The Death of Sports Gods

"It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitive as a professional sports team, and the amused superiority and icy scorn that the non-fan directs at the sports nut (I know this look -- I know it by heart) is understandable and almost unanswerable. Almost. What is left out of this calculation, it seems to me, is the business of caring -- caring deeply and passionately, really caring -- which is a capacity or an emotion that has almost gone out of our lives. And so it seems possible that we have come to a time when it no longer matters so much what the caring is about, how frail or foolish is the object of that concern, as long as the feeling itself can be saved. Naivete -- the infantile and ignoble joy that sends a grown man or woman to dancing and shouting with joy in the middle of the night over the haphazardous flight of a distant ball -- seems a small price to pay for such a gift."

On Monday the book: A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez was released to the public and along with it all the steroid talks will once again be the topic of every Sports Center and all other sports programs.  The newest allegations brought against A-Rod is that he started taking steroids in high school and that he has been doing them as currently as when he was with the Yankees.  He also has been now rumored to tip batters off in blow out games while he was on the Rangers with the hope that these players would do the same for him to pad stats and help get the big contracts.

Now in no way am I saying that I believe A-Rod is telling the truth when he said he did steroids in the small time frame he is admitting to, but this book seems to be a glorified National Enquirer.  How many allegedly done things about this man's life is this women, Selena Roberts going to try and get the public to believe in.  This is the same women who ruined the reputation of innocent Duke Lacrosse players.  She ruined some of these kids lives, so before we all jump on everything she says lets get some perspective.  Again, my thoughts on A-Rod is simple, he is an insecure person who cheated the game.  I do not even think he cheated the game to get records or money, I think he cheated the game to get people to love him.  He cares so much about what the fans think that he would do anything to ensure he has their love and respect.

This is a much bigger problem though than Salena Roberts poor attempt at ruining A-Rod and even A-Rods steroid use.  This is our society being too involved with athletes personal life.  I think we have become to engrossed with everything outside of the playing field with our athletes.  The problem with this is it is ruining our heroes for us.  

We are at the point where we know everything about them, where they spend their offseason, what they do after the game, where they spend their birthdays and who is invited.  Our parents didn't know what Hank Aaron was doing off the diamond.  We didn't know Namath was an alcoholic until he tried to kiss Pam Oliver on Monday Night Football and we did not know anything about the M&M boys besides Mantle being a playboy.  I make this argument because my generation and the generations after are being ripped off from having idols.  We are loosing out on having those players who you look at as Gods among men.  Who you look up to as people who play the game right on and off the field and are genuine good people.  Have you ever talked to your dad or grandfather about some of their childhood sports heroes?  You can just tell how much those people meant to them, how many nights they stayed up late watching Bird vs Magic, or watching Mantle and Maris hit homeruns every day chasing each other and of course the Babe.  They never had to wonder if Mantle was juiced, or if Babe took shots in the ass to give him power.  Maybe they were taking something to give them an edge, but we would never have known and a part of me is happy we don't.  I am worried that maybe we wont be able to tell our kids about our heroes without having to tell them about the alleged steroid use, or how he raped a girl and cheated on his wife.

Kids today are growing up watching baseball and wearing their Roger Clemens jersey, or their Mark McGwire shirts.  They then watch these "role models" lie to congress and are said to have done steroids.  People are embarrassed to say that these are their favorite players.  We are loosing our role models in sports and it is starting to ruin sports for all of us.

Now to be fair there are players out there who deserve to be considered our role models.  One being the newly named MVP of the NBA.  Lebron James is a class act role model for all of us.  The man has genuine care for his sport, his city, his team and his fans.  He goes out every night and preforms at the highest level, and he understands that he is proving he deserves the fame and fortune he has received as he pays his dues to the league and the players that came before him.  The man deserved that award, and is helping a league rise from their down years.  

I must say that the NHL and NBA playoffs recently has helped us all forget about the nonsense in sports.  The Rangers vs Capitals, the Devils vs Carolina and now the Penguins vs Capitals series has provided entertainment for all sports fans.  It is helping get the fans back to a sport that is on the way out.  Then there was the Bulls vs Celtics series.  That series was an incredible series, filled with players who busted their ass to win each and every game.  Kids if you are looking for sports heroes take any of those players who laid it all on the line to win. Like Ray Allen who scored 51 points in  a loosing effort and has never been in trouble with the league, or the law.  He has not taken any steroids or other performance enhancing drugs.

I love sports and everything about it.  I engulf myself with my teams and stress myself out watching games like most of you.  My day can be ruined or turned around depending on the outcome of a game.  From the highs to the lows of each game, like watching a 6 overtime game and feel like I just went thru hell only to be relieved and elated at the end.  I have seen sure thing points and wins turned to heartbreaking losses (Yes I am talking about a dropped snap on a FG to be eliminated from the playoffs).  And I have laid in bed with mono and falling asleep between pitches of a game 7, and forcing myself up to see a game winning home run by Aaron Boone.  I love sports and nothing would ever get me to stop watching, I just think it might be time to move away from their off the field lives.  So maybe we can talk about our sports Gods with our kids and not have to even think about them cheating or doing wrong.  So anyone out their that wants to be like Selena Roberts, I beg you to mind your own business and let us think that our heroes are truly great.

Before I go:

Yesterdays Movie:  American Beauty

Todays Movie: "In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I'm watching the casino manager. And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all."

The Question of the Day:  What profession other than yours would you like to attempt?