Make no mistake about it, the United States is obsessed with sports. It may well be one of our biggest industries:
- We have multiple sports networks on television and radio.
- We publish magazines and books about sports, sporting events, and athletes.
- We manufacture clothing, toys, appliances, food items, and anything else we can think of with sports themes, sports team logos, and athletes' photographs.
- Our state and local governments sponsor the creation of giant sports arenas for professional teams to play in.
- People talk about sports on a regular basis. For many, it's the bulk of their conversations.
- We idolize athletes, paying them a lot of money to endorse our products and services.
- Athletes get scholarships to college, stipends and other compensation while in college, and special treatment by teachers, professors, and others.
- We create video games to simulate playing and coaching sporting events.
- There is an entire industry of "fantasy" sports leagues for sports fans to engage in.
- People can bet on various aspects of sporting events and sports-related activities, legally and illegally.
That's just what I came up with quickly off the top of my head. On the one hand, it can be argued that this is all just harmless fun. No one is "required" to participate in or watch sports. Some athletes contribute time and money to worthwhile causes. Sports teams bring lots of money into local economies and/or schools. It's entertainment. Where's the harm?
Let's think about that for a moment. Is there a dark side to sports? Does the "institution" of athletics really do any harm to our society? Is our obsession with sports merely harmless fun or is there more to it?
Personal Observations
On a personal note, I attended Syracuse University for a couple of years back in the late 1980s. During that time, I saw very clear evidence that the school treated athletes very differently from the rest of us. At least two of my classes included Syracuse football and basketball team members. Never once did I see any of them actually attend the class. They showed up for the tests, but I never saw them in class. During one test, the proctors conveniently looked the other way while football players stood up, looked over other people's shoulders, and even asked OUT LOUD "What did you get for number 6?" and so forth. Magically, this blatant cheating was never caught.
In another class, a basketball star (who later went pro with the New Jersey Nets as a center and last played in the 98-99 season) never attended his astronomy classes (I know, because I never missed one!) and showed up only for the final exam. When he arrived at the classroom, he ripped a folder full of pre-printed tests out of another student's hand, took one with someone else's name printed on it, stomped to the end of the row, and sat on the steps (even though we'd all been told to sit in seats at least 1-2 spaces apart from one another). When the person whose test this star was working on realized the mix-up and confronted him, the star got very belligerent and aggressive with him. Eventually, the proctors did step in and sort it out. I can't say this guy cheated, but he got special treatment and although he was never in class he somehow managed to get a B (and it took him about 15 minutes to take his test, when it took others close to an hour). I don't think the guy was a genius, and he couldn't have gotten it all from the book because most of the test questions came from in-class lectures. I have no evidence to back this up, but I think he was "fed" the answers. After all, we needed his grades to stay up so he could play basketball...right?
Miraculously, too, these guys managed to be able to afford to drive expensive new cars, live in off-campus apartments (even though the rules stated that freshmen couldn't do that, it seemed not to apply to athletes), and have plenty of spending money. How that happens when your parents aren't exactly rich, I don't know. Personally, I believe they get handed money under the table (or maybe it just "shows up" anonymously in packets on their doorstep). Regardless, even if there was nothing illegal or unethical going on at Syracuse in those days, the message to other students was clear: You're not as important to us as the athletes. No one gave me a car to drive when I was there. I wasn't allowed to cheat on tests. I didn't get to pick where I sat when instructors assigned our seats. I didn't live in an off-campus apartment. I couldn't have afforded it. What little spending money I had didn't come from athletic boosters or anyone else. It came from my family, who scrimped and sacrificed to get me there. High School Sports Not Immune
This happened in high school, too. I had an algebra class filled with our school's sports elite. When they had trouble "getting" a concept, the entire class was slowed down so they could keep up. They soon learned that by pretending to not "get it" they could fool a teacher into proceeding through material at a snail's pace. It kept the tests easier and helped them stay on the team. I know this is what happened because some of them told me they were intentionally doing it. As a result, my own education in higher mathematics was stunted. That's part of the reason I had to leave Syracuse after two years. I couldn't hack all the math they wanted me to take. While I bear at least a good share of the responsibility, I'm confident my high school's sports stars do as well. Am I Resentful? You bet!
So yes, I have a certain resentment toward sports figures. But my resentment comes from seeing our educational institutions cater to these individuals and treat them as though they were somehow better than the rest of us ordinary slobs, just because they can play a particular GAME better than we could. Especially talented artists, writers, performers, and others didn't get the same caliber of treatment from the same schools. That, quite frankly, is just plain WRONG. Sports stars aren't any better than the rest of us, and (compared to the artists, writers, and scientists) don't leave behind a legacy that means something to the world. Once a Jerk, Always a Jerk!
What do I mean? Consider this, that basketball player I mentioned above appears to have left the game in 1999. If you read his bio on wikipedia, he set a few records for the Miami Heat but nothing for the league in general. He hosts an annual golf tournament for cystic fibrosis. He apparently is now a "real estate investor". As near as I can tell, his attitude from the Syracuse days lives on. In an article from the Miami Herald about his divorce, his wife's attorney describes him with phrases like "outrageous and mean-spirited" and as having "callous indifference for his wife's feelings". Yeah, that sounds like the guy I remember from Astronomy class. And we're supposed to idolize him? Please.
Right in Our Own Back Yard...
Personal anecdotes aside, let's look at a recent sports story from right here in my own backyard of Central Ohio. A few years ago, everyone loved the Ohio State University running back Maurice Clarett. It was expected that he'd go professional after he graduated. In sports star terms, the young man had a very bright future. Then, it was alleged that he had accepted thousands of dollars in improper gifts and that he had lied to NCAA investigators. Ohio State was disgraced by the scandal and suspended Clarett. He could have kept his nose clean and returned to the team a year later. A few days later, he was charged with "misdemeanor falsification" for lying to police about items that were stolen from his car (presumably in an effort to collect more insurance money for them). Amazingly, he still made an attempt to get himself drafted into the NFL earlier than normal and sued the league for the privilege to be drafted. The Denver Broncos took a chance on him in April 2005 as a third-round pick. By accepting the position, he made himself ineligible to return to Ohio State. When the Broncos dropped him four months later, this was probably the low point in his career. He couldn't play college ball anymore, couldn't cut it in the professional league, and now was faced with the prospect of no college education and no employment. Unfortunately, instead of bucking up and going back to school, getting his life on track, Clarett allegedly took a step down the wrong path by robbing two people at gunpoint recently. He currently faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for aggravated robbery. It's a sad chain of events. His actions aren't those of a "hero" but those of a greedy young man trying to use his meager talents to grab up all the free goods and cash he can get. They don't show maturity, respect for authority, or a desire to do the right thing. While common folklore around central Ohio says that he got bad advice from those around him, I believe in personal responsibility for your actions. If someone advised me to commit armed robbery or sue a potential employer, I would stop seeking that person's advice. If Clarett listened to such advice, he may well be getting what he deserves. But I remind you, this is the sort of human being that we, as a society in general, are choosing to idolize. It's no wonder our nation has problems.
More Examples
Maurice Clarett is hardly the only sports figure whose actions are, shall we say, less than ideal. Sports history is replete with examples of unsavory people living lavish lifestyles without regard for life, law, or property:
- Jeff Reardon, a former Montreal Expos baseball player, was arrested for armed robbery in late 2005.
- Former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia in November 2005, and had been arrested for possession of cocaine in 1996.
- L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant was arrested in 2003 for sexual assault.
- Wisconsin Badgers running back Booker Stanley was arrested in 2005 on charges that he beat and choked his girlfriend. The previous May he had been arrested for getting into a fight at a block party.
- Khalid El-Amin of University of Connecticut, who helped the team win its first national championship, was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana.
- Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs was charged with domestic abuse in September 2005.
Again, these are just a few quick examples I could find with a Google search. One site lists the "Sports Hall of Shame" which contains dozens of examples of sports stars committing violence against women (and that list only covers a few years). Another lists rapes and sexual assaults by football athletes on college campuses. Yeah, these are people our children should idolize. A Few Good Apples Don't Outshine the Bad
Don't get me wrong. I know there are sports stars who use their fame to do good things. They speak out against injustices, donate to charities, and do a variety of other good things. It seems to me, though, that lately the number of sports scandals far outweighs the number of good works being done. We could easily have better idols and more productive obsessions than sports. Unfortunately, I don't see it happening any time soon.
For those of you who know me personally and wonder why I have no interest in sports, perhaps you now see ONE of the reasons. I have others, but this is the prevailing thing that ensures my disinterest in anything sports figures say or do.
I often wonder what would happen to our society if, for just one week a year, the money we spend on sports-related things was spent instead on something like housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, or doing something else of real value. How many lives would be saved versus the number taken and shattered by the athletes themselves?
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