From the Atlanta courthouse incident the other day to the bizarre, tragic shooting in a Church in Wisconsin by Terry Ratzmann, 44, who killed seven before killing himself, to the recent disclosure that two NYPD veteran officers were convicted of serving as de-facto mafia hitmen since the late 1980's, there is plenty in the news with which to lead one to question where the human race is headed. In fact, based on these types of news items, the more apt question is can normal people bearing witness to the moral decay surrounding us make a difference. It's not quite a forty days and forty nights-type of problem, and it's not an epic, biblical Sodom and Gomorrah we confront, but reading the news makes me wonder if (and hope) there's a limit to the evil that men can do to one another.
In the meantime, however, there's sports.
Well, there is sports -- sort of. There's no hockey, although the players' representatives agreed to meet the owners' representatives, so there's "dialogue" -- except it seems that said dialogue is really cosmetic. There's next-to no incentive for the players to capitulate because, since there's no hockey season (on this continent, anyway) they're not getting paid to play, so to "cave" now would make no sense. There is a draft coming in June, however, so the clock that stopped running on or around February 19th is now back to ticking, and it's rumored that if there can't be some sort of deal hammered out a few weeks prior to the NHL Entry Draft, the owners will begin drafting "replacement" players, ie players that are a) not members of the NHL Players Association and, b) therefore, willing to abide by any sort of new/temporary Collective Bargaining Agreement the league enacts to address the newly-indoctrinated players. If you're not familiar with the NHL Lockout, read back through the HoB for more information, or go to ESPN.com for a basic rundown of what's been happening. For those who are familiar, read on at your own risk.
It is my guess that the NHL will be starting the 2005-06 season with replacement players, along with a small percentage of NHL'ers who realize the inevitability and the rationale and requirement to a salary cap. As this number grows, and a minority of extremely overpaid, selfish prima-donna athletes see the NHL is moving on with or without them, they'll wake up and rejoin the fray. A deal will get hammered out a couple weeks into the season, and things will be back to normal: normal meaning that hockey will still be (if it's lucky) a distant fourth among major sports in this nation, very few people will retain faith in a game that is ruled exclusively by conduct on the ice and on the bench, and for the most part, I am guessing (and hoping) four teams are contracted (aka deleted) from the NHL.
Why do I want teams to be deleted? Because the more teams that are allowed to join a league, the less talent there is within that league. For example: if there are 600 NHL-caliber players competing in the NHL, and suddenly four teams are added, that means (give or take) another 160 are added to that level. This applies to any sport, be it hockey, baseball, basketball or football. In contrast, in order to maintain their high levels, the nation's most prestigious universities and colleges don't expand to fit as many students as possible: they offer admission to a certain number of the best students each year and that is it. They don't build more libraries, hire more professors and secure more housing. They limit entrance to the club to insure only the best and the brightest are invited; they don't seek the most. That is how hockey needs to operate, especially now. They need to pare it down and to highlight the game, not the quantity of (millionaire) stars playing in the league.
One interesting note: as those who are familiar with the situation can affirm, many locked-out NHL'ers have signed on to play for European teams during the locked-out period. These include the highest-paid players (including current NY Ranger Jaromir Jagr) and the lowest-paid as well. Once "replacement" players begin donning NHL jerseys, some current locked-out NHL players will rejoin the league under its revised terms, and it's very likely many of those locked-out NHL players who choose NOT to return to the league will brand the ones who do as "scabs" for crossing a picket line of sorts. The problem with that eventual, ugly situation is that, it seems to me, many of those players who have crossed the ocean to play in Europe have not only taken jobs away from players who were playing for these European teams before the lockout, but have ably found work by simply going to another venue to ply their trade. That's inherently contradictory to the terms of a union action, and thus makes the European NHL players worse than scabs, because it not only reveals them to be selfish, inconsiderate and stupid (playing for $500 a week in Sweden or Russia or for $4,500 in the NHL), it shows they are greedy and unaware that the league will survive with them or without them. And as a Ranger fan, I personally can attest that I would prefer watching and rooting for underpaid, hard-working replacement players than a bunch of underachieving, overpaid prima-donnas who can't string three straight wins together. I am sure there are plenty of fans of solid, high-level NHL teams who will disagree with me, but at this point, I think we're all in agreement that we'd prefer to have replacement hockey than no hockey at all.
For more sports-related stuff, we'll have to turn to basketball: except that I can't really comment on the current state of the game of basketball because Time Warner Cable has removed the Knicks (and the Mets, both broadcast by MSG Network) from my viewing line-up. I'm sure the Knicks are doing well, and hopefully they'll be on their way to a mediocre finish in no time at all.
So let's turn our attention to baseball: there's lots of talk about some past major-league players, namely Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, and a variety of current players, including Jason (and Jeremy) Giambi, Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro. All of them are mentioned in the same sentence not for their achievements but for each receiving subpoenas in connection to a hearing in front of a Congressional panel on the state of steroids and Major League Baseball.
It's disappointing to know that the game of baseball, these days, will be played out in front of Congress rather than fans. Many fans knew or suspected some or all of these players were using steroids or some sort of performance-enhancing drugs. And many of these players who sort of admit to steroid use shield themselves behind the "we're entertainers" mantra, suggesting that they should be free to use whatever legal means they can to maximize their abilities (aka earning potential). Never mind that using steroids is akin to causing cancer, destroying the body and eating away at brain cells: what really bothers us isn't that Barry Bonds will wind up a small-testicled, hyper-raging monster who will die a long, slow, painful death, but that he's doing it and a bunch of other players aren't. It's all about fair play: either all of them do it or none. It reminds me of the "All-Drug Olympics" skit from Saturday Night Live from 10 or 15 years ago. Except this one isn't being played out for laughs: it's about finger-pointing, teammates suing each other, accusations flying without verification or legitimacy, and yet another sport (and its image) being flushed down the toilet, together with the syringes, urine and the innocence the sport once held. Sure, the game will bounce back -- but just like the McCarthy Hearings did in the middle of the last Century, this will be another black mark on something from which we once derived entertainment.
Depressing, isn't it?
Well, since there's nothing left but football, let's delve into that topic as well. Actually, before we discuss the myriad trades and swaps and cuts and signings that should normally dominate football-related discussion in March, we need to first examine the recent revelation that a doctor semi-affiliated with the Carolina Panthers is alleged to have written a variety of prescriptions for steroids to members of the team (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2012044). The doctor, as stated in the link, apparently would trade prescriptions for steroids for $1,000 apiece. That's not bad. Except football players, even those able to shield steroid use from the NFL testing authorities, aren't known to have the highest level of discretion in the world, and apparently, one of the juicers spilled the beans. Either that, or a DEA agent was watching a football game one weekend and realized, as many others did, that 25-year-old men who lift weights even 10 hours a day should not be 6'1 and 380 pounds. Is it likely that common sense woke somebody up? Or was it just an ambitious DEA agent, and not the collective common sense of the populace that finally realized that this is not right? Odds are good it's the former.
I remember when I was seven or eight and used to watch the Yankees on a small black-and-white TV in my room well after my bedtime; I would watch guys like Ron Guidry, Bucky Dent, Graig Nettles and Thurmon Munson and, aside from my father, these would be my role models. Many of them weren't the highest level of humanity: many drank way too much, cheated on (or even abused) their wives, few were educated, and many receded into semi-anonymity upon their retirements. But once they ran out onto the field, and when they wore Yankee uniforms, they were people in whom I put my trust and my faith. Even as I grew older (and a tad wiser) and realized what some athletes were doing vis-a-vis their personal lives, I always admired and respected them for what they did on the field; even if I acknowledged they were shitty human beings, I regarded their athleticism as impressive.
Judging by what we have in the news these days, both inside and outside the realm of professional sports, I shudder to think what (and whom) today's kids will be respecting, admiring and putting their faith in in the future.
And the scary part is, the sports news is supposed to be lighthearted, uplifting, distractionary fare for the real bad news.
Guess again.
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