Thirteen years ago, I stood in a tent at Brown Deer Park and watched Tiger Woods step into the world as a superstar. In those 13 years he has built an incredible record on the course and a fortress of privacy off.

We know more about the personal life of our president than we do about Woods. His yacht is named Privacy. He is always, always, in control of everything, on course and off course.

But cracks started to appear this week after a car accident. The story, fueled by the Internet news / gossip engine, spun out of control as Woods and his team tried to stay quiet. They didn't talk to reporters or the cops or anyone. Silence, they obviously believe, is golden. They bluffed with silence, and the other players folded.

For the first time in 13 years, though, the media after Woods was not the clubby golf media, men and women who give Woods a pass just so they can bask in his reflected glory.

Now you had the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and real reporters calling. You had all of the Internet tabloid and gossip sites throwing out enough rumors to startle anyone.

It revolved around an alleged affair, a marital spat and a car accident. What in the world, everyone wanted to know, was he doing in his SUV at 2 a.m. the Friday morning after Thanksgiving.

There seemed to be no end to the stories and the speculation. His alleged paramour became an Internet sensation, even though she denied the affair. "Sources" told various organizations that the cuts on his face came not from the accident but from a battle with his wife over the alleged affair. Reports surfaced that his wife used a golf club to break a window of the SUV to help her husband out.

Nobody knew what to believe. But one thing was sure.

For the very first time in his life, Tiger Woods, who has been a charmed icon, now knows the ugly side of being a superstar.

The Nightmare: Such sad news this week about Dean Meminger. He was a sweet guard for Al McGuire and Marquette; a kid from the streets of New York. He had a lightbeam of a smile and was as smooth as a cold beer on a hot Sunday. He went to the Knicks and had moments shining in the sun. But then life in basketball ended and it became a life of pain and sorrow and some other kind of release. Crack pipes were found in his bedroom after a fire last week in a row of dilapidated town houses. He was hospitalized in critical condition. He was such a happy basketball player. And it's so sad.

You Said What? The loveable Milwaukee Iron, our arena football team, just announced something. The Iron has signed a letter of intent with an Arizona company that would make the franchise a publicly traded company. The general manager of the team, Jason Clark, said: "This means that anyone in Wisconsin and all over the world will be able to own their own professional sports team by purchasing stock with the Milwaukee Iron.

This is exciting news and ensures that arena football is here to stay in Milwaukee. This move was made to keep the Iron playing football in Milwaukee for generations to come." This other company, Highland Business Services, is kind of an unknown entity, but they issued a press release announcing that they had no revenues or assets, but that it had bought 100% of the Iron. This is something I am not even close to understanding, but it smells fishy to me.

Woodson Star: There's something wrong with the system if Charles Woodson doesn't win the Defensive Player of the Year award in the NFL. I can't remember the last time I saw a defensive player who was so dominant and so able to control a game. He's the absolute definition of a professional athlete and deserves to have a Super Bowl and a major award. Odds are against the Super Bowl, so let's at least get on the bandwagon for the defensive MVP award.