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More zigging, zagging with TWIG's John Ziegler

crest_big.gifOne of the testimonies included on the "First Church of Tiger Woods" website, TigerWoodsIsGod.com, refers to the Old Testament book of Regit, Chapter 4, versus 3-7, which was removed by the King James commission in 1611. That passage defines the savior coming from the masses in the Hebrew calendar 2000 – which happens to be 1976 in the Caesarean calendar. Which is the year Tiger Woods was born.
Even more profound is that Regit spelled backward is … figure it out.

Inspired to start the religious/social movement in 1997 as more than a tribute but also to collect evidence that there may be something to all these claims of divinity, John Ziegler admits he's been a bit lax about adding new material to his cybershrine, TigerWoodsIsGod.com. But with stuff like that above, it's hard to generate anything more mind bending.

The Good News is that some stuff he's been saving because he's pitching a new book -- OK, it'll be a Bible -- that'll contain much of the clever content already on the site, but add new material, expanding on the Ten Commandments of Tiger, the Chuch's philosophy and more evidence that may or may not convince you that there is some divine power behind Woods existence.

zig_brooks.jpg Ziegler is also trying to keep the site alive through the media. He recently wrote a letter to the editor at Sports Illustrated (Jan. 8 issue) in response to the magazine's annual Sportsman of the Year going to Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade. "How in 'God's' name could you possibly ignore Tiger's 2006, which was clearly the greatest comeback season in golf history," Ziegler wrote, indentifying his bias as "Pastor" and giving the web address.

Expanding on the column in today's Daily News sports section, here's more insightful Q-and-A with Ziegler, who can be heard weeknights on KFI-AM (640) from 7-to-10 p.m., once Bill Handel, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura and John and Ken are done blathering:

creationofadam_r1_c3.jpgQ: The site has some fresh stories on the home page about news relating to Tiger, but much of the content seems to have not been updated in recent years. Is there a reason for it?
A: Granted, I do need to dust up the content. But it's also interesting how jaded we get toward his success . The site hasn't created as much interest as it did in 2000 or 2001. Unless he does something that no one's ever done, no one seems to care.
I hope to collect all this stuff and sell it as a book to chronicle the journey. Tiger’s life is a journey and we’ve got just a slightly different perspective than anyone else. Tiger’s life has got many more chapters to go and breaking Jack Nicklaus’ unbreakable majors record only one of them. He’s living the most remarkable life our our time. I just want to know if he’s happy. If he's not, then we can all give up.

Q: Do you still have the same approach to the site as you did when you started it?
A: His life really is a social experiment. He's on a journey and sometimes it’s hard even for me to remember his life doesn’t belong to us. It's hard to question him. Everytime I dio, I look bad. Last year after the U.S. Open (and his father's passing), I almost dumped the site and never thought about it. I thought he had a resonable chance to catch Nicklaus (at 18 major victories) but it was looking like a longshot. Now, it could happen in a few years. It's probably the most remarkable turnaround in the history of sports. No one seems to care.
He sets an example for everyone. For a guy, especially in golf, to change his swing twice after reaching his level of expertise is remarkable and gutsy. Golf is littered with decapitated bodies of golfers who tried to get better but lost their game forever. He knows that, but amazingly he had the guts and ability do it twice. It's off the charts. If it had gone in the other direction, it wouldn't have been just him humiliated. He’s a multi-multi million dollar national corporation. There’d have been hundreds of people’s jobs lost if his game had gone in the tank. He has an enormous amount of pressure in a game where pressure is the most debilitating element there is. That’s one angle of his accomplishments I don’t understand. No one in the historyof sport, maybe man, ever lived with higher expectations than him but every time, he met or exceeded it. That's the most remarkable aspect of him.

woods_earl_tiger060503cp.jpgQ: Can you expand more about why you started the site after Earl Woods made those "Chosen One" comments in Sports illustrated?
A: That really hit home for me. I knew something strange and odd and mysterous was going on here, but never did I think he was God or Godly. But his dad laid it all out. That article is the most undertalked thing in the history of sports journalism. I read it again every once and awhile, and some of the things Earl says are incredible. Why didn’t it create larger impact astounds me. And then the golf journalism community is in the tank for Tiger and so afraid to offend him, they'll never bring it up. But his father clearly believed his son was sent by God. His first three kids were training for Tiger.

Q: Will Tiger continue to get hands-off treatment from the media? Is your site something he'll ever acknowledge?
A: Tiger knows about the site. He was asked about it at the 2000 Masters and he said he had not heard of it. But he made no effort to deny his divinty. Had it denied it, maybe we'd see him in a different light.
(Associated Press writer) Doug Ferguson asked Tiger about it. I finally met Doug at the TPC in Jacksonville, but he almost ran away from me. That indicated to me there’d be some sort of connection, that Tiger was not happy about it.
(Read one of the latest stories Ferguson did defending Woods for skipping events).
I went to the Tiger Wood Learning Center opening in Anaheim. I didn't identify myself, but I was there representing KFI. I got as close as I could to him and asked about his dad’s comments. Obvious he's still sensative about it. But golf writers in general don't want to jeopardize their gig. Their lives are based on their access to Tiger. If he never gives you a one-on-one, what do you lose by criticizing him? You don't. He always gets a break in how the media types cover him.

SisterBoy_r1_c2.jpgQ: What does Tiger's absence from the Nissan Open this week tell you about his thinking?
A: It looks as if he's ducking the event. I don't think that's his thinking, but that's the way it looks and it's a shame. This could have been the greatest Nissan I think in a long time with the amount of top players. The field is still outstanding. Yet, its remarkable, when he decided not to play, there was no buzz at all at the event. It went from the most anticipated to a second-tier tournament, even with that field.
When I talk about how Tiger may have reached a point where he's a little too powerful for the Tour, the most underplayed story in years has been what happened with The International being canceled.
(For more on that, go to this link).
It's truly remarkable how one player, and the birth of one child -- talk about biblical -- elminated a PGA Tour event. That's not an understatment. They moved it specifically so they could attract him. And now that his wife is with child -- and we do doubt she's a virgin -- they canceled it forever.

Q: Now that he has a child on the way, do you see the ministry focusing on the son rather than the holy father?
A: It's funny how you assume it's a son who's coming. He did sort of let that slip in a recent interview. I'm somewhat surprised that didn’t create more attention. Tiger is so careful with words. A slip is very un-Tiger-like. It'll be the first golf child ever swarmed by paparizzi. If there's a star over the child’s birthplace, that'll be an interesting hint. As far as being visited by three wise men, I doubt the kid will be born in a manger.

Elin_kiss.jpgQ: Do you think Tiger would miss playing in a major event because of the birth of his child?
A: You remember Jack Nicklaus had five kids and never missed a major. We're really not sure if it's the British Open or U.S. Open that he would miss, based on when news came out of her pregnancy. I think the U.S. Open is in more danger, but it provides more flexability. The chances are good he doesn't miss anything. If he ends up winning the Masters and U.S. Open and misses the British Open, perhaps that's all part of his plan to send to humanity a message about priorities. I hope that's not the case. I plan my year around watching him in the majors. Without him there, that'd be like missing a major holiday.

Q: Some think the reason he missed this event was because he couldn't pass on that $3 million guarantee to play in the Dubai Open two weeks ago, which he claims he needs time after that to readjust his body clock. Had he skipped that, he'd have been fresh for the Nissan event. What's your take on that?
A: Playing in the Al Qaeda Invitational is interesting. We've had that big controvery last year with the ports deal . (For an update on that story, go to this link). A lot of people, including those at my radio station, was claiming this was a way for terrorists to get access to our ports. To which I responded: If we wanted to blow off the terrorists, having Tiger Woods, (tennis star) Roger Federer and (champion driver) Michael Schumacher all there at the same time in their grip for a kidnappying, that's a far greater terrorist attack than taking our ports.
Perhaps Tiger is just making good will in an area where we need it. I don't know if people understand his world-wide impact. When you're the most recognized figure and most beloved on the planet today, it's impossible to measure, but hard to argue that he’s not. He's as big as it gets, not just in sports but humanity. No one hates Tiger. Some are just sick of him winning, but ...
Yeah, he's well known for wanting the money. Who wouldn’t? At least I've never seen it seeped into his competitive desire. I don't feel he wants to win for money, but his life is on a dfferent path than anyone else's, so eventually the money may be used for a greater cause. I’m sure the presidential campaign in 2020 will probably be expensive, and he may not want to accept contributions. Again, I don't know if he'd ever go into politics, but he'd make Barack Obama look like Phil Angelides.

More links to Tiger Woods and the supernatural:
= At rolemodel.net, a biography of Tiger Woods that includes a quote from Michael Jordan: "I really do believe he was put here for a bigger reason than just to play golf. I don't thin that he is a god, but I do believe that he was sent by One."
=A story from 2002 posted on Sports Illustrated.com from the Augusta Chronicle that says while Woods "is not God or Ghandi" but his competitors sure think he's something special.
=From The Postman, a blog "with a pop culture twist," is one writer who proclaims Tiger Woods is God.

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