For the love of the game...

A close friend of mine asked me the other day if I was into sports. I had to actually think about that question for a minute. Had you asked me that question 10 years ago, I wouldn't have even hesistated. I used to be very much into basketball with a lesser interest in football (mainly college) and would watch them pretty often. Now I'm not talking playing here. Playing it yourself is a different scenario. Im talking people who are sports "fans" and actually look forward to watching it live or on TV. Throughout high school and college I used to watch a LOT of basketball. Nowadays, despite being in a fantasy basketball league, I just can't seem to get back into watching the games. I was trying to figure out why that is.

First I decided that I had just grown up and grown out of that, but that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me as there are just as many adults that are sports nuts as kids. So I started to really think about what attracted me to the game back then. What made it fun to watch? I started to think about the teams and players I used to love to watch. Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Kareem, James Worthy, Jordan, Alonzo Mourning, Stockton and Malone... David Robinson etc. What did they have that made the game what it was.. and how is that missing today? It's going to sound very cliche, but they loved to play the game. They were players that understood the game. They knew that it takes a team to win and be good. They were competative as can be, but still understood that it was a game that they enjoyed playing. I honestly think they felt privaledged to be making a very good living playing a sport. I don't think that same mentality exists in 95% of the NBA superstars out there now.

Magic Johnson, in 15 seasons, earned approx. 32 Mil in his salaries playing with the Lakers. Michael Jordan in his first 12 seasons earned approx. 25 Mil. Now there is very little argument that those are two of the greatest players of all time. They LOVED the game. They were a pleasure to watch. Both were amazing leaders and playmakers. When they were on the court they elevated the play of their team. They could both make the clutch decisions, the key plays at the end of the game. They were bothed revered in the towns they played in and widely respected across the league.

Now take a look at some of todays players. Take Stephon Marbury for example. Here is a guy who recently didn't show up for a road trip with the Knicks to make a point that he was upset about his position with the team. He didn't like the way the coach did this or that, or the way he felt management was treating him and his mad skills. So, instead of talking to staff and working things out as a professional, he just didn't show for the teams road trip. Out of about 60 games the Knicks have played this year, he has played in 24. The reasons varying from death in the family to minor injuries, to personal time, to just plain hissy fit. This is a guy who puts little importance on being there to do the job he is paid to do. He obviously don't feel like he needs to be out there helping his team on a nightly basis. So, how much is he making? In 13 seasons he has made about 127 Mil. Including 17 Mil this last year .. a year in which he has not played in close to 60% of the teams games. He's currently the 3rd highest payed player in the NBA and feels he has the rights to pull that kind of crap.

There was a neighboor kid that did or still does throw temper tantrums. At 12 years old I looked out the window one day to see what the wailing noise was to see her flopping around on the ground, flailing arms and legs and screaming something about how she wasn't going to do whatever she was being told to do by her parents. I was going to go over some advice about how hanging her from her toes in the tree in the front yard .. with duck tape over the mouth to reduce the screaming of course.. might change her outlook, but decided against it. She is 12 and I find it absurd that she is pulling that kind of crap still. How on earth does an adult making 17 million a year to PLAY A GAME for a living get off doing essentially the same thing?

The number of players in the NBA, or really any professional sport these days, that feel they have a right to act however they want and cause dissention among teammates, fans, and coaching staff is out of hand. Players coming right out and demanding trades to a different team. The top players demanding massive contracts and still being a shithead in general. Its appauling to see a player making more per minute of playtime than you make in a month acting in a manner that would have gotten you a beating with a wooden spoon from your mother if you pulled that crap. Probably still would. Put down the spoon Mom, I didn't do anything.

Why don't I enjoy watching sport much these days? The players are not fun to watch. Sure, I have Kobe on my fantasy team and there is no doubt he puts up huge numbers. But are the Lakers even close to the team they were back in the Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar, Worth days? I am not going to bore you with statistics, but think about it. Teams are just willing to deal with prima donnas and pay them retarded amounts of money for the hope of a 'W'. I would rather watch a team that had decent players and was fun to watch and support than a team full of superstar level talent that was always entangled in some controversy and infighting.

You are getting rediculous amounts of money to play a game that you must have enjoyed at one point. Grow up and realize that you are one of the lucky ones, NOT one of the poor, underappreciated ones. Go be a ditch digger for 6 months in Phoenix in the summer time and make 8 bucks an hour doing it. Then maybe you would have some bloody perspective on what is and is not ok behavior for someone like Marbury who is going to make about $14,000 a MINUTE for the season at his current pace. That ditch digger is going to make less in a year than you make in several minutes of playing basketball. Get the hell over yourself and do your job.

What I wouldn't give to be a 3rd string bench player for the NBA. You seldom have to play when it counts and the league minimum for 1 year in the league is 700K. Sign me up. I will be happy to be a practice dummy for a team for that.

Here's my suggestion. Professional sports should be just like any professional job. Degree or experience required. 4 years of college sports experience and/or a college degree. Then, an internship. The shitty jobs no one wants to do. Let them do that for 6 months. Give them a real sense of what the other side looks like. Show them how hard normal people work to make ends meet. Maybe then they will realize what a blessing they have in the talent they posses for a sport. Maybe then they will strive to be a better person and better teammate and make the game fun to watch for fans again. Professional sports is really an entertainment industry. I don't find the antics of most of these players entertaining. Quite the opposite. It makes me want to take a 2x4 to the side of their head to knock some bloody sense into them.

Bring me back the players that make a commitment to being the best they can be and do the best they can for the team they are playing for. Bring back the players who actually enjoy playing the game. The rest should be relegated to working as a ride operator at the Small World ride in Disney Land. That'll show them.