Why Do We Expect So Much?

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Why Do We Expect So Much?
by Dave Gibson, Columnist

February 11, 2004

Dave Gibson All-time hits leader Pete Rose (AP) Professional athletes are just entertainers...So why do we expect more of a baseball player than we do of a rock star? I just wonder why Pete Rose (right) is recieving so much attention and is still banished from baseball, while others have committed far worse and have been allowed to play on. Is he being unfairly punished?

Bad behavior displayed by professional athletes is nothing new and it draws severe punishment. In 1912, Ty Cobb charged into the stands and beat a crippled man senseless because he had been taunting Cobb. That was only one in a string of vicious assaults which Cobb committed over his career. For the most part, he went unpunished and was actually the first player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

If anyone deserved expulsion from their respective sports, it was Roberto Alomar and Latrell Sprewell. Alomar spat on an umpire after he received a call to which he took exception. That punk was given a three day suspension, which was not imposed until the start of the following season. Sprewell choked his coach PJ Carlisimo and was given a 12 month suspension from the game. That suspension was later reduced to seven months. Both of these scumbags are still playing.

Professional sports has been rife with drug use for decades and little if nothing is ever done about it. Lawrence Taylor who played for the New York Giants admitted to using cocaine for all but five years of his 18-year NFL career. Despite Taylor's extensive illegal use of drugs, he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame. Michael Irving was arrested several times with cocaine on his nose and a prostitute by his side, yet he was allowed to continue playing.

Pete Rose is not the first gambler sports has ever seen. The great Green Bay Packer quarterback Paul Hornung was caught gambling on football and was given a one year suspension from the game. His bust also sits proudly in the NFL Hall of Fame. It came to light a few years ago that Michael Jordan had been gambling away millions and I believe his apparent gambling addiction was behind his rather short-lived minor league baseball career. I believe that he was asked to take a year off from the game, rather than face a formal suspension, which would have been not only detrimental to his career but to the NBA as well.

I personally would like to see Rose allowed back into baseball. Not because I think he is a great guy (by all accounts he is anything but) nor even because I think it would be good for baseball. The fact is that he has not done anything worse than dozens of other players who are still playing and in the end...It is just a game. Players should not be expected to be anything other than what they are...spoiled, over-grown children.

We have built a culture in this country that raises the professional athlete to a god-like status. We also attempt to hold them to a higher standard than to which many of us are willing to hold ourselves. When these egomaniacs disappoint us, as they often do, we feel hurt and betrayed.

I say let Rose back in, but know what to expect...just a man. ***

Photo of Dave Gibson courtesy of staff files
Photo of Pete Rose courtesy of the Associated Press