As a bit of an analogue to a thought I had while laying down and conserving power (100+ and dewpoint 50+ makes for a cranky circuit board) yesterday, Keith gave the Bronze Medal in Wednesday's "Worst Persons in the World" contest to Barfstool Sports' Dave Portnoy.
In response to the incident I just showed you at the Little League Regionals, Portnoy said, and I'm quoting from Olbermann:
"This isn't good sportsmanship. ..."
And I cleaned that up, apparently this sod can't even recognize sportsmanship as one word! Probably because he has neither seen nor recognized an act of sportsmanship in his entire sodden life!
"It's dumb. You got this kid on the mound. He's rattled. Trip to Williamsport [PA -- the site of the Little League World Series] on the line. You can play 'Patty Cakes' after! As far as the pitcher goes, that's your plate."
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I just want that to process as I put down a number of (not nearly all-inclusive) situations here. And I'm not talking just football, though many football names and situations will be here.
- Michael Jordan and illegal gambling.
- Kobe Bryant and an all-but-certain rape they barely covered up.
- Latrell Spreewell choking his coach.
- The entire Malice at the Palace, both players and fans!
- Pete Rose and at least the statutory rape and tax evasion -- though, the more he opens his trap, the more we demand what evidence Dowd had to state he was, in fact, betting against the Reds.
- Trevor Bauer and all we know and don't know he criminally did.
- Yasiel Puig and whatever drove him out of Major League Baseball... (including a sexual assault he pretty much had to empty what money he had left to his accuser in a settlement) For the record, he now plays in Korea.
- Domingo German, who lost the entire 2020 COVID season because he committed domestic violence.
- Ray Lewis
- Todd Hodne
- Deshaun Watson
- Adrian Peterson
- Aaron Hernandez
- Rae Carruth
- Robert Rameses Those last three, all for MURDER.
- Henry Ruggs III
- It appears Marshawn Lynch has another DUI to answer for this weekend.
- A litany of Olympic and professional athletes who are taking or have taken drugs openly prohibited by Federal law (Carl Lewis, Mike Powell, Barry Bonds and the entire BALCO regime, just for a few starters...) -- that includes, now, you, Aaron Rodgers...
And I could go on and on and on -- the point is simple:
I have said for a long time that I believe the sport of football, in it's own merit, should be put on trial. I still believe that.
But now I believe I have come to a more disturbing conclusion.
I am not going to say this applies to all athletes, championships, etc. and so forth and so on.
However, I do have to begin to wonder:
Is the concept of sporting excellence at least partially... if not dependent, at least correlative, to criminality or other lack of boundaries on the part of the athletes.
That, in short, to be a successful athlete (in MANY CASES BUT NOT ALL), is it now necessary that such an athlete have mens rea, a pre-existing "criminal mind" which indicates you are willing to transcend what is considered "limits" or even "acceptable" to gain victory, not just off the sporting field, but on it as well?
Mens rea, for those not clear, is referred to as "criminal mind" in the judicial system -- that not only did the person commit a criminal action, but that the person knew it was wrong beforehand and did it anyway, probably with additional malice or violence.
I am, in no way, saying that sports do not offer and enable these idiots to act out without penalty -- far from it. We know this is the case.
But I now wonder, ADDITIONALLY, if we are now looking at a feedback loop. That either:
- These people are so far gone because of their coddling that they are now basically in permanent "criminal mind" and gain sporting advantage from going outside limits, rules, or acceptability on the field
and/or
- They've always been of "criminal mind" (from youth, even far before high school), at which point the coddling offers a feedback loop that their criminality is excused (and, in more than one case, encouraged...), creating more criminality, more coddling, etc.
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