Which is the Worst Stain on a Sport?
4July 26, 2007 by Colin
Wow. What a month for professional sports. Which is the worst personal failing currently staining the reputation and future of a professional sport?
- Jordan and Eric Staal, two National Hockey League players are booked for “harassing passing motorists” after a bachelor party in Minnesota (that’s right – NHL players go to Minn. to party!)
- National Basketball League referee Tim Donaghy is accused of fixing basketball games he both officiated AND bet on;
- Michael Vick, the quarterback for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, is implicated in a horrid dog fighting training camp;
- The parade of bicyclists caught doping just continues, effectively eliminating the race leader and three Top-5 contenders from the Tour de France.
The crisis management skills at NHL head office aren’t being called upon, but every other sport has been facing a nightmare.
I bet Barry Bonds is glad everyone chipped in to overshadow the great debate over whether Bud Selig will be at the ball park when Bonds breaks the great career home run record.
[tags] NFL, NHL, Staal, NBA, Tour de France, bicycling [/tags]
could be worse. you could be an astronaut. those guys can party!
well, astronauts I can understand. NASA hasn’t set a very good record for safety lately, have they?
None of the other sports can make a similar comparison about doubts in management – oh, maybe NFL players could make an argument about concussions.
I’d argue that the NBA situation is actually the most troubling. Everyone knows that cycling has serious doping problems. Plenty of NFL players have had run-ins with the law. Drunken teenage hockey players??? Never! But the NBA crisis tears at the fabric of the game.
It’s so easy for refs to influence outcomes in the NBA – some free throws here, the 5th foul on a star player there – that the abuse of that power calls into question the implicit understanding (and trust) between fans, players and referees that they are participating in an honest and competitive event.
Might as well be wrestling…
Btw, where does the Chris Benoit murder-suicide-steroid rage?-implications of WWE impropriety?-its tragic but is anyone surprised? situation fit into your chart?
Spoken like a true NBA fan, Jonathan.
I left Benoit off my chart because the personal issues involved were far too great. I didn’t want to make light of a tragic and multi-faceted situation.