As we reach Day 7 of Tigergate – the bizarre early morning car crash Tiger Woods was involved in that was apparently triggered by a domestic dispute – the consensus seems to be that Woods is mishandling the public relations side of the incident.

Both the media and general public perception, to this point, have been very critical of Woods’ reluctance or refusal to address the situation publicly.

And they’re right!

Woods has issued a pair of vague statements on his Web site regarding the incident. The first statement acknowledged the car accident while the next statement, three days later, acknowledged his “transgressions” and offered an apology.

But essentially, Woods has remained mute on the entire incident – including cancelling his annual appearance as host of the Chevron World Challenge golf tournament.

Woods’ reluctance to immediately respond and take control of the situation has allowed a minor story to blow up into an international scandal.

As the richest and arguably highest profile athlete in the world, the PR missteps Woods has made are baffling. With some of the industry’s top PR experts at his disposal Woods still made basic yet critical errors that will now require the assistance of a major crisis communications plan to rescue him.

Woods’ current predicament serves as very interesting PR case study. However the situation turns out; teachers, students and practitioners of public relations, especially sports PR, will be discussing and analyzing this Tiger Woods case for many years to come.

As someone who chooses to earn a living as a pro athlete and mega product endorser, Woods does have a responsibility to stand up and be accountable for his actions. He owes his public, sponsors and media some type of personal recognition and explanation.

No, Tiger Woods is not under any obligation to share the most intimate and sensitive issues of his personal life with the public. That’s not what this is about.

This is about how he moves on with his professional life – his brand, image, and golf career. This isn’t about his personal life.

There’s blood in the water and the sharks, whether it’s fair or not, are not going to stop circling until Woods steps up and addresses the situation – in person.

Woods has to stop the bleeding or he’ll always be followed by this PR mess. And the longer he waits to act, the deeper and uglier it will get.

In some respect, there’s a certain honor in Woods’ attitude of not dignifying the situation with a public response. The gossip and entertainment media dug through the mud to force this PR crisis on Woods. So it’s more than understandable if he’s angry and unwilling to give the media any more fodder.

But if Woods continues to ignore his pubic and media, and thinks the situation will just blow over, he’s going to be in a world of misery. The media hounding, questions and inquires will not stop until he takes control of the situation.

It’s the nature of the beast.

The hounding will be a constant disruption for a man who’s already high strung and cantankerous when it comes to the media.

Woods should nip it all in the bud with a press conference. He needs to stand up in front of the world with strength and confidence and address the situation. He should make a statement admitting what he wants to admit and denying what he wants to deny. That’s up to him.

Along with heavy assistance from his PR people, Woods should carefully craft a statement and make sure nothing he says can be deemed as not true or resurface to embarrass him.

The most important part of the press conference, after he explains what he needs to explain, is to finish by firmly stating that this is the last time he’ll address the situation publicly. Woods should boldly announce, “From this point on it is a private matter and will remain that way.”

This way, when any media approaches in the future and asks about the situation (and they will) Woods can simply say, “I’ve already addressed the matter and have no further comment.”

Woods will have to sustain some media heat for a while but it will eventually die down. It always does.

As more people begin to surface and become apart of the story, Woods won’t be able to control what they say or do. He’ll have to weather those storms as they come about and take the high road.

But he must remain calm and professional no matter how intrusive or inappropriate any media may act. The last thing Woods needs is more attention on this issue.

This Tiger Woods PR situation should serve as a strong reminder to the rest of the sports world to align itself with strong PR representation before a crisis hits…and if and when it does, heed their advice.

After years of poor drafting and signing mediocre players with bloated contracts, the New York Knicks, one of the NBA’s marquee names, have fallen into a deep abyss of losing and playoff-less seasons.

So along with adding new team president Donnie Walsh and head coach Mike D’Antoni prior to the 2008-09, the Knicks have adopted a front office strategy of “waiting out” player contracts to clear much the team’s salary cap room in order to rid the weaker players and, beginning next season, sign elite-level talent worth the long term, multi-million dollar, contracts they’ll command (an unusually high number of these players will be free agents after this season).

So while waiting for the 2010-11 season to come around and with nothing to offer their fans this year except the league’s highest ticket prices (next to the Los Angeles Lakers, the reigning World Champions), logic would dictate that the Knicks would jump all over an opportunity to add one of the league’s most talented and exciting players for a bargain basement price with no obligation to that player for next year – hence, not disrupting their plan to clear salary space.

The Knicks had this chance…and passed.

Ten-time all star, owner of four scoring titles and former MVP Allen “The Answer” Iverson became a free agent last week after the Memphis Grizzles terminated his one-year contract, setting him loose for any team to pick up.

So it seemed like a natural move for the Knicks to add the electrifying scorer to their backcourt, giving the team a lift in the wins/losses department while boosting the organization’s ticket sales and marketing efforts at the same time. With all of the current Knicks possessing no national name recognition (and barely any locally), Iverson’s presence would at least give the New York fans, media and overall sports scene a much needed buzz.

So what’s the problem?

Well…Along with a killer cross-over move and an uncanny ability to put the ball in the hoop; Iverson carriers a tremendous amount of baggage and a reputation as an extremely selfish player (even by today’s standards) and a detriment to team chemistry and a winning team structure.

His off the court “antics”, including gambling issues and run-ins with the police, are well known. But Iverson’s attitude as a player can be best summed up with one statement he made during a press conference following a disappointing 2002 playoff series loss while with the Philadelphia 76ers. Iverson was asked about the critical comments head coach Larry Brown had made regarding the guard’s efforts and dedication towards practice.

“We’re sitting here, and I’m supposed to be the franchise player, and we’re talking about practice. I mean listen, we’re sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we’re talking about practice.”

And, of course, Iverson’s most recent issue with the Grizzlies involved his disappointment with playing time. So he just quit on the team and his contract, just like that. He quit.

Now along with attempting to clean up the mess with their roster, the Knicks have also been cleaning up an overall public relations mess. Since the departure of hall of fame center Patrick Ewing 10 years ago, the Knicks have suffered both on the court and off.

Long story short, poor decisions by upper management have caused a number of embarrassing off-the-court episodes that have been played out in the media for the rest of sports world to see.

So with their eyes on the bigger picture, the Knicks broke from recent tradition and put the long term strength and health of the organization’s brand above the instant gratification of a few more wins and a few more tickets sold.

Although Iverson would have most likely made the team better in the short run, the Knicks mangement understood the public relations risk he posed and decided he wasn’t worth it.

When evaluating players in today’s age of professional sports, organizations have much more to consider than just talent and ability. Teams have to also recognize the public relations impact a high profile athlete will make on their community and organization.

By not signing Iverson, the Knicks demonstrated a strong concern for brand and image. Of course the bottom line with any pro sports team is winning. But it’s about building a champion, not collecting talented malcontents to compete for third place.

All real winners and championship teams represent well on the court and off. And the Knicks seem to be headed in that direction.

“I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m here to be positive about this subject.”

Those tearful remarks uttered by Mark McGwire in front of a congressional hearing in March 2005 not only destroyed his reputation as one of baseball’s all-time great sluggers but coined a phrase that now stands as a symbol of Major League Baseball’s steroid and performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) scandal that’s taken down many of its game’s great names.

With MLB, its commissioner and its players’ association essentially standing idle and doing nothing; dozens of baseball’s best known and top players were brought down, one way or another, over the last five years because of their connection to PEDs.

Baseball’s overall lack of action and meager public relations control of the scandal has caused its most valuable commodities, its players, to suffer horrendous damage to their reputation and image.

Players who were once beloved by fans and certain locks for the hall of fame were “hung out to dry” by MLB and many, like McGwire, have had to hide in obscurity.

However, because MLB’s Steroid Era is so recent (perhaps even still ongoing today) history can not yet judge or measure its impact on the sport. As more time goes by, more evidence and information comes to surface implicating more and more players to PEDs.

So whether baseball and its fans like it or not; it is becoming clear that a strong percentage (probably more than half) of today’s MLB players have used some type of performance enhancing drug during their careers.

With so many big names linked to PEDs and, subsequently, ostracized from the MLB community, at what point, if ever, can baseball and its fans allow these players back into its good graces?

With such a large number of players identified as “cheaters”, they can’t all run and hide away forever…there’s just too many names. At some point, MLB has to open its doors and attempt to get the fans and media to embrace these players again.

In order to begin the healing process and restore some of the enormous trust and respect lost by its fans and media, MLB needs to encourage these players to re-enter the baseball world and begin the necessary work to restore both their image and the image of baseball.

And it appears the first step of this process has already begun.

Last week the St. Louis Cardinals announced that McGwire has returned to the organization as the team’s batting coach for the 2010 season and it appears MLB is fully supporting this move. Commissioner Bud Selig recently told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was delighted that McGwire is returning to baseball.

“I have no misgivings about this at all…Mark McGwire is a very, very fine man and the Cardinals are to be applauded.” Selig said. “I give (Cardinals manager) Tony La Russa a lot of credit and [Cardinals chairman] Bill DeWitt a lot of credit for making this happen…I was, and am, very supportive of their decision.”

Wow! This is a huge step for MLB.

McGwire will, of course, now have to address the media for the first time since his debacle in front of Congress in 2005.

For the media and fans to forgive him and accept him back to baseball, McGwire will have to begin his media address with a statement of admission to using PEDs followed by an appropriate apology. For more than five years people have been waiting to hear McGwire speak on this topic and bring the entire issue to light.

He owes it to the fans, the media, baseball and himself.

But unlike his first time around, McGwire has to have some sort of public relations plan or strategy when he eventually addresses the media. With MLB’s support and assistance, McGwire has to be able to discuss the issue honestly, confidently and with strong character – not hiding behind empty statements like in 2005.

And he needs to be prepared for the media and their questions (really prepared), and to answer all of them.

Selig’s statement backing McGwire and the Cardinals was a great move, but it’s not nearly enough. Selig should be with McGwire during his press conference to not only discuss and support McGwire’s return to baseball but to also bring to attention that it’s okay for other banished players to come back and be accepted as long as they’re honest and truthful – about everything.

No more lies, baseball!

MLB has a lot of work to do in restoring its image and repairing the damage inflicted by the Steroid Era. Using McGwire to begin this work is an excellent first step.

As most of the sports media (and the national mainstream media for some reason) focused on the recent embarrassing sex scandal involving ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips and his subsequent termination from his network; an interesting side story has developed involving Deadspin and the practice of public relations.

A.J. Daulerio, Deadspin’s co-creator and editor, announced last week that because an ESPN public relations representative had lied to him and cost him the opportunity to scoop other major sports media outlets on a big story, he was going to embarrass the network and its brand by posting every rumor and innuendo about any of ESPN’s on-air personalities that’s ever floated Deadspin’s way.

“It’s probably about time to just unload the inbox of all the sordid rumors we’ve received over the years about various ESPN employees,” Daulerio wrote. “Chances are, at this point, there’s some truth to them . . . So, Bristolites (ESPN is based in Bristol, Conn.), strap in — it’s going to be a long day.”

The specific incident that upset Daulerio occurred in early September when he contacted ESPN about rumors that Phillips was going to be fired in the very near future for his involvement in an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 22-year-old production assistant. Daulerio claims that a PR representative for the network denied to him that there was any truth to the story and said there was nothing to report.

The rumor, of course, was true and became both a national news and sports story…that was not broken by Deadspin.

Now, whether or not ESPN had misled or even flat out lied to Daulerio will most likely never be publicly known for sure.

ESPN does have a reputation for its on-air personalities and talent getting into awkward and embarrassing situations because of inappropriate sexual conduct (a recent incident involved the network’s now former baseball analyst Harold Reynolds and a sexual harassment complaint which resulted in his termination and his subsequent lawsuit against the network).

As a result, ESPN PR is most likely very reserved and extremely careful when dealing with allegations of sex scandals involving its employees – more so than most media outlets. However, it goes without saying that a public relations rep should never lie or intentionally deceive a member of the media – under any circumstance.

So let’s assume that ESPN PR did lie to Daulerio and prevented him from breaking the kind of juicy sports-related gossip that has made Deadspin America’s highest trafficked blog.

Does that justify him waging a personal attack against ESPN, threatening its brand and image?

As the person in charge of a prominent sports media outlet, was Daulerio acting in Deadspin’s best interest when he made public his gripe with ESPN? Daulerio has already taken a step in executing his sworn vendetta, posting an unflattering story about ESPN radio host Erik Kuselias (click here to read).

Deadspin, it seems, likes to play both sides of the fence when it comes to journalistic ethics and responsibilities.

On one side Deadspin wants to be respected and treated fairly, demanding the same courtesies as any reputable media outlet. But on the other side it allows itself some slack in the ethics department, leaning on the fact that Deadspin is just a blog and people shouldn’t hold it to the same high standards they would other known media sources. Its motto, after all, is: “Deadspin: Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion” (not exactly “All the New That’s Fit to Print”).

Daulerio said as much himself to the New York Times last week. “Do I bend the rules a little bit? Of course I do. We’re still a blog at the end of the day.” (click here for the full NY Times story.)

So is Deadspin a legitimate and dependable Web site for sports-related stories? Is it important to Deadspin that its readers believe its content and trust the facts it puts forth?

Because if Deadspin is just a blog and should be excused for bending the rules, why would Daulerio and the rest of its staff expect other media outlets (like ESPN) to afford them the same respect and professional courtesy it affords proven and trust-worthy media outlets?

How can Daulerio expect the rest of the media industry to treat Deadspin fairly and as a legitimate source for sports news and stories when it doesn’t hold itself to the necessary journalistic standards?

You can’t have it both ways. And even if Deadspin did pride itself on accuracy and journalistic integrity, engaging in a game of public revenge because you were misled by a PR rep is not only unprofessional it’s immature.

Daulerio’s actions indicate that Deadspin is entitled to some sort of standing or stature in the sports media industry, which it is certainly not. Deadspin has to decide if it’s just a blog that posts random thoughts and half-truths whose only goal is to amuse its readers, or a real source of facts and sports-related stories that are presented as legitimate and trusty-worthy blocks of information.

Again, it would be a horrendous error in judgment and an incredible lapse of professional standards if ESPN deliberately deceived Daulerio. Not because he represents Deadspin, but because a PR rep should never lie or disseminate false information to anyone.

Of course there are times when a PR rep does not or simply can not be completely honest when asked a direct question by the media. Throughout any successful PR reps career, situations will arise when you have to protect your client or organization by NOT releasing the real-100%-truth right at a particular moment…especially if you’re caught off guard (which happens to even the best PR reps).

But you can always spin a situation to delay for time and develop a proper game plan to perhaps mold the truth to best reflect your client or organization (or hurt it the least) when you eventually release the truthful information.

The practice of blogging and its plight to be respected as a legitimate source of information and trusted news has come a long away in the last few years.

Since its debut in September 2005, Deadspin has certainly changed the landscape of sports media and is a pioneer in the evolution of the blogosphere (sports or otherwise). So it would be a shame if its reputation was irrevocably damaged by a silly and petty act of revenge – at the same time, also damaging the reputation of the entire blogging industry.

It is a common theme in this blog that anticipating public relations issues and acting before the crisis occurs is an extremely important strategy and a necessary action for any sports organization.

As I had quoted in a previous post, “The best offense is a good defense” (or is it the other way around?).

There is a potential PR crisis slowly creeping up on the NHL that if not dealt with soon things could get very ugly for the league and its commissioner, Gary Bettman.

Since the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan, the NHL has gone on a two-week hiatus during each Winter Olympics to allow its players to participate in the Games and represent their respective countries.

But beginning about two years ago, the commissioner began making statements implying that in the near future the league would no longer go on an Olympic hiatus and, evidently, not allow its players to participate in the Winter Games anymore.

“It is a strain. It is a strain on the players, on the schedule and on our fans here,”commissioner Bettman was quoted saying at the Reuters media summit in New York in November 2007. “It has an impact on the momentum of the season and the benefits we get tend to be greater when the Olympics are in North America than when they’re in distant time zones.”

With the NHL looking at another two-week interruption this season in February due to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the issue of NHL players participating in the Olympics has risen again in the media and Bettman seems even more adamant about discontinuing the hiatus in the future – beginning in 2014 when the Winter Games will be hosted by Sochi, Russia.

“Going to the Olympics is a balancing act. The benefits versus the burdens of doing it have to be weighed.”Bettman said to the Associated Press in early October 2009. “Taking the break in the season deals with a loss of momentum. It’s also a competitive issue, because teams with a more diverse international roster come back a little more tired for the stretch run than teams who didn’t have very many players participate who had two weeks off.”

Commissioner Bettman makes a valid point.

However, there now appears to be a growing movement by some NHL players that their participation in the Winter Olympic Games will continue regardless of any change in policy by the league.

Leading this charge is Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, the NHL’s top player and also a Russian.

“Nobody can say to me you can’t play for your country in the Olympic Games,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t care. I’ll go play in the Olympic Games for my country. If somebody says to me you can’t play, see ya.”

And Ovechkin is just one of many prominent players, primarily Russian, speaking out and threatening to play in the 2014 Winter Olympics no matter what. “I completely agree with Alex,” Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin said last month. “I would rather pay fines and still go.”

Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers, a Russian like Malkin, says, “We’ve declared that we are going to Sochi in any case.”

Also joining the players’ plight is Canadian superstar Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the league’s most marketable player.

“To see the Olympics on TV and to see the way our country comes together and the support they show is an amazing thing,” Crosby said. “To be a part of that would be a great opportunity and should continue to be an opportunity that NHL players have. Hopefully they find a way to make it work because I’m sure a lot of players feel the same way.”

Along with the players, the NHL Players’ Association also supports participation by the league in the Olympic Games.

So the way it stands now, with just under five years until the Winter Games in Sochi, the league will remove the two-week Olympic hiatus (beginning in 2014) and prohibit players from participating in the Olympics while, on the other side, many NHL stars are openly challenging the “no Olympics” rule and saying they’re going to Sochi regardless.

Obviously this situation has the potential to grow into an enormous public relations disaster for commissioner Bettman and the NHL. Although the situation in question would not occur until 2014, questions and media attention will begin to percolate as both the 2010 Winter Games approach and the current collective bargaining agreement is scheduled to expire in 2011.

So the NHL has to act now.

Maybe the players’ threats are empty and when push comes to shove they’ll honor their contracts before their countries, but the league can absolutely not take that chance.

Commissioner Bettman needs to open communications with the Players’ Association and the league’s top players (specifically the Russians) and work together on messaging points that are delivered to the media.

Players, as well as league officials, need to recognize the potential danger to the NHL’s brand and image if the rift continues to widen.

Most likely this issue won’t get solved right away. So the league and its players have to act in concert regarding the Olympic dilemma to squash the media stories that would embarrass and hurt the NHL.

Speaking out publicly against the league and its policies will hurt the entire NHL. And of each of the four major sports leagues, the NHL can least afford significant PR damage.