Floyd Mayweather won his 12 round decision last night. Some writers found, and find, this offensive, since Mayweather was convicted of spousal assault and served prison time for it. The broader issue is to what standard do we hold professional athletes, especially those paid to do violence professionally?
Recently, the standard has been made more of a public issue, if the bar not raised in fact. Ray Rice's tape of him hitting his fiancee led to his suspension from the NFL and dismissal from his team. Aaron Hernandez was recently convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. The NFL is making a public relations effort to clean up their image. This is a list of professional athletes convicted of crimes. The total is 41 NFL, 22 baseball, 25 basketball and 24 in boxing.
Unsurprisingly it is the most violent sports that have the highest criminal offense rate. We can hardly expect a person to transform from a pleasant husband, father and neighbor into an aggressive, violent professional athlete. No man who is of a pacific nature is drawn to a violent sport in the first place. It is interesting to me that the bulk of offenses are not of a violent nature but are drug and money offenses. These men appear to have become accustomed to a high standard of living and ready access to drugs, money and sex. After their careers are over their habits continue, leading to criminal activity.
There is a marked disconeect between convicted crimes and public awareness and condemnation of behavior. The infamous Black Sox of 1919 were acquitted of crimes but still banished for life from baseball for the good of the game. Similarly Ray Rice was not convicted of a crime, and his fiancee not only declined to proffer charges but married him. Still, he lost his livelihood without officially committing a crime. There is ongoing criminal activity with anabolic steroids and cocaine that is quietly overlooked, allowing athletes to be a size and do things that are otherwise impossible.
We are, as a society, not only inconsistent with our outrage over criminality but actually tacitly encourage it. Everyone wants to see Adrian Peterson playing for the NFL. We all cheer our powerful runners and blockers, knowing full well they achieve only by illegal use of substances. It is the flavor of the day to shame and punish athletes who hit a woman, or behave boorishly, even when not criminals, while ignoring real crime in the name of sports.
The biggest league of all, however, has its criminality virtually completely ignored. The 'league' is our government. Here is a list of convicted felons in Congress, covering approximately 25 years. This is a shorter time than the list of athletes, which is all-time. In this period, 41 sitting politicians were convicted of crimes. Like their athlete brothers, most were financial crimes. There is a big difference, however. Athletes are not paid to make decisions with other people's money. Politicians are. Hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars, have been siphoned off over the last 25 years by our representatives.
In addition to convictions is the list of those not convicted. In 1999 217 members of Congress escaped DUI arrest by claming congressional immunity. There are only 535 representatives and senators. This means that more than 40% of our sitting representatives have escpaed DUIs, or worse, that several have escaped DUI repeatedly in a single year. Did these people never hear of taxis or car services?
I don't condone domestic violence or drug use. I do think we judge falsely and harshly men paid to do violence who do it occasionally outside the arena. I don't condone, but I do understand, and I think we need to stop being fake prigs about it. In contrast I am completely intolerant of the mishandling of money by our representatives. I think this is a far greater crime, as it is committed against millions while in office. It is the equivalent of a football player killing an opponent on the field in cold blood. And we ignore it.
We are the hypocrites. Prosecute the politicians and leave Ray Rice alone. Far fewer people will suffer.
Ted
Recently, the standard has been made more of a public issue, if the bar not raised in fact. Ray Rice's tape of him hitting his fiancee led to his suspension from the NFL and dismissal from his team. Aaron Hernandez was recently convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. The NFL is making a public relations effort to clean up their image. This is a list of professional athletes convicted of crimes. The total is 41 NFL, 22 baseball, 25 basketball and 24 in boxing.
Unsurprisingly it is the most violent sports that have the highest criminal offense rate. We can hardly expect a person to transform from a pleasant husband, father and neighbor into an aggressive, violent professional athlete. No man who is of a pacific nature is drawn to a violent sport in the first place. It is interesting to me that the bulk of offenses are not of a violent nature but are drug and money offenses. These men appear to have become accustomed to a high standard of living and ready access to drugs, money and sex. After their careers are over their habits continue, leading to criminal activity.
There is a marked disconeect between convicted crimes and public awareness and condemnation of behavior. The infamous Black Sox of 1919 were acquitted of crimes but still banished for life from baseball for the good of the game. Similarly Ray Rice was not convicted of a crime, and his fiancee not only declined to proffer charges but married him. Still, he lost his livelihood without officially committing a crime. There is ongoing criminal activity with anabolic steroids and cocaine that is quietly overlooked, allowing athletes to be a size and do things that are otherwise impossible.
We are, as a society, not only inconsistent with our outrage over criminality but actually tacitly encourage it. Everyone wants to see Adrian Peterson playing for the NFL. We all cheer our powerful runners and blockers, knowing full well they achieve only by illegal use of substances. It is the flavor of the day to shame and punish athletes who hit a woman, or behave boorishly, even when not criminals, while ignoring real crime in the name of sports.
The biggest league of all, however, has its criminality virtually completely ignored. The 'league' is our government. Here is a list of convicted felons in Congress, covering approximately 25 years. This is a shorter time than the list of athletes, which is all-time. In this period, 41 sitting politicians were convicted of crimes. Like their athlete brothers, most were financial crimes. There is a big difference, however. Athletes are not paid to make decisions with other people's money. Politicians are. Hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars, have been siphoned off over the last 25 years by our representatives.
In addition to convictions is the list of those not convicted. In 1999 217 members of Congress escaped DUI arrest by claming congressional immunity. There are only 535 representatives and senators. This means that more than 40% of our sitting representatives have escpaed DUIs, or worse, that several have escaped DUI repeatedly in a single year. Did these people never hear of taxis or car services?
I don't condone domestic violence or drug use. I do think we judge falsely and harshly men paid to do violence who do it occasionally outside the arena. I don't condone, but I do understand, and I think we need to stop being fake prigs about it. In contrast I am completely intolerant of the mishandling of money by our representatives. I think this is a far greater crime, as it is committed against millions while in office. It is the equivalent of a football player killing an opponent on the field in cold blood. And we ignore it.
We are the hypocrites. Prosecute the politicians and leave Ray Rice alone. Far fewer people will suffer.
Ted
An enlightening piece...and sad as well. Christians might point out that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and as congressmen and women are human, they, too, have failings. But on the other hand, is it not true that the same man who wrote that (the Apostle Paul) also gave very strict guidelines requiring integrity and impeccable behavior in church leadership? (cf. 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy) I'm sure he wanted the same moral integrity to be found in those holding public office. In his dealings as recorded in Acts, Paul certainly hoped for fair, just treatment from public officials in the Roman Empire, and as we know, private behavior is not divorced from public policy. So even the DUI's by U.S. congressmen are concerning...
ReplyDeleteWe should be incensed by wrong-doing of anyone, be it a sports personality or congressman. But of the two, I agree that since the former is a private citizen whereas the latter a public official who holds the public trust, censure and punishment should be more severe in the latter.
-D-