Looking forward, I see a disgraceful beginning. One filled with fights, off-field scandal and bigger changes resulting from them. This is the dawn of when athletes do not preach sportsmanship through actions.
From time to time, Vontaze Burfict’s demeanor has been questioned. He has late hits and is a scrappy player. Given the emotion on the field mishaps do happen and this is the main argument in his defense. There’s a gray area.
Then again—even in professional sports—you get brawls that cannot be questioned by any means. With showmanship going down the tubes—Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions being the most recent—I don’t see the professionalism. I don’t see a bright future for proper showmanship.
Athletes should feel obligated to serve their duties on the field with respect. Like the job market outside sports, altercations are to be handled peacefully. Usually those who fight don’t last long unless you’re Junior Dos Santos.
All aside, class matters on the field regardless of emotion. Emotion should be put forward to play the next play to the best of your ability and then some. It should be fuel to the fire, an incentive to show dominance without paying a fine afterwards. To give cheap shots or to “mediate” field disputes with anything other than your playing ability just shows the slippery slope the sporting world is in for.
Even off the field happenings. Those in some cases are just as disgraceful. Why do sports need to be scandalous when there’s Jersey Shore a couple channels away? Again, showmanship…it’s off the field, too.
Mississippi State’s Renardo Sidney is an example as a player who has not seen much playing time, but not for his lack of skill. Sidney has been suspended multiple times through fighting and allegedly accepting improper benefits and lying to investigators in response to the investigation. Though, improper benefit scandals are all but rare in the world of college sports. Where has the love for the game gone? It has been clouded greed and misconduct.
Not that I’m just bagging on players. Coaches don’t get a mulligan. They can’t right their wrongs and try again. Penn State has been the center of recent scandal with the sexual abuse and supposedly, Syracuse University decided to join.
Decency goes further than sports specifically. If you are even affiliated with a sporting team, you should not jeopardize their reputation through scandal and wrongdoings, even if you are Brett Favre and like the Jets beyond the team itself.
In retrospect, the future sporting world will replicate similar traits to those of Grand Theft Auto. What are we teaching the kids that will soon replace the athletes of today? The meaning of respect and sportsmanship will long be forgotten if the sporting world, in its entirety, does not take a step back and put the love for the game before personal needs.
Their personal needs—sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll—don’t belong in sports. Well, on the other hand, scratch that… Maybe a little music is needed for the kids’ ears. They need a distraction right now.
Comments? E-mail me at bcapria@asu.edu.
