chicagotribune.com
Rick Morrissey
IN THE WAKE OF THE NEWS
May 4, 2008
Moms and dads out there: Do you really want your kids to grow up to be professional athletes?
Some of you see it as the ultimate accomplishment. This is obvious from the amount of time, money and obsessiveness you devote to your budding LeBron James and your soon-to-be Derek Jeter. You like the idea of your talented child competing at the highest level. You see it as the culmination of a dream, yours and your kid's. And maybe, just maybe, you see it as hitting the jackpot.
I see Roger Clemens.
I know, I know: that's a terrible, awful, unfair example. Not all professional athletes are accused of being cheaters on and off the field. But let's just say the temptation to walk a crooked line is much more intense for a star athlete than it is for most of us everyday oafs.
If I told you Clemens is the rule, I'd be lying. But I do know he's not the exception, not by a long (vitamin B-12) shot.
We might never get all the answers on Clemens' guilt or innocence, but if someone is indeed out to get him, it's the conspiracy of all conspiracies. A former trainer has accused him of being a committed user of steroids and human growth hormone. The New York Daily News reported last week that Clemens had a lengthy affair with country music singer Mindy McCready, as well as a romance with the former wife of golfer John Daly. McCready confirmed the affair; Clemens' representatives deny it. Daly's ex-wife said she and Clemens were friends and declined to discuss it further.
The accusations of infidelity certainly conflict with the wholesome picture of Clemens' wife, Debbie, sitting with a yellow rose behind her husband as he testified before Congress in February. Imagine the pain the entire Clemens family is going through as the unsavory allegations slowly, methodically become public.
The ends that someone will go to to keep up a charade make for a fascinating study of human behavior. Faced with what Clemens is facing, most of us would say: OK, you caught me red-handed. What can I say? I wanted to be the best, and steroids helped me do that. And as far as being unfaithful, it's part of the lifestyle of being a pro athlete. To the victors go the, ahem, booty.
Let me amend my earlier question. Moms and dads: Do you really want your daughters to marry pro athletes?
The same lack of conscience that allowed Clemens to throw 95-m.p.h. fastballs to within an inch of the bill of a hitter's cap allowed him to carry on another life. And it's that same lack of conscience that apparently is driving him to defend himself in the face of evidence that suggests he should retreat to a cave for 10 years.
If power corrupts, then fame and fortune absolutely do. Look, if there are women waiting at the team hotel every time you arrive on a trip, how long before you start thinking it's like room service? And if you've been getting away with murder since you were a kid, why would you think it would stop when you were an adult? Maybe O.J. Simpson can answer that question for us.
Folks, it's not just Clemens. Not even close.
Tim Montgomery, the former world record-holder in the 100-meter dash, was arrested last week on charges of dealing heroin. He disputed the allegations but told the Virginian-Pilot of Norfolk: "You get caught up in the achievements. You get blinded and make really bad mistakes."
He's already awaiting sentencing for his part in a check-cashing conspiracy.
Kalvin Pearson, a safety for the Lions, was charged last week with aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and domestic battery by strangulation.
Trust me, I could go on.
Being an elite athlete does not automatically make someone a candidate for Ogre of the Year. You don't become a womanizer the moment you sign a pro contract. But it's a lot easier to become one if you happen to play pro baseball or basketball or football. It's just part of the deal.
That's not the surprise. The surprise is how many parents are pushing their kids with the idea of college scholarships or lucrative careers in sports. The pursuit of excellence is a reflection of the best and worst in us, and it's been leaning toward the worst for a while.
I have some advice for the parents. Watch professional sports the way you watch the lions in the zoo. Keep your hands and your children away from the cage. Oh, and one other suggestion: accountants. The world could use a few more accountants.
rmorrissey@tribune.com
Copyright © 2008, Chicago Tribune
martscan:ArcadiaAs an avid sports participant and fan growing up, living and dying (mostly dying) with the White Sox....the Bears and Notre Dame, I prided myself on knowledge of arcane records, histories, trivia, etc, and reveled in winning bar bets and heated arguments for many years. With retirement came leisure time, constant cable sports shows, my increased attendance at events...and more bar bets and arguments. While I didn't exactly have an epiphany..I began to see sports in a different light...and I didn't like it. Simply stated, to me, the average fan is a sucker...the never ending gouging of fans..the same dumb interviews with the same dumb cliches repeated over and over by the same dumb athletes..."well Jim, we're just taking it one game at a time, ya know?", the fact that an oat meal brained kid gets invited to a White House state dinner, simply because he can kick a soccer ball or throw a baseball...but wouldn't know a declaratory sentence if it hit him in the **** galls the crap out of me...$8.00 for a warm beer is an insult...renaming Comiskey Park was a sacrilege...advertisements everywhere...Clemens lying through his teeth before Congress and being indignant to boot....jerks like Bonds making obscene amounts of money.....and on and on....the whole deal of pro sports...and that includes big time colleges...sucks. Count me out.
martscan: Arcadia
Roger Clemens, the epitome of an American sports "hero", is, in the patois of the true, loyal, red blooded American sports fan, is a bum.
What decent parent would want their kid to emulate a bum? End of story.
Mtgolfer: Kansas City, MO
HGH wrote:
Whatever you do, don't ever push your kids towards politics...that's the worst...
LOL, you have that right. Politicians have been looked down on since at least Roman times.......for good reason.
Still, with a reasonably bright kid, I would steer him away from most sports as a way to make a living. There are much more productive and rewarding pursuits.
Of the team sports, hockey would be better than any of the others. You see far fewer arrests among hockey players.
martscan: Arcadia
The only 'sport' I would encourage my kids to play, only if they were so inclined, would be golf. Though I played hockey in a huff and puff league well into my late 50s, I'd rather have a lower handicap...and I've never had a fist fight or been hit in the mouth playing golf.
Come to think of it, I also got laid once on the 18th green at a club in KC....I never did that on a hockey rink.
I thereafter called it the 20th hole.
Mark: Hinsdale, ILmartscan wrote:
I thereafter called it the 20th hole.
Amusing, but slightly obscene.
martscan: Arcadia
Mark from Hinsdale:
I was raised in Riverside....my remark was meant to be obscene. Though, at the time I thought it was wonderful.
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