Honour in Sports

[chris]

i think both of you fine peeps have touched on a very important point. athletes and actors/musicians should not be heros or role models. teachers, firemen, policemen, even doctors should be. but they are not, why? because they don't get paid gobs of money for what may appear as a thankless job. but there are tons of innersity kids playing roundball in the alleyways, practicing their basketball hoping to make it big (big money, that is). i don't think kids are willing to go through what it takes (years and years of schooling) to accomplish what is neccessary to get a decent job. for some, its all about the quick strike of tons of money without having to pay your dues.

i don't make tons of money. but i have a modest house in a nice suburb. i've done fairly well for myself with what i have. and know what?...i'm happy. i have lived within my means to make a life for myself. would it be great if i sold a ton of records and became a millionaire...sure. so while i'm waiting for that to happen, i'm going to go on doing what i do, which is be realistic...and plan for my future with what i have.

and while its all fine and dandy for young-uns to admire athletes and celebs, its important for parents to teach their kids what is really important...like a harem of buxom redheads

[mervap]

Quite right.

For far too many people, it IS about the quick score, the money for nothing. I was always taught, from a very early age, that study and hard work were the way to success. I promptly ignored that advice and continued to dream of playing for the Braves...I am now just passing the last of my playing days and will likely never get the call (Tex is better than me anyway!). Along the way, I had the honor of learning great lessons from real role models: Mom, family members, teachers, coaches, janitors, grocery baggers. I watched and learned, even if what I learned was what NOT to do. I admired Hank Aaron and his quiet dignity, but his life experience and baseball skills were outside of anything I knew personally...but he did have one thing in common with all those real role models: He showed up for work every day and went about his business without trying to call attention to himself. To do that, year in and year out, is a trait I truly admire and aspire to make my own as well.

If kids could truly understand that the odds of making it big in sports, TV or music are astonomically slim, they'd be better off. I will most likely never write a great song, unlike our bud Laz, but I'll continue to admire those who can. And as Chris said plan for the future with what I have.

[2 of 3]

its all about the quick strike of tons of money without having to pay your dues.

...which is why shows like "idol" drive me nuts. The only thing sadder than the people who want to be pop stars, are the people who are judging them...since they are even less talented. Is it just me, or is that show a real nasty piece of work? I mean, the whole process is sickening...with people auditioning, and let's face it, it's like watching a car wreck...except people are laughing at them. Yikes, pretty sad.

Ha!, I just read that back....I should only drink half a beer at dinner.

[james1985]

it's about that moment of unbridaled joy that supporting a sports team can bring you. when i'm on the terraces watching my team and we score a goal, it's the most incredible rush. and those memories of great games or goals or experiences stay with you in the same way that a great album does.

speaking as a brit/european, professional sport over here is about the fans, first and foremost. I assume you guys know about the Glazers (who own Tampa Bay Bucks) taking over Manchester United a couple of years back. Well, if he, or any other owner tried to move the club from the town in the way that the LA Raiders moved to Oakland or the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to LA, the fans would simply not stand for it. Supporter pressure means a lot over here, especially with regards to drugs and cheating. In the Premiership (England's top "soccer" league), we've only had one drugs incident in the last five years, and that was only someone missing a test - he got banned for eight months.

It's sad to see steroids creeping into team sports over in the states. I hope the trend doesn't continue over here.

As a lover and admirer of great sporting achivements, i truly, truly hope that Bonds has been clean whilst he's been scoring all those home runs.



PS: interesting that Bonds has virtually been presumed guilty wheras the Lance Armstrong allegations were brushed aside by the English-speaking media? What does that say about predjudice in 2007?

[mervap]

PS: interesting that Bonds has virtually been presumed guilty wheras the Lance Armstrong allegations were brushed aside by the English-speaking media? What does that say about predjudice in 2007?

That is a very good question, J. I would imagine that, sadly, there is probably a race component to that disparity. However I would also be quick to point out that when it comes to the news media, at least in the US, if you don't play nice, (i.e. give post-game interviews, treat reporters as human beings.) you run the risk of getting bad press...from my own point of view, I see that as Bond's main problem.
Secondly, the Tour de France was not a big news story stateside until an American won it, around 1986 or so. Then Armstrong started winning and folks got real interested...he was a great human interest story, a cancer survivor, and quite agreeable with the media.
All things being equal, I echo your sentiment about Bonds...Ted Williams, possibly the finest pure hitter ever in Baseball, also had a testy relationship with the media, who vote on the MVP award. It probably cost him two MVP awards, but after retirement, Williams was a better interview and his reputation as an a** kinda dissapated. So I hope Bonds was clean, is clean and then is a bit nicer. I don't mean for him to kiss the news guys toes, but a bit nicer couldn't hurt.

[2 of 3]

Hey James, have you seen any of the MLS from over here, now that Beckham is playing for L.A? They broadcast the Toronto games over here, and even though the calibre of play is way down there, the fans are having what looks like on TV, the time of their life. I must get to a game and experience that. Looks like a lot of fun.

[Genuine_Indian_Guru]

Beckham in L.A. for me was as about as exciting as watching paint dry. Blah to him and his tart of a wife. He's not good enough for Europe anymore but since he's a celebrity send him to California....spare me

[james1985]

Hey James, have you seen any of the MLS from over here, now that Beckham is playing for L.A? They broadcast the Toronto games over here, and even though the calibre of play is way down there, the fans are having what looks like on TV, the time of their life. I must get to a game and experience that. Looks like a lot of fun.

we get highlights, so the day after a Galaxy game we'll see the goals and anything David did, but not much more.

I'll be interested to see if he can make MLS as big as it wants to be. If the Mexicans in Calfiornia can really get a football culture going in the US. I think going to a "soccer" game is a very different experience than attending american sports, and I'd hope that Beckham's arrival will encourage more to attend for the first time, and so hopefully they'll come back again and again.

Interesting to see how it'll all pan out.

[chris]

I would imagine that, sadly, there is probably a race component to that disparity. However I would also be quick to point out that when it comes to the news media, at least in the US, if you don't play nice, (i.e. give post-game interviews, treat reporters as human beings.) you run the risk of getting bad press...from my own point of view, I see that as Bond's main problem.

you have hit it on the absolute head with this statement. bonds has always been an unlikable fellow. is he guilty of taking steriods? i don't know. i suspect so, evidence (hat size going up four sizes in a decade) seems to suggest so, but i really don't know. but he has been such a jerk for so long...i've decided years ago that i didn't like him. and if i don't like him, why should i stick up for him? easy, i won't.

[chris]

so...atlanta quarterback michael vick pleads guilty to running a dog fighting operation (in his own house, by the way) as well as executing some of the losing dogs...AND payrolling the gambling of his buddies (who, in a plea bargaining agreement, were about to sell out vick.) he is probably looking at approxamately one or more year in prison. obviously gambling is the least of vick's concerns at the moment. but i do have to point out that in the nfl, gambling is taboo.

while i personally don't find all that much wrong with gambling, (i am a lousy gambler. i refuse to sit back and watch someone take my hard earned money. i'd rather give my loot to a bartender instead ) but rules are rules (i should point out that it HAS kept the best baseball player i have personally ever seen, pete rose, out of the baseball hall of fame.)

nba referee tim donaghy bet on nba games. including games he officiated. it is thought he had ties to the mob, and let others know about nagging injuries that might affect a game. i understand that donaghy is about to release the names of up to twenty more referees that were involved with gambling. could nba playoff games have been compromised? what does this scandal do to the credibility to the nba?

let me say this. i watch sports. it does not matter who you are or where you live. (while this topic is clearly open to anybody who has a voice on the subject...i just might be only appealing to men.) is sports as we know it about to change forever? will any of us watch the sporting events of our choosing if there is even the smallest remote possibility that the results have been falsified? or predetermined? i don't even want to think of life without sports. but if i beleived, for only one moment...that my team lost (or won) because of something other than fair play...i promise i would never tune in again.

although it just may explain why my favorite team hasn't won a damn thing in, oh...a century and a half. (that squirty, gushy sound was of me vomiting in the trashcan)