May 27, 2010 – In a world of internet hype, and red and blue states taking moral sides, and those that practice schadenfrede and root for failure, 2010 has given the masses some pure examples of bankrupted goodwill. Five “poster children” for falling from the top to the bottom offer lessons to be studied and learned from.

Tiger Woods

So the entitled Tiger behaved like a bore when he was on the road. He wasn’t the first. He just got exposed. It took only a chip shot of a drive in his SUV late Thanksgiving night to unfurl the the fabric of the “world’s most famous and wealthy athlete.” He had already made a billion dollars. And, at 35, he’ll have plenty of time to add to that total. But it will never be the same, where he dictated the terms. Now he has to deal with his psyche in different way, perhaps he’s allowed doubt to creep into his game? He’ll now forever be known as the man with 100 women, and most importantly, he doesn’t matter as much.

What to do: Play golf. Win tournaments. Continue with the new “softer, gentler” Tiger. Get the divorce and move on to the reality of an estranged family life that you can’t muscle into control. Make the largest divorce settlement in history. Date and either remain single or replace Elin with a new model.

Rich Rodriguez

He was white hot as a coaching candidate, and a reknowned recruiter, with a “system” that was destined to put the Big Ten on its ear. He just didn’t figure on how hard it is to take over a bankrupt team and how intense the scrutiny would be and how thin the patience would be on his entitled ego. He’s now on the hotseat with a 50/50 approval rating. He’s run out of credibility in less than 24 months, especially after stepping hard on the feelings of alumni in West Virginia, Michigan and bringing shame to college football’s winningest program.

What to do: Stop feeling sorry for yourself and making excuses. Win. Beat Ohio State. Recruit some studs. Hire Allen Iverson to go to press conferences and say “Practice?”

Ben Roethlisberger

He’s gone from a Super Bowl quarterback from Mid-America, to a guy who posts bodyguards, flashes women and uses his 6-foot-5, 240 pound bulk to headlock unsuspecting girls in bathrooms. He’ll now have to change his ways, and every misstep off and on the field, will somehow go back to his jailbait night in Milledgeville, Georgia.

What to do: Get a beautiful, age-appropriate, strong, media-savvy girlfriend. Start working on your warmth to everybody around you. Stay healthy and lead the Steelers to the playoffs. Start listening to others.

Jesse James

In March, he was a reality TV star, married to an Oscar winner and building a family. Now he’s a pathetic tatooed apologist who supplies the answer to the original question: “What does Sandra Bullock see in him?” You have to wonder whether there will still be interest in his body shop exploits?

What to do: Move on. Distance yourself from Bullock and humorously refer to the odd pairing. Become the poster child for guys that blew it. Base your new career on that.

British Petroleum

Seems like yesterday that we were receiving viral emails touting BP as a good place to spend our oil dollars. They didn’t have political leverage. They didn’t control the marketplace unfairly. You couldn’t trace their profits to supporting terrorists. Now, 11 bodies and 200,000 gallons a day later, BP is exposed as a greedy, devil-may-care, profit monger. The Gulf of Mexico will not be the same for 30 years. The gulf seafood industry and other wildlife will die. Offshore drilling will become a pox, despite Sarah Palin’s cheerleading otherwise.

What to do: Cap the well. Pay for a massive cleanup. Promote new ways to clean oil spills. Help restore the gulf’s seafood industry. Expose the flaws in the regulatory system. Make off-shore drilling safe.