"Tiger Woods became 'cool' without ever knowing how to be cool."

Tiger chronicler Bob Smiley takes a serious look at what ultimately may have created some of Tiger's personal and physical issues in light of Congressman Anthony Weiner's similar downfall (and blue curtain backdrop, nice juxtaposition by ESPN editorial).

Rather than letting the world see and embrace the real Eldrick "Tiger" Woods -- the wide-eyed, well-mannered kid with terrible vision and a childhood stutter -- Woods looked to the clichéd high school memories of what made someone cool and became just that. He learned how to melt reporters with his glare. He hired a caddie to act as his de facto goon. He worked out until he was built like a defensive end. And in doing so, he put his sinewy golf body at risk while alienating a contingent of fans that loved his golf but hated him.

At times, this whole Tiger saga has felt like a bad John Hughes film. A nerd wakes up to find out he rules the school, only to collapse under the weight of his own popularity. Yet that's the heart of the issue. As someone who has written about Tiger extensively and watched him for hours on end, I don't think Tiger's destructive behavior is a result of narcissism as much as he's been undone by the unfulfilled fantasies of his 15-year-old self.

Tiger's not the only example of this. This week, one has to look no further than Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), whose rise and fall parallels Tiger's, right down to the backdrop of blue drapes for his mea culpa. Again, in Weiner, we see a man who, by his own admission, spent his youth being teased for his name and whose Twitter profile pic shows him at 17 with a suede jacket, big hair and an even bigger turtleneck.