December 2: Sports Heroes Tarnished

Tonight I do not write about something that is bugging me. Tonight I am writing about something more sad than anything. It seems in today's world sports plays a bigger role than ever whether it be just something to watch, something to talk about, or in this blog's case something to model. I think I speak for the majority of men out there that I say I had a sports role model growing up. I know we say our dads were our role models but lets be honest, many kids play sports growing up and there is nothing better than modeling your game after your sports hero.

Today however, it seems that many (almost all) of the famous sports heroes is somehow linked to a terrible incident tarnishing their career. In the last year people like Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps have been caught doing unruly things and have been punished. Yes, their careers continue but they will forever have to live with what they did. And for all of us, when we hear or speak their names of the good things they did, in the back of our minds we will remind ourselves of how they let us down. It is such a shame that these amazing athletes do such damage to their reputation.

Tonight I want to write about the recent terrible and sad situation involving Tiger Woods. Let me say that name again, Tiger Woods. Tiger? Really? Yes, of ALL people I thought the best GOLFER of our time would at least be able to contain his fame and keep his record clean. Golf is not the most followed sport but an athlete like Tiger Woods single handedly makes his sport something to follow. Tiger throughout his career has been regarded as one of the most classy athletes in a long time (apart from his cursing on TV and his club throwing but who doesn't do that when they play golf?).

Hearing the news of his weird incident on the morning of November 27 was quite disturbing. Immediately I along with everyone was worried about his health; but once his health was cleared we all were extremely curious about why and what actually happened that night. Why wasn't news coming out about why he wrecked his car? Well, the truth is almost too much to handle. Once again this is Tiger Woods, the most dominant athlete of the last decade, maybe ever.

After hearing of his unfaithful actions to his wife and family (and indirectly to all of us) I was so upset to hear that Tiger would commit adultery like he did. How could this role model do such a terrible thing? Not only is it wrong but it is so sad that with fame comes exposure, and Tiger has gotten plenty of it. His story is out all of the world about how he is a cheater, how sad.

I guess what we take away from this Tiger Woods fiasco is that no matter how much you adore and appreciate what an athlete does on the field, never try to become attached off of the field. It seems that from now on every dominating athlete we see will do something that is offensive and morally wrong. However, try and put yourself in his position, a billionaire who has so much attention he has no idea what to do with it; still no excuse for what he did. It was such a blow to the sports world, everyone I talk to can not believe he would do such a thing. Nothing he did is right in the least, but still the excuse that we are all human is getting a little overplayed.

It is only a matter of time before our next amazing athlete is caught doing something wrong and that athlete's reputation is forever tarnished. Maybe we should start looking into Roger Federer's life or maybe LeBron James? Just a thought.

December 1: Womens sports on TV

I recently accidentally turned on a WNBA game on my television. I was looking for the show the League but I mistook TNT for FX. Usually when this tragedy happens I immediately change the channel, puke in my mouth a little bit, and carry on with my normal watching. But this time I decided if they put it on TV someone has to watch it right? Well I am not here to discriminate or be sexist but I did find what I watched somewhat disturbing.

Let me preface these next few statements by saying that I am not sexist, I AM out of shape, and I do not play sports; BUT, I do watch a good amount of TV. Now back to the WNBA game. It was a game between two teams named the Fever and the Mercury, and I can honestly say that it was one of the least interesting things I have watched...all 6 minutes I watched. During the 6 minutes of "basketball" that I watched, there were 8 turnovers, O dunks, 2 field goals made, and 3 injuries. Now that is really not what I would expect from a professional basketball game, but nonetheless these women were bouncing a ball and trying to put it in a basket.

I soon relieved myself and turned it on the League and carried on with my night. But I really wanted to take the time to reflect on my time spent watching this womens sporting event. Once again, I AM NOT SEXIST, and I support women trying to play sports, but this stuff should not be on TV. Seriously, there are 154 things I'd rather watch than a WNBA game. I am trying to spare these networks poor ratings. If they want to stick with sports put on a poker tournament or something; that is still more interesting.

Like I said, I want to say that I am not good at sports (well, sort of), and I am not hating on these women, I am hating on the TV companies wasting their time slots and losing viewers. Next time consider putting on a NASCAR race; I'd rather watch cars turn left for 4 hours than watch a WNBA game between the Storm and the Sparks.

Waddle