Diamond » There’s always been enough sports news to make this kind of “special page” — but traditionally sports has been viewed outside the regular norm of journalism and therefore kept separate. Sports reporters and other types of reporters have long practiced different kinds of journalism. Now the line is completely blurred and so you get people like me (who write a weekly column about crime and justice) or people like George Will (who writes almost exclusively about the inner workings of government) writing about “Hero” sports figures, their peccadilloes and run-ins with the law and society’s rules. As we adore and admire these athletes, its long been a human emotion to be transfixed by the human faults of those we see as “above us” or “better than us.” Think, the emperor has no clothes. I think it gives us the feeling of — “Hey, we’re all just fallible human beings after all and I’m not so bad.

Was the Tiger Woods story the one that sent things over the tipping point? Not that I condone it in any way, but does it seems like the old boys club in sports writing in many ways protected these stars?

Diamond » Maybe. I think the bulk of the fascination with Tiger came because we were all so flabbergasted by it. We had all bought the P.R. hype without questioning its validity and many people felt like fools about it. Plus the story just kept getting bigger and bigger. Two mistresses, no five mistress … wait seven, 11, 15 mistresses! It was like watching a chain-reaction, multiple-car accident on the highway. We just couldn’t look away. I fault Tiger completely for allowing the P.R. train to run amok. He should have taken a page from [David] Letterman. Admit it, apologize to everyone you hurt, promise to try to do better and beg for privacy. Instead he stayed silent and hid like the guilty man he is … athletes everywhere ought to realize now that post-Tiger, it’s a whole new ball game. Editors and news directors everywhere have likely sat down their sports writer/reporters and said, “OK, which other big sports stars are hiding secret lives? Start digging!

Are you a sports fan, and if so, what sports do you follow?

Diamond » Love my Yankees. And by the way, Alex Rodriguez, maybe even Derek Jeter, have likely had as many mistresses as Tiger. But who cares? They aren’t married and they are discreet about it. They also don’t hire high-priced P.R. machines to try to convince us otherwise. See, to me, Jim, it’s all about the hypocrisy. No one likes a hypocrite.

Jim Williams is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV producer, director and writer. Check out his blog, Watch this! on washingtonexaminer.com.