*Before you judge these people too harshly, remember everyone including you has skeletons. They are mere illustrations to try to remember our humanity how to better use it. God grants grace and mercy to us all despite our unworthiness. Source: TPS Sports can be medicine, but they can also devastate someone’s life. On one hand,… Continue reading #FBF: The Ugly Side Of The Business
Tag: crime
Ray Rice, Pete Rose, Lance Armstrong, Art Schlichter, Zeke Elliott, Michael Vick, Floyd Landis, Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds, are all players who have committed a crime–either on the field of play or off–that caused them to lose favor with the fans and the broader community.
The question becomes how long do we continue to persecute those athletes after they have apologized or finished their sentence. There are 3 UCLA basketball players–LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley and Jalen Hill–who are now facing that same persecution. While these players like the ones listed above brought the persecution on themselves, it remains to be seen how long they must face this persecution. Currently, the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) has stated these players are suspended indefinitely.
And so it seems most players who bring persecution on themselves by committing illegal acts or cheating by using performance enhance drugs end up with lifetime bans. This is true of Pete Rose, Lance Armstrong, Art Schichter, Ray Rice and Barry Bonds. The lies were too big when they came to light. Yet, fans and the broader community in general seem to be able to move past the mistakes of others like Michael Vick, Maria Sharipova and Zeke Elliott after they have paid their dues and apologize.
So, how long will those young men from UCLA have to wait before they will see grace and mercy again from the general public? Well, it may depend on how they handle their suspensions. Will they be arrogant and state shoplifting is not a big deal? Or, will they realize the errors of their ways and truly change?
According to Stadium’s The Rally’s poll of viewers, 44% believe that these young men deserve to be suspended for the entire year. A year’s suspension is actually a small penalty to pay considering these young men were looking at 10 years of hard time in a Chinese prison. Let’s hope these young men learn from the likes of Michael Vick, Plaxico Burress and x so they can change themselves, their surroundings and their futures.
Source: CBS Sports
Source: NBC Sports
For years, the professional sports leagues avoid Las Vegas as a home for any of their franchises. Now, the NHL introduced the Las Vegas Golden Knights. The NFL just approved the Oakland Raiders move to Vegas. And earlier today posted on the NBC Sports website was an article regarding a businessman, Dennis Hof, planning to open a brothel in honor of the Raiders.
So, what is the attraction to the golden desert town known as Sin City? Is it the legalized prostituton? Is it the legalized gambling and casinos? Is it the weather? Maybe, the question we should be considering what are the drawbacks?
Most teams, especially coaches, and agents become concerned over distractions an athlete can face which could hurt their performance and marketability. Las Vegas is a city filled with distractions . . . restaurants, brothels, casinos, wild parties, organized crime are all natural events in the Vegas.
But so are the opportunities to legitimize Vegas. With the exception of the crime, all of those events are legal in Vegas which allows the athlete the opportunity to avoid criminal activity he could face in other professional sports cities. But they are still distractions. Therefore, it will be up to those teams in Las Vegas to establish strong rules for their players to follow. And more importantly, it will be up to those teams to make sure to enforce those rules or lose control of their franchise quickly.
It may be wise for the Vegas teams to find athletes who are of strong character and even stronger discipline.