Predicting the Future of the USA

Professional sports in the United States have always been viewed through the rose colored lens of hero worship. only in America could divisional lines be redrawn so that and entire nation could accept Dallas being considered "east" so that the Washington redskins could have two chances at them every year. The same mentality that allows for this suspension of disbelief allows our hero worship to be sullied when we find that our athletic icons are woefully human and slathered in flaws. baseball has had its steroids scandal and for one year they walked away from the crowning event of the national pastime, The World Series.

I was a rabid fan of the Montreal Expos in the 70s, 80s and 90s and the two shots they ever had at glory we ruined by a baseball strike and a Rick Monday home run. I am done with baseball and I have turned into a global fan of football. Having a satellite dish on my home keeps me informed of all the scandal in that sport watched by five sixths of the world's population. Teams were kicked out of the Italian Serie A for fixing matches and that meets eye to eye with the NBA's current gambling referee problem. The NFL has Michael Vick and the legal troubles surrounding him being accused of raising and fighting pit bulls.

All of this makes me concerned about how far into the American consciousness sport has burrowed itself as a vehicle for marketing and commerce. More people seem to be concerned about Vick's loss of contracts than whether guilt or innocence should be assumed before Lady Justice, blind yet wielding a sharp sword, can render a decision. There is more to this matter than can be quickly shared. Race plays a part as does the success Vick has had as a player. but while soccer's governing body, FIFA, deals swiftly with clubs like Juventus who were caught up in the Maggiopoli scandal the NFL is in the curious position of having to gauge the public perception of just how much cover they need. Were the bulk of Americans supporting Vick and his high dollar clothing sales I would be led to believe that the Falcon quarterback's jerseys would still be hanging in a shop near you instead of gathering dust in boxes in storerooms having been incarcerated before their namesake can even be speedily tried.

This is a lesson for fans of both jurisprudence and for sport. There are always going to be those that remind us that no matter how much money, God given talent or fame one amasses those who score amazing goals, scramble for touchdowns, or even break Hank Aaron's home run record are joyously human beings. They are rich men and women but they are also not chiseled from the perfect material out of which angels are born. Still, as often times the mainstream media like to portray them they are not modeled from Hell's clay by the devil either. I would like to think they are not role models as much as society in America loves to use that phrase, but they are playing a role. And this is what many of us forget they are playing a role as an entertainer trying to be the best they can at a sport. If away from that sport or in the act of entertaining they break the law then they should be treated like any other person. But once again we return to the marketing and the materialization of all things American (even war which is another topic for another time) and the need for there always to be an arch hero or an arch villain. One day the rivalries will be enough as it often is in Europe with soccer and the occasional human foibles will not be tragedies but jokes snickered at during rounds at the local pub. That's what's missing from America you know that ability to see one's own humanity in others and that is a pity.