Evan Agostini/Getty Images; Stephen Lovekin/Getty ImagesWhen Jesse James' third—no, sorry, fourth—alleged mistress came forward, we decided the story needed a fresh, upbeat angle.
Don't get us wrong: If James breached his marital accord with Sandra Bullock, then he's wrong.
But for variety's sake, isn't it time we acknowledged the good the man has done? For Tiger Woods, that is.
If we were in a conspiracy-theorist frame of mind—not that we're ever like that—we'd bet a bag of balls and one slightly used nine-iron that Woods encouraged, by which we mean hired "Bombshell" McGee and friends to go public.
Could the story be more perfect? Could the timing be more perfect? Could the leading ladies be more perfect? For the Masters-bound Woods, that is.
But we're not that paranoid. Or naive. A lot of married folks, famous and not, have a Bombshell waiting to go off. James' just so happened to have detonated in a way that made him the perfect wingman. For Woods, that is.
Think of it: On the bar scene or in the tabloid world, what's a wingman supposed to do? To serve and protect. Well, has anybody been a better bud for Woods in the last four months than James? Has anybody deflected more heat? Taken more bullets? Best proved that argument that the golf star did not invent womanizing?
We ran our wingman theory by Thomas Edwards, a Boston-based dating and lifestyle coach known professionally as the Professional Wingman. He could see it. As a wingman, after all, he said, "you're backing up your friend."
Which is what James is doing for Woods?
"At least Tiger Woods isn't out there taking the entire brunt of the situation," Edwards said.
Exactly.
Now, for the record, Edwards made a point of noting James' behavior is "definitely not 'wingman approved.' " No, it's not cool. And, yes, it's kinda stupid.
Said Edwards: "Putting yourself in that kind of situation probably wouldn't be the best thing to do."
Sure, but Tiger Woods is grateful anyway.