Will Obama's effect on race parallel Tiger's?

ORIN STARN, Correspondent
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It's not farfetched to argue that Tiger Woods' popularity helped pave the way for Barack Obama's smashing victory. That legions of golfing white businessmen already idolized Woods may well have made it less of a stretch for them and others to imagine a black man as the country's president.
For that matter, Woods, much like Obama, presents himself as something of a new "post-racial" figure crossing old color lines by virtue of his mixed ancestry.

But if Woods did indeed make it easier for some to cast their vote for Obama, the superstar golfer's impact on his own sport holds a cautionary lesson for an Obama presidency -- there's no necessary correlation between the feel-good symbolism of a pioneering racial breakthrough and actual on-the-ground progress toward a race-blind America.

Many observers predicted Woods' example would revolutionize the sociology of golf. They thought many more minority kids would be encouraged to take up the old Scottish pastime and that the sport would shed its ugly racial past once and for all. (The PGA tour had a Caucasians-only clause until 1961.) The golf establishment promotes its youth golf programs with Kumbaya-style TV ads of smiling inner-city kids, as if the game had indeed put the messy matters of race and money in the rearview mirror.

Actually, golf has gone into racial reverse by many measures. Back in the 1970s, 10 blacks played on the PGA Tour; a poor Chicano kid from Dallas, Lee Trevino, became one of the era's top golfers. Now Woods is the lone black golfer among the 125 card-holding pros, and there are no rising young junior black stars.

Two U.S.-born Latinos play on the PGA Tour, as does an increased international contingent and some exciting new Asian-American stars. Yet the circuit remains overwhelmingly comprised of whites from country club backgrounds.

So does the Tiger Woods paradox really have any relevance for an Obama presidency? I think so. If the visibility of Woods promotes the illusion of race as "fixed" in golf, the very same danger exists with Obama for the country as a whole. His election encourages a fuzzy, self-congratulatory feeling that we've exorcised the demons of slavery and Jim Crow at last. It can be easy to forget the outsized hardships facing so many black and Latino kids growing up in tough neighborhoods and just how often poverty, marginalization and brown skin still travel together in America today.

The real question is whether an Obama administration will make strides toward addressing the demons of poverty and racial inequality that still haunt 21st century America.

His election was a good opening shot. We still have a long iron over water yet to go.

Tiger Woods, GM to Discuss Taking Buick Endorsement Beyond 2009

By Michael Buteau

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods and General Motors Corp., the largest U.S. automaker, have had talks about whether to continue the golfer's endorsement of Buick beyond 2009.

GM may implement a round of cost cuts because a planned $15 billion in asset sales and savings won't be enough to maintain its liquidity amid deteriorating sales, people familiar with the matter said.

Woods's agent, Mark Steinberg, and Larry Peck, marketing manager for the golf division of GM's Buick line, said they recently spoke about setting a timeframe for further talks.

Buick, which has had an endorsement agreement with the world's No. 1-ranked golfer since 1999, has no plans ``right now'' to scale back its golf sponsorships, Peck said in a telephone interview. The company's stock has dropped more than 74 percent this year, to $6.19 at yesterday's close, and GM has cut 53,000 union workers since 2005.

Because of that, Steinberg said in a telephone interview that he wants to find out if it ``makes sense to continue'' beyond 2009, when the contract expires.

``I want to see where they are, and they want to see where we are,'' Steinberg said.

He added that he wouldn't call his initial talks with Peck ``a renewal conversation.''

``It was an early conversation about the relationship and when we might begin to talk about if it makes sense to continue and whether there will be an extension,'' the agent said. ``That's the best way to put it. We haven't started any conversations about the future.''

Peck said the company has no desire to sever its ties with Woods, who recently topped BusinessWeek magazine's list of the ``Most Powerful People in Sports.''

Bag Logo

Woods, the winner of 14 major tournaments, carries the Buick logo on his golf bag and appears in print and television advertisements for the carmaker.

Buick has been involved in golf for 50 years and is the ``Official Car'' of the U.S. PGA Tour, golf's top circuit, under an agreement that runs through 2010. The company is the largest and original PGA Tour sponsor, according to Buick's Web site, and has agreements to sponsor the Buick Invitational in California and Buick Open in Michigan for two more seasons.

``Right now, we have no plans to make any changes,'' Peck said.

Tim Finchem, commissioner of the PGA Tour, said last month that the financial problems on Wall Street are a ``major concern'' and that golf's top circuit may be facing some ``real challenges'' in future years.

Like other companies that sponsor sports events, Peck said, Buick is taking ``a hard look at every dollar that we spend.''

`Save Money'

``Where we can save money, we're looking to save money,'' he said.

Detroit-based GM said this month that it would close sport- utility vehicle assembly plants in Ohio and Wisconsin two years early because of a slowdown in U.S. sales. The company also said it will slow production at three factories in Michigan and Delaware, affecting about 1,500 workers.

Even Woods, once considered a safe haven in sports sponsorships, isn't immune to the global economic crisis.

``It's a totally different world,'' said sports banker Rob Tilliss of Inner Circle Sports in New York. ``We're talking about the viability of banks. It's unprecedented.''

Neither Peck nor Steinberg would disclose financial terms of Woods's contract with Buick. He made $122.7 million in on- course earnings and endorsements in 2007, according to Golf Digest magazine.

Brand Help

``He does great things for our brand,'' Peck said. ``Where we feel there's continued return, we continue to spend. We still have to promote products, so there's still a need to advertise, we just have to do it more efficiently. He would rate high on the list of assets that we're pretty happy with being involved with.''

In the coming year, Peck said, Buick would be ``trimming back'' some of its spending on ``back of the house'' things, such as hospitality at sports events.

Woods caddied this week for John Abel, a 59-year-old contest winner from New Jersey, during a promotion for Buick at Torrey Pines Golf Course near San Diego.

The 32-year-old California native last played in June at Torrey Pines, winning the U.S. Open in a 19-hole playoff with Rocco Mediate. He then had surgery on his left knee.

Woods is ``very confident'' he will return to the course in time for April's Masters Tournament, although he won't take a full swing until 2009, he said in an interview yesterday with ESPN.