PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES AND WHAT’S EXPECTED OF THEM!

(Cornerstone University Herald, Paul Ashbrook)

(Sportsgraphics, Frazer Chronicle)

 

Athletes and drugs, athletes and sexual escapades, athletes and alcohol, athletes and weapons violations, athletes and…………………the list is endless, the transgressions to most unbelievable, and the consequences can be brutal. Petty stupid crimes, speeding, drunk driving, assault, domestic violence, theft, and thanks to Michael Vick, animal cruelty.

 

Sadly the activity of our professional athletes is pretty much the norm; newspapers are full of drug trafficking, drug use, weapons illegalities, crimes of sex, assault, murder and larceny on a grand scale every morning.

 

Some of these young men are huge, and their strength unimaginable to the common guy who works a 7:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. shift in a local factory. With little exception, professional athletes are in superb physical condition, their sport demands it.

 

In the old days, a baseball player needed spring training to actually get into shape; they had, from the end of the season made the rounds of the banquet circuit, hitting the food bar as well as the bar with weekly frequency. The high tech training and dietary regiments were years in the future…..and mostly with little exception, these people, baseball, football and hockey players worked in the off season to pad their incomes.

 

Athletes on almost any level were given an additional pass because of how they could run, tackle, hit, or throw. Our pre-occupation with sports figures, no matter the level is well documented; it is a phenomenon that is perpetuated human-kind since probably the very first competition between men.

 

Little League baseball, Pop Warner football, kid’s basketball and hockey are no different than grown-up sports. In fact it’s where the adulation of our sports athletes begins, the special treatment for a good play, or that big base hit, the touchdown run, or a game winning basket, or goal.

 

How could we expect a sports figure to react when…..after years of being pampered and excused for, he is called out to pay for a transgression? A word that comes to mind is indignant, many of these people know next to nothing about acting responsible, they have lived in a world of bliss, and relative luxury because of their escapades on the field, floor or ice.

 

BAD ACTORS

It seems to be that a lot of athletes that act out are black…..and it is understandable, many, many black athletes see their sport as their only ticket out of the horrible living conditions and the ghetto mentality that they have endured their entire lives. On the block, in the neighborhood, or in the projects the rules are relatively simple…..do whatever to survive.

 

When a young black person begins to understand that there are ways available to lift yourself out of the daily dangers of his community, unless he is stupid…..he jumps headfirst for the opportunity. He learns that the world does have more than the basic rules of survival, that there is a responsibility for his actions, and there is confusion.

 

 

Competitive athletics is a very dichotomous environment, on the one hand there are rules, and regulations that are in place to evaluate the best possible performance by an athlete, and how he can fit into the team concept, while keeping his individual athletic prowess which actually got him to his competitive point.

 

On the other hand there is money and fame that must be considered as part of the dochotmy by the athlete. To attain the riches, the fame, and the success from a given sport, the athlete must drive to be the best at what he does.

 

Today there are short-cuts ready to those young men, and occasionally women who are willing to push the envelope to reach their objectives. Performance enhancing drugs, illegal equipment and cheating are just the tip of the iceberg of what these people will do.

 

I mention black athletes not because of a racial slur, far from it,  most black athletes are easier to defile because of their living conditions and backgrounds. What athletes also use performance enhancing drugs, but not for the same overall reasons. A high number of white athletes use performance enhancing drugs to compete, but don’t necessarily do so to escape a sour environment.

 

THE TROUBLE WITH THE LAW AND AUTHORITY

The list of professional athletes that have encountered problems with the law is extensive varied, and knows no bounds of intellect, financial strata, or racial background. Actually the list reads like a who’s who of sports performers, let’s examine a few:

1985, Baseballer, Pete Ross receives a lifetime suspension from baseball because of his foolish act of betting on the game.

 

1987, Basketball player Dominique Wilkins is cleared of Child-abuse charges when the child he is seen hitting is actually 5’-6” teammate Spud Webb…..Wilkins is 6’-7”.

 

1995, Michael Jordon shoots and nearly kills a Chicago-area cop, but the officer refuses to place charges because he is happy to be associated with the basketball superstar in any capacity.

 

1996, Michael Irvin cocaine possession charge is dropped when he proves he is a member of the Dallas Cowboy football team.

 

2000, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis is investigated in connection with the murder of a man, and is convicted for obstruction of justice and sentenced to five years of community service.

 

2002, Former New Jersey Net basketball player Jayson Williams is arrested for killing his limousine driver and sentenced to 15 years.

 

2006, Jockey Barbaro’s involvement with gambling comes to a head when organized crime enforcers have his legs broken during the Preakness States.

 

2007, Nick Barnett, Green Bay Packer player pushes a women to a to the floor after she throws a drink into his face, and then performs an excessively long celebratory dance over her.

 

Professional athletes need to be on the lookout all the time for people who target them, hungering for a piece of their action. However with little exception, athletes are by far their own worst enemy, their new found wealth, inevitably can cause all sorts of trouble.

Professional athletes and jail sadly seem to be fast friends, of course depending on the sport, and the backgrounds of those involved. Even the sport of darts is not immune from the trouble with the law, when you consider Phil Taylor being fined $2000 for indecent assault, and then given 12 months for resisting arrest.

 

Of course everybody remembers figure skater Tonya Harding and her drive for Olympic gold, and one of her obstacle was another skater who Harding attempted to have dismissed with a pipe to the skin-bone. But Harding was mild compared to Wolfgang Schwarz and his conviction for human trafficking and kidnapping.

 

And lastly, to prove once and for all that professional athletes need constant observation at the most, and a good strict agent at the least, consider, Snooker player Silvino Francisco and his 3 year sentence for drug smuggling.

 

So the next time you see a profession athlete at a restaurant, or take your kid to a ball game and expect a player to sign a scorecard…..remember, professional have demons too, just like all of us, maybe…..give the guy a break, and leave him alone.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!