Thursday, 5/8/97 Misplaced priorities, unethical behavior cover
sports world with veil of shame Sportsmanship all but absent as
focus shifts from ability, teamwork to money
hate whiny little sports columns. I try to steer clear of
complaining, of criticizing people who don’t have the same
opportunity to defend themselves as I do to write about them. I
will never blast an athlete for missing a shot, dropping a pass, or
striking out with the bases loaded. But today I have a serious bean
up my nose. It’s not just because the UCLA softball program will be
stripped of its 1995 national title as a result of embarrassingly
stupid behavior. It’s because sports in America is characterized
more by sleaze than by inspiration. Flip through the sports section
of the Los Angeles Times and check out the advertisements. Is it an
accident that most of them are for strip clubs and exotic dancing?
Maybe what these shrewd businessmen realize is that the biggest
market for dirtballs can be found in the competition-oriented
segment of the population. College and professional sports are
about money, prestige, and power: the American dream. It’s not
about education, role models, the value of hard and consistent
work, or the limitless possibilities for a society that works
together in pursuit of common goals. It’s one-upsmanship, it’s what
you can get away with, it’s about team logos, Nike and Reebok deals
and journalists with pens like fangs. It’s Dennis Rodman kicking a
cameraman and Charles Barkley spitting into the stands and
announcing he’s not a role model. It’s about not being accountable
for anything. Be an individual. Do it your own way. We breed them
early here in America. Kids on parking lot basketball courts are
yelling, "Can’t check me, fool!" before they even reach the age of
nine. And don’t think for one second that you need talent to be a
knucklehead. Drop by the Wooden Center for a couple of hours, and
undoubtedly you’ll hear someone trash-talking just before getting
hit in the head with a basketball. Now intercollegiate softball is
getting into the act. Fake tryouts? Manipulating scholarships? Jim
Harrick was fired for a serious NCAA infraction, but the truth is
that compared to other things that have apparently happened on this
campus, it was petty. When University of Rhode Island President
Robert Carothers spoke of following the "Judeo-Christian tradition"
of forgiveness, maybe he should have added, "and there is
relatively little to forgive." Zucker is a Daily Bruin sports
columnist. He can be reached via e-mail at bzucker@media.ucla.edu.
Brad Zucker