Ethics and a Love of the Game

Thanks to Abigail and Dolley for letting me throw out one of my rants on the world of ethics or lack thereof.

I love college football. I like the pro game, and enjoy playing sports quite a lot. But, college football is the only sport you will consistently find me watching on the television. The USC (Southern Cal, not the real USC Gamecocks of the SEC) football program is one of the most storied programs in all of college football. Along with programs like Notre Dame, Alabama, Texas, Ohio State etc, they have a consistent record of winning. Now Pete Carroll is leaving USC to go back to the Professional game from which he came. He says it is the right opportunity at just the right time. But, really Coach Carroll is leaving under a cloud of shame. USC is being investigated for multiple recruiting violations. Is the coach getting out before the storm hits USC fully? I don't know, but I do see a disturbing continuing trend here.

I turn to sports for an escape, to relive my own glory days,and to be entertained. I don't think any of us turn to sports to see college football programs racked with violations of rules of fair play. I don't want to see Barry Bonds perjure himself concerning performance enhancing drugs, I don't want to hear Mark McGuire cry any more because he injected performance enhancing drugs. We are talking about athletes in their prime. I see their use of drugs to aid their performance as a symptom of their greed. Greed for glory, greed for that next big endorsement deal.

Don't even get me going on Tiger Woods... A guy who reportedly cried about his father's infidelities who goes out and does the same. Talk about a culture of lack of ethics.

For me, I'm done with it. I will continue to play the sports I love, but I no longer care about the big time sports on TV. I may watch with detached interest, but I will not give my money to support the products these guys are endorsing. I hope High School sports are still immune to it, but something tells me that many of these big time high school football programs have also been somehow corrupted by it all.

What does this have to do with this blog? It is a reflection of a cancer in our society. I'm ashamed of it and I hope if We the People, say "enough!" And, if we turn away from accepting this behavior and vote with our wallets by not purchasing the sponsors products perhaps we can cause a change. Naive? Probably. Noble? Perhaps. Worth it? Absolutely.