Another Sports Rant

Do "sports" have anything to do with being a good sport any more? I don't see it. This past football season only reinforced my feelings about the sports "attitudes." The Broncos start out, well, not doing well. Everyone talks bad about them, their quarterback, the whole group. Someone pays for a big old ad on the highway trying to convince the coaches to ditch the quarterback and put Tebow in. OK, they did. Tebow won a few games, gave the fans something to enjoy. So why were there still people who make fun of him, talk about what a lousy player he is, on and on. They get to the play-offs. Actually win one game. More obnoxious talk all over the place. I would love to live in a place where I never heard sports nonsense, but I don't. So I heard the people talking about him, I heard him doing interviews. I saw a young man who tried hard, was thrown to the wolves, who never blamed anyone else, who pretty much seemed to be a sincere kid. (there I go, kid. Yep, I'm old.)

Am I mistaken? What did people say about the wonderful John Elway during his early career? I sure seem to remember him being something close to the second coming at the end of his career, but not at the beginning. Am I crazy?

Do people really think sports is about the fans, the relationship between the players and the fans? You gotta be kidding if you say yes. Tell me how many of them are so invested in their fans, care so much about them, that the almighty dollar won't make them walk away. It's all about money, kids. Your money. The money you are silly enough to plunk down for those season tickets, those t-shirts, jerseys, whatever. Former St. Louis Cardinals player Albert Pujols really walked on water. He loved his fans, loved the city, wanted to finish his career in St. Louis. Where is he now? It's about money.

Money. That's what really frosts me. A team plays in a venue they decide isn't new enough, pretty enough, big enough, good enough. The little kids stomp their feet and say if they don't get what they want (a new stadium/venue) they are going to leave. So being the bright lemmings we are, we end up paying tax dollars to give the ingrates their new place. I almost find it amusing. Have you heard about the city that still owes millions on a stadium they tore down to build a new one? How about the story that the stadium isn't big enough, then the new one seats fewer people? These people are millionaires, and the stupid taxpayers end up forking out for their "homes."

Those players who are put on pedestals, how often do you hear those icky stories about their behind the scenes affairs, illegal behavior, drug use, domestic violence. I'd like to take a hammer to those pedestals. You want your kids to emulate someone, don't pick a sports figure.

Sports. Nothing sporting about them. Has there ever been? I recall a high school classmate telling me the dirty tricks they learned. And that was back in the 70s. Maybe that was when I started to disbelieve.