BLC principal John Landsberg began his career as a sportswriter at The Plain
Dealer in Cleveland. In July 2005, he began writing a new sports column
for Kansas City Sports and Fitness.
Look for it at selected bars, restaurants and libraries throughout the Kansas
City area.
An archive of his previous columns can be accessed
at:
http://www.kcsportspaper.com/columnists.asp?sort1=columnist#landsberg
KC Sports & Fitness
(March 2007)
CRIMES, CRIMINALS AND ATHLETES
By John Landsberg
It has gotten so bad in sports today that
ESPN.com actually had a game kids of all ages could play to try and match eight
Cincinnati Bengals players with the crimes they committed. The game was timed
and the kids could actually get kudos for their knowledge of the crimes and the
criminals.
What a wonderful father-son bonding experience: “Gosh, Billy, I must admit I am
a bit disappointed in your score. Didn’t you know that Odell Thurman was charged
with a DUI while he was suspended from playing for four games because of a drug
suspension?”
According to the game, your kids could learn that the Bengals’ Frostee Thurman
was charged with spousal battery. Guess he was so upset with his wife that he
then damaged his girlfriend’s Blackberry. I don’t know about you, but my wife
always hates when I break my girlfriend’s phone.
Jared Allen of the Chiefs was picked up not just once, but twice for DUI during
the season. Can you imagine how many times he must have driven drunk and not
been caught? But, thank goodness he didn’t have to miss any games because he is
a really good player.
That’s the great thing about pro athletes. Unless they actually kill someone
they rarely miss any games during the season. The biggest challenge they face is
if a judge tells them they cannot consort with other felons. It makes it
impossible for them to get into a huddle.
Years ago I was at a bar and saw a Cleveland Browns player proceed to get
completely plastered. Of course, despite being a millionaire, he drank for free
so you couldn’t blame him for being a pig.
The player wobbled out of the bar slobbering his words, jumped into his fancy
car, and promptly drove right into a police car sitting in the parking lot.
Thank goodness, though, he never missed a game. He later had his DUI dropped. If
you are not a pro athlete try that trick and see how the police would handle it.
The part that surprises me most is that professional athletes are supposed to be
finely-tuned machines. We are led to believe that they train year-round in order
to knock a tenth of a second off their 40-yard time. They study tapes endlessly
that they can tell you what Peyton Manning orders at his favorite restaurant.
If that’s the case, how come so many of them are out drinking (and drugging)
during the season when they are supposed to be preparing for the upcoming game?
You can go to select bars/strip clubs in every NFL town and find players there
until closing every night of the week.
Did you ever go out and get plastered and tried to function in a business
meeting the next day? Your head hurts just listening to someone talk. Do you
think athletes are any different? When they go out and get hammered before a
game they are cheating the fans and the team because they cannot perform at
their absolute best.
An athlete must rely on his fitness to operate effectively on the field.
Drinking to excess, fighting some bums in a bar or abusing drugs all take away
from their effectiveness. It is bad enough during the off-season, but absolutely
unforgivable during the season.
Links to previous columns:
MARTY, MEDIA, DANICA AND
DOUGHNUTS (Feb. 07)
IN 2007,
LET'S PUT SPORTS INTO PROPER PERSPECTIVE (Jan. 07)
NFL DOESN'T HELP FORMER PLAYERS LIKE DOBLER (Dec. 06)
HONOR BUCK, BUT DON'T PUT HIM INTO THE HALL NOW
(Nov. 06)
TIME FOR CHIEFS' FANS TO SHOW PATRIOTISM BY SINGING
NATIONAL ANTHEM RESPECTFULLY (Oct. 06)
