Before any of you launch below, or start sending emails, let me begin this post by saying I don't condone what Ron Artest or the other Indiana players did last week in Detroit. However, I'd like to make a few points about what's going on in pro sports.
- Yes, many of these professional athletes are millionaires, and surely some subset of these are "spoiled" or "pampered." But not all make millions per year, many have short-lived careers, and some are carrying not only their immediate but extended families on their back. (Including Artest, by the way...but read more about him in Sally Jenkins' column today.) And if you think pro sports, especially football, doesn't take a toll, consider that NFL players have lower life expectancies than their age cohorts, and that guys like Bill Walton (who played hoops, not football) can hardly stand up for more than an hour before their knees give way. They get millions because that's what the market yields for persons who are among just a few hundred that can perform in their profession at such a high level; corporate CEOs (many of whom perform much worse) make the same supply-and-demand claims to justify their salaries.
- No, these athletes are not public role models. I agree with Charles Barkley here - if some sports figure is your kid's role model, you're doing a shitty job as a parent. I loved Bucky Dent as a kid (sorry Sox fans) because my dad grew up with his older brother, and my dad introduced me to Dent when I was eight. But I idolized my dad, not Dent, because he was the one who took me to the games and played catch with me in the yard, etc.
- Despite the fact they shouldn't be expected to be, many athletes are role models anyway. They perform quite a bit of public service, often more than non-millionaire salt-of the-earthers from mundane professions. Coming myself from a profession where service obligations (both on and off campus) are part of mid-tenure, tenure and full-professor reviews, I have a respect for many athletes who, despite being away from home a lot to play games, still find time when they are home to do community service - and expect nothing in return. Tell you what: When drunk salesmen who scream profanities from the corporate box seats have to start performing public service as a condition of their next promotion, they can start piping in with the comments about role models, OK? (N.B.: I do recognize and applaud, of course, the many public- and private-sector workplaces that encourage and reward those who are active volunteers in their communities.)
- Fans like this jerk John Green need a good comeuppance. Green is the shit-eatin'-grin Pistons fan who threw the cup at Artest and was later caught on film punching Artest in the head. He is now soaking up his absurd 15 minutes of infamy as if he's some sort of hero. I wanted to vomit as I watched him gloating on Larry King this week. (On a related note to #3 above, I'd also be curious as to what Mr. Green's community service record looks like; his similarly-smug lawyer should feel free to shoot me an email with Mr. Green's C.V. attached.)
- Finally, keep in mind that, by definition, some of these non-role model millionaires will always be on losing teams. Indeed, here's a prediction I can make with absolute certainty: The overall, regular-season winning percentage of the combined teams in the NBA this year (and last year, and next year) is the same as it will be for teams in the NFL, MLB, and NHL: .500. That's because every game has one winner, and one loser. Except for the NHL's ludicrous playoff system, about two-thirds of the teams (including some with winning records) will fail to make the playoffs. And that means that, as an unavoidable artifact of professional sports, tens of millions of fans from dozens of cities will be complaining about the underperformance of "overpaid" millionaires for their home teams.
It's been an ugly week for sports, but some of the ugliness derives from overzealous fans who have ridiculous, unfair and imbalanced expectations for professional athletes.