One of the many Christmas cards making a mockery of Tiger Woods after his infidelity became a hot topic in the media.

In recent months, we have witnessed the fall of American royalty. While not committing an actual crime (other than those against his marriage), Tiger Woods has gone from one of our most honored and respected public figures to a pariah – shunned by fans and advertisers alike. To commemorate this precipitous fall-from-grace, a number of humorous web sites have designed Tiger Woods Christmas cards to highlight the megastar’s self-created tribulations.

In the first FreakingNews.com Tiger Woods Christmas card, he is decked out in his usual Nike regalia, is pictured in the follow-through of his classic golf swing. A decorated Christmas tree stands at the left, next to the message “To:” followed by the names of Tiger’s wife, “Elin”, and a list of some of his alleged paramours, “Jesse, Rachel, Jennifer, Jessica. Merry Christmas Baby! Love, Tiger Woods”. All of the women’s names other than the last one have a line drawn through them. Adding humor to the obvious knock on his multiple dalliances is the insinuation that someone with Tiger’s rather considerable means went through the trouble of ordering preprinted Christmas cards for his harem in bulk, presumably to save a few dollars.

In the second FreakingNews.com offering (pictured above), the Christmas card is addressed only to Elin, but carries a less contrite tone than one might expect. The picture is of a perturbed-looking Tiger gazing over his right shoulder with a severely bent golf club wrapped around the crown of his head. In the greeting, Tiger first denies having relations with any of his accusers, but then backtracks and admits to only one or two affairs – which he claims not to have enjoyed. He ends by wishing his wife a Merry Christmas and a better year than he’s having and complimenting her on her “great swing… ouch!”

In perhaps the most famous image to make the rounds after the events of last Thanksgiving, pictured on egge.net, a bruised and battered Tiger stands next to his beaming wife in an official-looking couples photo. Photoshopped touches include one missing and several broken teeth, multiple lumps and stitches on the forehead and cheeks, and a left eye swollen completely shut. A nine-iron has been added in Elin’s grasp. The caption reads, “MERRY CHRISTMAS From Mr. & Mrs. Tiger Woods.”

Fortunately, the humor in these Christmas cards is not over-the top and they can provide a lighthearted laugh. I do find it hard to fathom the current phenomenon where an exalted public figure’s private failings can completely derail his or her life and career. On the subject of celebrities and their personal lives, it seems as though our information society has become a too-much-information society. Let me state for the record that I have never been a Tiger Woods fan. The fact that he was handed a $40 million check by Nike before a single professional accomplishment along with his attitude on the green has never endeared him to me. The fact that he continues to pile up all-time records in an era of weak competition on the PGA tour irks me to no end. But I can’t understand the argument that because Tiger possesses incredible wealth and fame or because a number of corporations pay him to endorse their products, that he somehow owes an apology to anyone other than his wife and family. While his behavior certainly cannot be condoned, I can’t say that I am one of the multitude of fans or members of the media who take a perverse pleasure in seeing a man’s downfall over something which should be a private matter. To the celebrity (and later the mainstream) media which made Tiger’s stepping out the most covered story in America for two months, I say, “ENOUGH!”