Posted Feb 19th 2010 6:36PM by TMZ Staff
It seemed like innocent fun ... but these pictures of Olympic bronze medalist Scotty Lago proved a bit too much for Vancouver -- Scotty is packing up his newly-polished medal and leaving.
Scotty apologized to the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association after we posted the photo -- taken on a public street with a crowd of people watching -- before volunteering to go home.
TMZ published the photo and apparently it didn't sit well with someone. He's a snowboarder for cryin' out loud. They should have cut him a break.
Filed under: Paparazzi Photo, TMZ Sports
Tags: olympic bronze medalist, olympic committee, olympic medalist, OlympicBronzeMedalist, OlympicCommittee, OlympicMedalist, olympics, photo, picture, scotty lago, ScottyLago, snowboarder, u.s. olympic committee, U.s.OlympicCommittee, vancouver
Posted Feb 19th 2010 2:34PM by TMZ Staff
Tiger Woods just finished giving his 13-minute, prepared statement (click here for the full transcript). Highlights are below.
-- Tiger described his behavior as "irresponsible and selfish."
-- "I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated."
-- "I have bitterly disappointed all of you ... I am so sorry."
-- "I thought I could get away with anything I wanted to ... I thought I was entitled ... I don't get to play by different rules."
-- "As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words; it will come from my behavior over time."
-- "I ask you to find room in your heart to one day believe in me again."
-- "I do plan to return to golf one day, but I don't know when that will be."
-- "Starting tomorrow, I will leave for more treatment and more therapy."
-- "Parents used to point to me as a role model for their kids. I owe all those families a special apology."
-- Tiger Woods says he wants to get back to his Buddhist roots.
-- "I have bitterly disappointed all of you ... I am so sorry."
-- About the paparazzi: "Leave my wife and kids alone."
-- Tiger said he has never used performance enhancing drugs.
-- "Elin didn't hit me that night or any other night ... Elin deserves praise, not blame."
-- Tiger apologized to the people who work for him and his foundation.
-- Tiger Woods hugged his mom and went down the line hugging each person in attendance.
-- Among the people in attendance: Tiger Woods' mom, longtime friend Bryon Bell, and PGA Tour commish Tim Finchem.
Click here to live chat!
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Tiger Woods
Tags: Tiger woods, tiger woods accident, tiger woods affair, tiger woods mistress, tiger woods pga tour 10, tiger woods press conference, tiger woods scandal, TigerWoods, TigerWoodsAccident, TigerWoodsAffair, TigerWoodsMistress, TigerWoodsPgaTour10, TigerWoodsPressConference, TigerWoodsScandal
Posted Feb 19th 2010 11:40AM by TMZ Staff
Bronze medal winner Scotty Lago got a little friendly congrats from a snowboarding fan in Vancouver last night.
No word on whether the fan received a medal for her work.
Filed under: TMZ Sports
Tags: bronze, medal, olympics, scotty lago, ScottyLago, snowboarding, vancouver
Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:20AM by TMZ Staff
One of the biggest crisis managers in America says Tiger Woods' address was a great 5 minute speech ... problem is it lasted 13 minutes.
Michael Sitrick, who has repped Rush Limbaugh, Paris Hilton and lots of other celebs in crisis, thinks, "There were good points in the speech but you had to wade through so much to pick them out."
Sitrick thought the most effective moment for Tiger was when he hugged his mom, which Sitrick says, "showed a genuine, human side."
Uber-publicist Howard Bragman -- who repped Isaiah Washington during his ordeal -- tells TMZ, "He didn't forget to apologize to anyone. Today was Yom Kippur for Tiger!"
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Exclusives, Tiger Woods
Tags: annoucnement, elin nordegren, ElinNordegren, golf, michael sitrick, MichaelSitrick, pga, rambled, rehab, tiger woods, TigerWoods, tour
Posted Feb 19th 2010 10:15AM by TMZ Staff
In completely obvious news, Tiger Woods' apology got the Swooshtastic stamp of approval from Nike -- who's already looking for their cash cow to get back on the golf course.
A rep from Nike tells TMZ, "Tiger has apologized and made his position clear. Nike fully supports him and his family. We look forward to him returning to golf."
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Exclusives, Tiger Woods
Tags: elin nordegren, ElinNordegren, nike, sponsor, tiger woods, TigerWoods
Posted Feb 19th 2010 9:30AM by TMZ Staff
Michael Jordan will be at the Tiger Woods apology event, his wife Elin Nordegren will not -- this according to Tiger's former Ryder Cup teammate.
PGA great Brad Faxon went on the Dennis and Callahan radio show this morning and said, "I know Michael Jordan's going to be there. I know Elin is not going to be there."
MJ and Tiger are famously close -- Jordan has been described as a mentor to Woods.
Faxon -- who shared a spot with Tiger on the 1997 championship Ryder Cup team added, "I think Tiger really wants some friends there. That's why this thing is really a mystery to me."
We'll see if he's right in about 90 minutes.
UPDATE: Jordan's rep told ESPN that MJ "will not be in the room."
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Tiger Woods
Tags: brad faxon, BradFaxon, elin nordegren, ElinNordegren, michael jordan, MichaelJordan, ryder cup, RyderCup, tiger woods, TigerWoods
Posted Feb 19th 2010 8:50AM by TMZ Staff
The paparazzi around Tiger Woods' Isleworth home are really stepping up their game .... preparing for today's "news" conference -- the choppers are already hovering.
This was the scene yesterday about an hour before Tiger hit the green for his second staged photo shoot -- Tiger's golf cart was spotted pulling into his driveway from above.
We're pretty sure that's Tiger in the white hat.
Filed under: Paparazzi Video, TMZ Sports, Tiger Woods
Tags: golf, golf cart, GolfCart, helicopter, isleworth, paparazzi, tiger woods, TigerWoods
Posted Feb 19th 2010 8:00AM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has learned the identity of the mystery person jogging with Tiger Woods in the infamous first photo -- and it turns out, Woods handpicked the guy several years ago.
The man in the blue shirt is Corey Carroll -- a 23-year-old avid golfer who Tiger plucked from obscurity to mentor several years ago.
Carroll -- who hails from Windermere, Florida, right near Tiger's home -- met the golf legend when he was 17 ... and they've been training partners ever since.
The two didn't just start jogging together for the posed photo -- according to an interview Carroll gave back in 2007, they practice and work out together nearly every day.
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Tiger Woods
Tags: cory carroll, CoryCarroll, golfer, jogging, photo, tiger woods, TigerWoods
Posted Feb 18th 2010 9:05PM by TMZ Staff
Tiger Woods is making even more enemies -- the Golf Writers Association of America has officially decided to boycott Tiger's big media event tomorrow because they feel he's screwing the media.
The GWAA just released a statement claiming they feel Tiger's decision to refuse questions -- and to handpick reporters, "goes against the grain of everything we believe."
The group also believes that if they show up to the event -- without the ability to fire off questions -- it gives credibility "to an event that isn't worthy of it."
FYI -- Tiger's set to speak tomorrow at 11 AM EST.
Filed under: TMZ Sports, TMZ Live, Tiger Woods
Tags: golf writers association of america, golf writers of america, GolfWritersAssociationOfAmerica, GolfWritersOfAmerica, tiger woods, TigerWoods
Posted Feb 18th 2010 6:02PM by TMZ Staff
UPDATE: Tim Finchem told ESPN Tiger got out of rehab last week and has been spending time with his family. He also said Tiger would be addressing the rehab issue at tomorrow's event.
The PGA Tour Commissioner slipped when he was talking to the media yesterday .... and said Tiger Woods is still in rehab.
At the Accenture Match Play Championship, Commissioner Tim Finchem said, "I don't know what his [Tiger's] plans are in terms of what he's going to say [tomorrow]. I don't know what he's going to do after he finishes his rehab, you know, I think all of that is TBD."
We got the transcript off of pgatour.com.
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Tiger Woods
Tags: accenture match play championship, AccentureMatchPlayChampionship, pga, pga commissioner, pga commissioner tim finchem, PgaCommissioner, PgaCommissionerTimFinchem, tiger woods, TigerWoods
Posted Feb 18th 2010 4:00PM by TMZ Staff
Locker room pistolero Gilbert Arenas may have another shot with the Washington Wizards after all -- the team's general manager "thinks" he'll be back with the squad next year.
The NBA team's GM Ernie Grunfeld just finished up a news conference on the state of his team -- and according to Washington Post reporter Michael Lee, the squad isn't ready to empty the clip on their highest paid player saying, "We think he's going to be back with us. He's part of the organization. If he's going to play, he's going to play here."
Arenas is currently serving a season-long suspension for bringing guns into the Wizards locker room back in December -- over an incident involving his teammate Javaris Crittenton.
As we previously reported, the Wizards were so helpful with police, insiders say they were looking for an excuse to 86 him from the team.
Before leaving today's conference, Grunfeld noted that his relationship with Arenas is, "fine."
Filed under: TMZ Sports
Tags: basketball, ernie grunfeld, ErnieGrunfeld, gilbert arenas, GilbertArenas, guns, gunsd, javaris crittenton, JavarisCrittenton, nba, return, washington post, washington wizards, WashingtonPost, WashingtonWizards
Posted Feb 18th 2010 1:32PM by TMZ Staff
A radio station reportedly got a leaked copy of the statement Tiger Woods will deliver tomorrow -- a statement which says "things have not worked out" between Elin Nordegren and him. To us the statement is a total fake, and Tiger's reps reportedly claim it's not the real deal.
Here's part of the alleged statement:
"Directly to the point there is no one to blame but me for the mess I have put my wife and family through. I accept total and complete responsibility. My wife and I have been trying to work things out but sadly things have not worked out."
It goes on:
"We have decided to live apart with me having mutually agreed upon times when I can be with our children."
Why would Tiger get into issues of custody and make his relationship with his wife a focal point? Feels totally fake.
And there's this ... the radio station credited with breaking the story, WYCD in Detroit, claim they had nothing to do with it and "has since taken it down."
Here's the full statement.
Filed under: TMZ Sports, Tiger Woods
Tags: elin nordegren, ElinNordegren, tiger woods, tiger woods affair, tiger woods wife, TigerWoods, TigerWoodsAffair, TigerWoodsWife
Posted Feb 18th 2010 1:31PM by TMZ Staff
Former NBA star Jayson Williams will have four days to drown his sorrows before heading to prison next week ... because the alcohol monitoring bracelet is coming off.
Jayson's lawyer, Linda Kenny-Baden, tells TMZ the SCRAM bracelet he was ordered to wear after his DUI bust last month will come off on Friday.
But Jayson's bracelet isn't being 86'd for a good reason. He's being sentenced to prison on Tuesday over the death of his limo driver -- and the bracelet has to come off before he goes to the pokey.
It must Absolut-ly suck to be Jayson.
Filed under: TMZ Sports
Tags: alcohol, alcohol monitoring bracelet, AlcoholMonitoringBracelet, basketball, drunk driving, DrunkDriving, dui, dwi, jayson williams, JaysonWilliams, nba, scram bracelet, ScramBracelet