BackATHLETES DOING CRIME & DOING TIMEŠ
E-Mail BY BLAKE R. PIRTLE Bio/Address
I don't know
what came first? The O.J. Simpson case, or the Mike Tyson case? All I can
remember at this point is watching the NBA finals, and having it interrupted so
the world could watch the slow police chase of O.J. down the freeway. At the
time I couldn't think of a more pathetic example of the media exploiting
someone's misfortune. Now we see it all the time with pro athletes. Every little
flaw in their lives or every crime they are accused of committing we the public
are forced to know all about.
I, myself, am sick of it all. I don't want to hear about how
Ray Caruth paid people to kill his girlfriend and her unborn baby. I don't want
to hear about how this athlete has a drug problem, and was busted using, or
possessing drugs again. I don't want to hear about the domestic violence cases,
or the DUI cases, or the fights in bars, and nightclubs. Why should these
athletes have every problem in their personal lives exploited by the media? The
only difference between them, and anyone else is the fact that they make a lot
of money and are in the public eye. But does that give the media the right to
exploit them? Why does the media never report on all the good things in life
that a lot of athletes do? One case that pops to my mind is the late linebacker
of the Chiefs: Derrick Thomas. Derrick died after a terrible accident, and yet
it was long after his death that any of the facts of his wonderful life came
out. He did so much for the kids and community of Kansas City. But still the
media feels they have the right to exploit these peoples lives. They never once
reported on any of-the good he did in his life. Believe me there are more
good athletes in sports then bad ones, but still we never hear about them. I,
myself, am tired of hearing about athletes’ backslides in life. I just don't
care about them, I don't feel it’s news, and I don't feel the media should be
pounding us with it all the time.
It is almost comical, for all these experts act like now all
of a sudden, there is a heavy development of crimes being committed by athletes.
Well this is plumb silly! Its not like athletes just now decided to start having
problems in their lives, it’s been going on forever. It’s just now that the
media feels they have the right to exploit their misgivings in life. Back in the
good old days I think the media had a little more respect for people’s private
lives. They might back then report on others’ misfortunes, but that was just
it, they would report on it. Back then they didn't feel the need to exploit
athletes or anyone else, and pound their crimes or short coming's into our homes
for hours upon hours. Athletes are just like anyone else in life, and they have
problems and shortcomings in life, so I don't feel that we (the public) should
be so quick to judge, or condemn them, just because the media now chooses to
expose them on a whole new level.
I believe that there are a couple of reasons that we hear
more and more about athletes doing crime & time. Number one they are making
a lot of money and are more and more in the public eye. Now I do believe that
you have a few athletes that, because of their fame and wealth, might feel they
are above the law and able to get away with committing crimes. But it's just a
few, if any. I just mainly see them as very normal people like you or me. They
have problems in life like me or you. Theirs are just magnified because of
their fame, and richness. I, like you, can't understand why someone who has that
kind of money would ever get into a car and drive after a night out on the town
drinking or have anything to do with a drug deal. But they do, for they are just
human beings, and like all of us make poor choices now and again. I think the
fact that so many athletes refuse to understand that being in the public eye
like they are demands a higher level of responsibility. I `have heard a lot of
athletes say "I AM NOT A ROLE MODEL!" Well I disagree with this. They
are role models to a lot of kids and other people in this world. And when kids
see them doing wrong, then they get the impression that it’s OK to screw up.
Yes, I know that this is, at times, holding athletes to a
higher level of goodness than they can achieve. But when you look at it, they
are role models - our heroes of today. The problem with our society is that we
have no real heroes anymore for our children to look up to. When I was growing
up you had John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood. But who do children of today have
besides sports figures? Hell a lot of sports figures even I look up to, so they
have to understand that a ton of children do too. And way too many of them don't
accept that.
Of course we must
understand also that the majority of the world discriminates against athletes.
And we hold them to a higher level of acceptability then any average Joe
citizen. I truly believe that a lot of these crimes and misgivings athletes have
in their lives would never be heard about if they weren't who they are. I know a
lot of them suffer because of over zealous police officers or prosecutors. They
know that they can get media exposure, or make a name for themselves by
arresting these athletes or prosecuting them on charges that they wouldn't
normally hold some other citizen accountable for. And this leaves a nasty taste
in my mouth. I don't think Ray Lewis would have been charged with two counts of
murder if he had not been a star football player. It was clear to anyone
following the case that the only reason he was charged was because of who he was
and the fact he couldn't or wouldn't rat out his friends. The prosecutor wanted
him though because it would give him POWER! And yet as soon as it became clear
to everyone that there was no case against Ray Lewis, he dropped the case and
let him plead guilty to a misdemeanor. Come on people! In my opinion, Ray Lewis
never did anything wrong. As a matter of fact, his friends were both found not
guilty of the crime. We as a society won't even let athletes express themselves.
And in a lot of ways we deny them their first amendment rights. The case of John
Rocker is a good example. He spoke his mind about people he didn't like and a
large part of the public wanted him to be fired from his job. For what? Speaking
his mind? Expressing his opinion? So what if he is a bigot, or a racist? Is he
not still allowed to speak his mind? In fact he was suspended from work because
of this for over a month. if I would have ever been held to this standard, I
would have never been able to keep a job,.
There are many more examples of this type of treatment that I
could go into, concerning athletes, but I won't. What we have to understand is
that we set the bar very high for these athletes but we can't set it so high
that they will never be able to clear it or live up to our standards. But I also
feel that these athletes need to hold themselves to a standard that is
acceptable to the children that view them as heroes and role models. A perfect
example of this is the NASCAR drivers. They are among the few professional
athletes that have a lot of contact with their fans every week. So they
understand that a lot of people see them in this “do-gooder” role. And they
also know that they represent corporate America. They make a conscious effort to
represent all of that in the very best way.
Now I want to be able to sit back with my children and watch
athletes succeed in their chosen profession. I don't want to see them fail, and
I don't want my kids to see them fail. I don't want to hear about their crimes
or shortcoming's in life. We all know, like us, they are not perfect. But does
that make it news? No it does not. I say let them play and live their lives like
everyone else in this world. Tell me about all the good they do in life, don't
just sit there and pound me with it, when a few of them do something bad.
Dec
2000