Two of the largest icons in the North American sports and entertainment world are battling through setbacks.
Tiger Woods and Oprah Winfrey have comeback duties ahead to regain some lustre in the eyes of their adoring public.
Woods, who now looks more like a villain in a B-movie gangster flick with his sharptail goatee, has regained one sponsor, Nike, but we hear it's for half the amount he had originally signed for back when he was winning golf tournaments, not missing the cut and disappearing.
The victim of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Hydrant melodrama that was his life, is now sans wife, also sans his friend and caddy Steve Williams, his one-time dream home (he's building another, but rumour has it he's going to have to pay for it with a mortgage, just like the rest us), yacht and golf game.
Don't get me wrong now. We're not having to conduct a telethon to raise money for the poor guy, but life just isn't as plush and lush as it used to be for the No. 1 in the sporting world.
It appears as if Oprah has also bitten off a bit more than what is immediately chewable.
The queen of talk shows and other media felt her aura was large enough that she would be totally successful with her own television network. Narcissistic? Yes. Reasonable business decision? No. It's like Tiger Woods determining his name and game would be enough to start his own professional golf tour.
Oprah is, if nothing else, ambitious, energetic and a definite tour de force in the entertainment world, but she is not THE entertainment world. Charlie Sheen is. OK, just kidding, it's Mel Gibson.
Well, it's NOT Snooki ... is it?
Oprah is multi-talented and has a knack for business, but to declare yourself as an entire network, well that's beyond the realm.
What can be expected though, is that both Tiger and O will be back, with a vengeance. Just like those American banks and mutual corporations that waded through the financial disasters, they're just too big to fail.
They will come to realize some things just don't fit and we shouldn't try to make them fit.
Tiger has to go back to his basics and learn how to play top golf with joy again, and Oprah needs to get back to what she does that made us love her in the first place, and that wasn't being a business tycoon.
Call it the Peter Principle or being a fish out of water or what have you.
We don't put a drug addict in charge of the pharmacy or make the gambling addict the president of the bank.
Their fame will ensure they won't bottom out. I'll guarantee you we'll never see Tiger Woods on the C-list celebrity reality show, nor will we hear about Oprah manning the phones on the Shopping Channel or doing a stint at the call centre.
We're the ones who have to think about how much we might be able to put into a tax free savings account; they're the ones who have to think about which mansion to sell first. There is a subtle difference.
Parksie has not yet jumped off the Rider bandwagon, but he is sitting precariously in the back row, right next to the fat tuba player and the guy who taps those ringy thingys. He might be falling off that wagon by about 8:30 Thursday evening if the Riders aren't ahead by at least 17 points in the fourth quarter.
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