It seems professional athletes are under an intense
microscope these days. Discipline in all
sports has increased as fans cry out that cheaters and cheap shot artists be
banned. The question has become when is
enough enough and will athletes ever truly learn? The first question is posed towards the
league and second towards the players.
The most prime example of perhaps going overboard is in the NFL. Let’s face it, it’s the most popular sports
league in America by far. The TV
ratings, the money, the attendance, and overall media coverage make it that
way. As I heard a few years ago,
baseball may be America’s pastime but football is America’s obsession.
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| James Harrison is probably at the forefront of the NFL issue. He perhaps has a point... |
Roger Goodell began his tenure as NFL commissioner in
September of 2006. His work includes
season long suspensions for Pacman Jones and Donte Stallworth, half season
suspensions for Chris Henry and Tank Johnson, and multiple game suspensions for
Michael Vick, Ben Roethlisberger, and Ndamukong Suh. These were all rather warranted for their
heinous crimes (or alleged, but seriously, Big Ben, who’s kidding themselves
about that one?). Goodell also isn’t
afraid to challenge the coaching authority with a huge $500,000 fine to
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick as well as top draft picks back in
2007. Where it gets real testy for Roger
is his fines that seem to show up week in and week out. These hits include hitting defenseless
receivers, helmet to helmet hits, hitting the quarterback pretty much anywhere,
faking injuries, and just for fun because defense is non-existent. While I agree that things do need to change,
it seems that the nature of football has fundamentally changed under his
tenure. Offensive statistics have
exploded because defensive players aren’t sure how to play their positions without
getting fined or suspended. Hopefully
Goodell can truly show players, teams, coaches, and ownership what defines as
illegal.
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| Baseball is just sad at this point...why did he even accept his MVP award? What a joke |
Major League Baseball honestly has become a joke in American
culture. In an up tempo society where
everything is instantaneous, baseball has become slow and outdated. On top of it, a lot of players aren’t even
worthy of being called athletes. Just
take a look at some middle relievers or designated hitters and ask yourself if
being that big qualifies as being a top athlete. Does having tobacco in your mouth during a
game make sense either? So you can throw
a ball fast or hit a ball really far. I
don’t care that much. In fact, over the
past 20 years, most players seem to get that edge by taking PEDs. Just when you think baseball is making a move
forward with an extra playoff team or just the players like McGwire, Sosa,
Bonds, and Clemens now a distant memory, you get the recent NL MVP Ryan Braun
facing a 50 game suspension. You’ll hear
it from me first, I dislike Commissioner Bud Selig. I think he’s ancient history just his sport
he is in charge of running. I’m a
believer he turned a blind eye to the scandals of PEDs and let baseball reach
its peak without any worry. I don’t know
what baseball needs to move forward, but I can tell you where to start. Start with the people that have been in
charge during its dark days.
Yes, Kobe says "F**king Faggot" in this video
The NBA is in interesting case. There is probably not a sport more visible
than this one. Fans sit right on top of
the court. Players don’t wear heavy
equipment and their emotions are worn on their sleeveless jerseys. David Stern actually has done a pretty decent
job over the years running this league but it seems to have hit a wall in the
past 5 years. I believe it escalated
with the brawl at the Palace featuring Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson entering
the stands and beating up fans. It then
hit an all time low when Kobe Bryant was fined last season for using a homosexual
slur. Have we gotten so nitpicky as a
society that trash talking now is too much?
God forbid you celebrate a touchdown but now you can’t speak during a
game. I understand it from where society
wants to be accepting but it seems a little overdone. I was hoping the lockout was going to change
things because I think the players and owners needed a wakeup call before they
lost all fans due to its eccentric players but I was wrong.
The game of ice hockey has been under the microscope as of
late. Head shots are running rampant as
concussions have become an epidemic throughout the league. Star players such as Sidney Crosby, Chris
Pronger, Shea Weber, Kris Letang, Ryan Miller, and Claude Giroux all faced
concussions. In fact, Crosby and Pronger
are most likely out the entire season because of it. Hockey is a dangerous game of skill and
contact. Similar to football but played
a much faster, quicker and “all-the-time” pace.
Brendan Shanahan has taken over NHL discipline and has tried his best
with his explanation videos with suspensions and fines. In fact, every player fears a Shana“ban.” The next question has become why are head
shots even allowed? Why is there still
fighting in the game when you are worried about head injuries? The NHL is at a crossroads in terms of its
physicality. I hope Commissioner Gary
Bettman and his goons can proactively change these rules in the next CBA
because little 2-5 game suspensions for hitting a guy who ends up missing a month
just doesn’t seem acceptable to me.
Letang misses nearly 2 months and Pacioretty missed a couple games...what?
In conclusion, I hope each league can be proactive and truly
redefine their sports in a positive way and not in a way that detracts from the
game. They need to have clear cut rules
and consequences. They need to be able
to communicate these to players, coaches, staff, management, fans, and media
alike so everyone understands them. I
think that’s been the missing link so far.
These constituents don’t fully understand the rules and/or rationale
behind them. Because like I mentioned in
the intro, players need to be held accountable as well. However, they need to understand why these
procedures are in place so they can adapt.
Changing ones game is never easy.
When you’ve been trained your whole life to play one way, it is hard to
change. We all know one thing
though: there is only one constant in
life, and that is change is always going to happen. We can either sit by or jump on board.
