I’m bored right now so with Jose Canseco getting a lot of press talking about steroids and other issues with baseball, I figured this would be a good topic to talk about.
The four main sports in the U.S. are baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. Well Hockey was until this season as the NHL has cancelled this season since the players and the owners could not reach an agreement. For as much money as both sides make, neither side has room to complain about not getting enough money out of the deal. But now, everyone loses. If there are any winners, it is the people who would have paid money to attend the hockey games.
On to baseball. In the past few months, a lot of current and former players have admitted to taking steroids, some knowingly and others unknowingly. While most have never asked for it, many of these players have become heroes and role-models to kids everywhere. Instead, the only message it sends are that steroids are just as important as practice and hardwork.
Next is basketball. Well since the Pacers – Pistons incident, things have quietted down somewhat. But it seems the good old days of basketball have ended. Jordan, Johnson, and Bird are gone and now we have Ron Artest attacking fans. Remember Latrell Sprewell attacking a coach? And while I’m at it, why the hell is Nike paying LaBron James $90 million to wear Nike’s while everyone else pays Nike $90 to wear Nike?
Football. Probably not as bad as the other sports, but the fact that the Saints may leave New Orleans has dimmed my view on the NFL. I have also read that up until a few years ago before the Colts got a new stadium, they were under the threat to move to to L.A. The NFL wants a team in L.A. with out expanding meaning they want to move a team there meaning they will screw someone over. N.Y. has two teams but we don’t hear anything about moving one of them to L.A. I’m enjoy the Voodoo and the AFL, but Tom Benson owns the Voodoo as well as the Saints and if he sells the Saints one has to wonder if the Voodoo are going as well.
And something that applies to probably all sports, at least baseball and basketball, infidelity. Canseco said that Roger Clemens was one of the only guys he knows that never cheated on his wife. Kobe Bryant has admitted to sex with someone other than his wife. He is being accused of rape which it sounds like he did not do, but if he wouldn’t have cheated on his wife he would not have gotten himself in this mess in the first place.
Looks like there are very few if any role models left in professional sports.