Is This Really Where All Our Attention Should Be?

Here we go again. The end of the world as we know it. Well, not quite, but that’s what those who cover and hover in the world of sports would have you believe.

Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, and a rogue NBA Official currently dominate newspaper headlines and radio airwaves. Fair enough. Electrocuting dogs, breaking sports’ most revered record with the aid of illegal performance enhancers and possibly throwing games in a professional sports league are all cause for disgust and alarm, as well as some reality checks. But turn to a sports page or tune the dial to a sports radio station and people are acting as if Bin Laden just hit Manhattan again. Well I say, “Aren't our priorities just a bit out of whack!” Moreover, "Why are we so shocked?"

You want to see real issues, spend a week in New Orleans. You want to talk about issues that impact hundreds and even thousands of people, in life-altering ways, visit parts of New Orleans not named Bourbon Street and Harrah’s Casino. Unfortunately, the urgency with which the media once treated the catastrophe that was Hurricane Katrina is now saved for professional athletes who make a lot of money and really aren't very good people.

It’s Wednesday, July 25, and on the cover of the USA Today is a headline that reads: “Say It Ain’t So: Fans Take A Hit.” I tuned into Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio this morning and you had Golic and Greenberg (I’d love to use other names to refer to these shills) talking about the NBA officiating scandal and sounding as if their best friend AND mother just died. Please. And did you see the look on NBA Commissioner David Stern’s face during his Tuesday press conference? Giuliani didn’t look that glum on 9/11. These are just a few examples of the utter shock, paranoia and horror that have suddenly overcome media, league officials, TV pundits and even some fans as the fallout from these three events continues. Here’s what kills me: not that these aren’t all very serious issues or crimes, they are, particularly Vick’s antics. What him and his clown friends did (and I say 'did', not what they’re ‘accused of’) should result in nothing short of a permanent ban from the NFL, and whatever punishment a court of law decides is suitable. No, what gets me the most is that we all act so shocked and so bent out of shape that each of these occurred. To me, it’s a complete fraud, an utter disingenuous fraud that has the foul stench of political correctness all over it.

What, Mike Vick is the first superstar athlete to be involved in shady goings-on behind the scenes? Is this revelation of animal cruelty really that shocking? Think about it, we hold these guys who have questionable background and upbringings to such high standards as role models, simply because they can run fast or throw a ball 80 yards, but the minute there's news of possible indiscretions, we're all scratching our heads in utter shock. Please! Hundreds of baseball players have been cheating for 15 years, and so has Bonds since the late 90s. In addition to being a cheater on the field, Bonds is also a cheater off, be it taxes or marriage. Yet here we are spending time debating whether Bud Selig should be on the field to celebrate when he hits HR #756. Why?! Gambling and organized crime have made their way onto the playing fields, stadiums and arenas all over this country for years now, perhaps not in overwhelming amounts, but don't think for a second that it hasn't. Point shaving has reared its ugly head several times in the college ranks (hello Tempe, hello Boston). And up pops one bad seed ref who didn't know how to control his gambling problem and it's the worst sports catastrophe of the past 40 years? Get a grip.

Again, I'm not downplaying the magnitude of any of the above. None of it should be acceptable. And the NBA better make damn sure Tim Donaghy was the only ref involved in betting on games. But can't this country, media and fans alike, ever display some perspective, and some reality when stuff like this surfaces?

For five years now we’ve been watching CEO after CEO and CFO after CFO carted off to jail for 30 years after swindling their company and its shareholders out of millions, and politician after politician caught with cold, hard cash in hand and lobbyist-related perks that would make Donald Trump’s lifestyle seem humble. So what makes anyone think sports, professional or even collegiate levels, is any different from Corporate America or Capital Hill? Where there’s money, there’s crooks, and crookedness, it's that simple. Sports are no different. You have cheaters, you have guys who don’t know how to handle the fame and money and abuse society’s rules because they think they’re made of Teflon, and, you have guys on the take because, well, they just are. Greed is real.

But there’s David Stern, putting on that “What, this is happening in my league??” look. There’s ESPN, the phoniest of all phony, the very organization that has corrupted sports of all kinds, only in legal ways, trotting out every shill anchor and every talking head analyst, acting with utter disbelief and disdain that the Pacman Jones and Michael Vicks of the world can actually exist and do such abhorrent things, and instigating this "my gosh, what should we all do now, whoa is us and whoa is the poor fan" mentality.

Again, people are absolute frauds for acting as if this stuff doesn’t occur from time to time – yes, athletes can misbehave when we’re not watching them on TV. Either that or they’re just downright naïve. Wake up.

But no, instead, we’re all asleep at the wheel, playing right along and falling into the same old trap, just like when the Don Imus flap occurred. Instead of using an unfortunate incident and turning it into a positive where lessons could be learned and people can grow, everyone (most, anyway) just does the typical PC knee-jerk reaction of shame and drama and horror. You know what I say: Ignore the cheater and his feats on the field and his home run totals, throw the dog killer out of the league and let the justice system deal with him, and admit that the NBA let a misguided person on its floor as a referee because its officiating system has flaws, but acknowledge it can be corrected, and move on. Let’s learn and get better for it. Oh, and by the way, we’re still all going to wake up tomorrow with our health, and our lives intact.

That’s more than I can say, though, for countless numbers of people in Southeast Louisiana, who wake up in trailers or gutted homes with no savings left and no money to go buy the basic necessities. If only our country watched and talked about THAT STUFF with the same amount of horror as they do a low-life football player. Now wouldn’t that be something!