IN LIFE AS IN THE DANCE : GRACE GLIDES

ON BLISTERED FEET.
---Alice Abrams

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Sports Rant

A-Block at Sing Sing Prison

What on earth is happening in the world of sports? We have steroids involved in just about every branch of sports, even in bicycling as evidenced in the Tour de France. The Olympics have been tainted with use of illegal drugs - even tampering with the sexes (as in the paperwork says female but the test says male!).
Now we have several dead wrestlers, and in one instance, family members; the NBA has a referee with possible Mafia ties accused of throwing games and gambling; Hank Aaron's home run record may be broken by Barry Bonds who may not be entitled to receive the honor; and an NFL player who has "allegedly" committed the evil horror of running a dog-fighting ring.
I'm not a sports fan but I'm not using this to jack-up sports. In fact, if anything, I mourn the passage of sports as they used to be. I remember my dad taking the family to the Yankee-Angel game for my brother. My dad could've cared less but my brother was a fan so to my dad, it became a big deal! Those were the days of the big guys: Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Joe Pepitone, Whitey Ford and Jim Bouten, to name a few. They weren't perfect but they kept their public persona clean enough that my dad could bring my brother to a double-header and not be ashamed of the players! I remember walking down to the player's area with a ball my for brother to have signed. He managed to get Joe Pepitone to sign it. They were nice guys, polite and friendly. They knew that these kids looked up to them - AND IT MATTERED.
I know enough of sports history to realize that all was not rosy. Babe Ruth was not a family man and Ty Cobb was a less than nice guy. But they weren't cheaters. It used to matter that you played by the rules. It doesn't seem to matter any more. A man's word counted for something. And these guys sure didn't play for multi-million dollar contracts!
I've had it with the gangsters, the thugs, the riff-raff, the gamblers, the cheats - those that denigrate their sport. Our kids are learning a lot. They're learning the exact opposite of what sports originally taught them. Watched "Sand Lot" lately?
I hope the team owners get hold of the situation and fast. All of you sports enthusiasts need to let the franchises know that you will not support a team who condones, by their silence, a man who finds sport in the fighting of dogs to the death and then viciously and cruelly executes the losers. He doesn't deserve the opportunity and honor of earning $40,000,000 (I believe that's correct) over a certain number of years. Someone much more deserving should be chosen to take his place, vile piece of scum that he is!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

We don´t watch much TV anyway, but we used to watch some sports events during the last years. The steroids at Tour de France, last years soccer referee corruption, rumors about Formula 1 match fixing, etc. made me change my mind. No more "sports on TV" for me. It might be possible I´d visit some "sober" events - but I´m sure I´ll enjoy much more to exercise on my own =)

Heart of Rachel said...

Hi Gracie. It's sad to hear about these things on the news. It seems many sports are becoming too competitive. I just hope athletes and the people around them will be more careful not to be lured into something that could adversely affect their lives.

Crazy Working Mom said...

It's all about "show me the money" anymore, Gracie!!
It's very sad.

Constance said...

Good Tuesday afternoon to you, Gracie.
Your post was very well said. You summarized it as well as anyone could. Nothing can be refuted. I wish it could be published in a national newspaper's sports column.

Travis Cody said...

I love sports. I grew up with sports, and played when I was a kid. I had my heroes too.

I met Randy White of the Dallas Cowboys. Even though I wasn't a Cowboys fan, I was so thrilled and wide-eyed. He signed a picture for me and talked to me about my junior team. He encouraged me to play fair at all times. I never thought those were just words. I took it to heart, because a pro told me.

Not too long ago, I read a commentary in Sports Illustrated that suggested that it might be time for sports to embrace performance enhancing drugs, because there will come a time when it will be impossible to compete without them. Rather than eliminate them, the article suggested that they be regulated to even the playing field.

It's not cheating anymore if everyone has the same access, right?

Wrong. It's simply legalized cheating and chemically ruining your body for the sake of money, not sport.

Sorry about the long rant, but this whole rotten business frustrates me.