been unfaithful to his wife and the mother of his children. He would not have had relationships with a string of women.

Woods was living a lie publicly and personally.

No, Woods is not a good role model when it comes to being a husband and father. His character is not to be admired.

Artest says that Woods should be cut some slack since this is his first scandal. It may be his first, but it's massive. Nonetheless, I think the public will cut him slack. He'll be forgiven by the public. Whether his wife forgives him remains to be seen, though it seems doubtful at this point. But he'll play golf again. No question about it.

In addition to destroying his marriage and ripping apart his family, Woods has destroyed his image as being one of the greatest. Supposedly, his greatness transcended golf. He is a great golfer, but he's not a great man.

He's not the person he led us to believe he was. He's deeply flawed, and he seems to be angry now that the world knows the truth. It's a childish reaction. This circus is his fault, not the fault of the media. I'd have more respect for Woods if he hadn't tried to lie about the car accident. The attempted cover-up made the revelations worse.

Woods has to come to terms with the fact that the game is over. Actually, the scandal could be liberating for him. He no longer has to pretend to be someone he's not -- a good husband and father. It must have been a heavy burden for him.

Since Thanksgiving, he's had an extreme makeover in terms of his image. He's been transformed. Expectations are no longer high when it comes to Woods. Who knows? Maybe this will help his golf game.

Bottom line: I'm sure the public will forgive him, but it won't forget. Off the golf course, he's no role model. Do your best not to let your sons grow up to be like Tiger.