#4 A good percentage of pro athletes are black, so one would expect a higher appearance of law breaking - drug use, DUI, other naughty behavior.
Part of the problem of this projection is that the various player associations so such a fine job of covering up naughty behavior the normal public doesn't hear about it until so-and-so is caught for the x time for drug abuse or whatnot.
I would say a lot of times the media goes out of its way to cover for the real heinous crimes. Jovan Belcher - long time bully, drug and alcohol abuse, horrible family man, given freebees by the law, but its that gun's fault.
Derrick Thomas - other than the eight ball a day, he tried to be a father and do right by the community but he died trying to do the right thing other than being stoned out of his mind driving a sports car in a blizzard.
Magic Johnson - not so much an AIDS carrying womanizer, but just a good guy to be around.
Michael Vick - dog fighting is not about raising war dogs bred only to fight to the death for entertainment, its a cultural thing you don't understand.
It is important to note how many pro athletes do not get noticed - they are the ones who are doing right. But you ask for the limelight, you get the limelight, and we don't hear about Mao Ming or Dirk Novitzski knocking out their woman in an elevator.
And as for the showboating - I get it. I get that pro sports is shifting from athletics to entertainment, the meterballization of American/Canadian sports. I was not exceptional is sports, but I loved playing, I get starting the lawnmower after making a great play. Its when a pro basketball player gets knocked 5 yards downcourt by somebody half his size I go boo.
IMO the worst PR comes from behavior during the game, and in that case meterball has my scorn, and meterball, as a viewer in the USA, is most definately not a black dominated sport. What it highlights is not playing against the other team, but playing for the refs, playing for special consideration. |