Athletes in the New Milennium

Today's modern athlete, no matter what the sport, can always be seen somewhere in our modern society on everything from television commercials all the way down to shoes that you can buy at Foot Locker or Champs. Now, being an avid fan of sports myself, I am not against athletes who want to make themselves more reknowned, but should there not be a breaking point?

Athletics and sports, by far, is one of the most popular past times for men and women alike. We make it our sole duties to check the stats, find out who was traded and who was brought in from the draft, and so forth, but the question never really was asked if these athletes that we are following are remaining true to what they do. Whether it be run, swim, play football, basketball or baseball, or even maybe lacrosse or whatever the taste may be. I have noticed that in more cases than not, atheletes are becoming more and more demanding when it comes to playing their sport. They want larger apartments, higher signing contracts, the ability to go free agent whenever they choose, and so on. But, it seems that we see more of them after a game doing something else as opposed to them actually playing the game. Since when did all of the ammenities have anything to do with playing a game? It makes me question where the heart of sports has gone to, and in truth, because of all of these travesties that have happened over the last few years, it makes me wonder if sports are turning more like into soap operas after watching the news.

For example, there have been many athletes that have faced criminal charges and overcame them, simply because they had the money to hire good lawyers. With this being the case, why are these athletes being allowed to play? Great players such as Michael Irvine, Wayne Gretzky, Pete Rose, Daryl Strawberry...all of them taken down due to thinking that just because they were professional athletes that they were above the law. If this is the case, then why are sports organizations and affiliates putting up with it? It is doing nothing for them business-wise, and in the long run creates more bad publicity not only for the player, but also the organization that they are affiliated with.

Another thing is how sports are viewed by our young people, who often look to their sports heroes very much the same way that they would look at their comic book heroes. They view them as being a bit superhuman, where they can do no wrong and that they always know what they are doing all of the time. Then, we cannot forget the fact that athletes are not just athletes because they are cool in the eyes of their audience, but also because they do other things to make themselves look 'cool'. They become rap stars, or maybe they design a fashion line or made a new pair of shoes that illustrate that when you put them on, you will be just like the player that created them. So, if this is true, then why are we all not professional athletes and available for the draft picks?

The real state of sports today is that sports are no longer becoming sports. Our favorite past times are beginning to look very much the same things that we see on professional wrestling. We see our favorite players marching onto the field or court and they get ready to put on a show for us that keeps us coming back and buying tickets for next season. But, what we don't see in the background is inevitably what hurts the true nature of athletic sports. We don't see them when they buy new cars, get higher paychecks, or when they are talking to the local video game creators so that they can have a video game named after them (*Does anyone remember 'Shaq Fu' or 'Troy Aikman Football'?) In any event, sports needs to revert back to the golden ages, when players did not make so much and played because they liked to play. A little known fact that most people do not know is 1908 Olympic champion, Jim Thorpe, was actually also a professional football and baseball player himself before he went to the Olympics. Was he asking for a higher paycheck? I think not!

In conclusion, our sports organizations need to get our favorite players back on track and become bosses rather than glorified wetnurses. In the words of my former boss at my last job: 'Get to work!'