Everyone knows the Tiger Woods story by now; after a midnight car crash near his home, the world’s most publicized athlete stepped away from the PGA Tour amid a whirlwind of sex and infidelity. Now he’s back, begging the public and his sponsors for forgiveness on all the major news networks.

The Feb. 19 statement that Woods released, in which he proclaimed he was “wrong” and “foolish,” is just another in the long line of “I’m-sorry-but-I’m-really-not-sorry” statements. Yes, Tiger said he was sorry, but words are only words, and a corporate spokesman like Tiger knows that if he says the right words, he’ll get back what he loves the most: money.

While his sponsors may have forgiven him, he has to prove to me and legions of other critics that he will take action against his addiction. If you were keeping score of all the women that came out of the woodwork and claimed they slept with Tiger, you would’ve most likely lost count after a month. There is porn star Joslyn James, who Woods allegedly impregnated twice, stripper Jamie Jungers, who claims she slept with Woods the night his father died, waitress Jaimee Grubbs, whose saved voicemail message started the exposition of his infidelity, Playboy model Loredana Jolie (no relation to Angelina), who is writing a book about Woods’ alleged affairs with men (yeah, you heard that right), and about six other mistresses.

Woods no doubt is living a fantasy that many men dream of, but he has to remember that he has (or at this point, had) scores of fans that looked up to him. He was the original American idol, the man responsible for turning golf into a major sport, the face of Nike once Michael Jordan retired. As has been said many times, with great power comes great responsibility, and Tiger needs to make sure he is responsible for his actions.

I realize that Tiger could’ve done a lot worse. He could’ve killed a man driving drunk like Donte Stallworth, killed dogs like Michael Vick, or sold drugs like Santonio Holmes. Even worse, he could’ve killed his wife or girlfriend(s) like OJ Simpson or former Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth did. Even though what Tiger did was minor compared to all the other crimes that could’ve been done, he still has a tremendous public image and responsibility to uphold. In that sense, he all but shattered his fan base by his entanglements.

Honestly, his speech didn’t do anything except bring his whole dilemma back to the spotlight. If you pay attention to the way he speaks and to his body language, it’s clear that he doesn’t truly mean what he’s saying. The entire thing seemed like an amateur actor reading a monologue out of a Greek tragedy. A very, very bad Greek tragedy.

So what’s next for Tiger? More sex rehab in Mississippi? Searching for more Playmates and porn stars? Golf? All of the above? It’s unclear for now, but what is clear is that the damage done to the relationship between Tiger and his fans is irrevocable.