Not all athletes are evil, you know?

[The One and Only Mo]

http://www.athletesforcharity.com/foundation.php  

Check this out before you argue.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Well, people can be involved with charities just to maximize their prestige in the eyes of the public.

I agree with you, albeit the athletes that aren't evil are clearly in the minority. Hockey players (Patrick Kane notwithstanding) are worlds cleaner and more law-abiding than the other major sports though.

[Confederate Kahanist]

I think it has more to do with the culture of professional sports rather than the athletes themselves. The fact that professional athletes get paid such ridiculous amounts of money is absurd, and some of it comes from our own pockets. We idolize many of them, yet most of them turn out to be cheaters (Alex Rodriguez, Marion Jones, ect..) or worse, criminals, murderers (like O.J. Simpson) and drug-dealers. People spend so much time watching sports and cheering for their favorite teams instead of doing something productive. In many ways, it does degrade our culture as much as it gives us pleasure.

You also have Pete Rose who betted against his own team. 

[Confederate Kahanist]

You are right.  You cant say a whole group of people like athletes are evil. 

[muman613]

In some ways sports is the opiate of the masses... Just like the gladiators of Edom.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

In some ways sports is the opiate of the masses... Just like the gladiators of Edom.

Agreed completely. I still like my Ducks though.

[Rubystars]

Sports is about the most boring thing in the world to me. Most of it involves watching people run back and forth or in circles.

[TruthSpreader]

Most athletes nowadays use steroids and other drugs to "enchance" their performance see baseball and professonal wrestling for example.

[takebackourtemple]

   This discussion started as a PM between me and Mo2388. While I generally don't post PMs I want to clarify that I'm not against all athletes.
   I'm against the culture. I'm against what most athletes do. I'm against the big corporations that run it. I'm against big government involvement and tax payer money going to it. I'm against fans that act out of control and destroy public property and attack other fans(supposedly based on the results of the game).
   If an athlete wants to give charity that is great, but anyone from any profession can and should give to charity. The only difference between the athletes and us is that they have higher salaries. To the best of my knowledge the bulk of charity from professional sports does not go to worthy charities either. Ones that give money to Africa actually end up making the problems worse there whether intentional or unintentional.

[The One and Only Mo]

Out of the thousands of athletes in the world today, you're bound to find several bad apples. A non-sports fan can't really have an opinion because you can't judge fairly on what you've never experienced. There are millions of sports fans in the world and sports have become an integral part of culture - - - too integral to ignore. It's unfair to outlaw everyone based on a few bad things. If you're going to do that you might as well outlaw everything else because there's bad in everything.

[Lisa]

I think the problem Takebackourtemple has with the sports industry is that quite a few individual baseball, basketball and football players are bad people in their personal lives, yet they're practically worshipped by adoring fans. 

I think don't think tennis has that problem. 

Also, I like to watch figure skating on TV. 

[The One and Only Mo]

I think the problem Takebackourtemple has with the sports industry is that quite a few individual baseball, basketball and football players are bad people in their personal lives, yet they're practically worshipped by adoring fans. 

I think don't think tennis has that problem. 

Also, I like to watch figure skating on TV. 

Again, there is bad with everything - - - Internet, cops, government - - - why can't we focus on the good and enjoy it?

[takebackourtemple]

   When it comes to professional sports we are counting the few good apples instead of the few bad ones. I don't know enough about tennis to comment, but I have family members that trained for figure skating at Olympic facilities and if you think it is a bunch of good little girls and a few homosexual guys, guess again. These figure skaters have to be cut throat to succeed and that includes doing things like putting nair in shampoo, stealing skates, making false accusations and assaulting each other. The Tanya Harding incident is the norm and not the exception.

[Lisa]

   When it comes to professional sports we are counting the few good apples instead of the few bad ones. I don't know enough about tennis to comment, but I have family members that trained for figure skating at Olympic facilities and if you think it is a bunch of good little girls and a few homosexual guys, guess again. These figure skaters have to be cut throat to succeed and that includes doing things like putting nair in shampoo, stealing skates, making false accusations and assaulting each other. The Tanya Harding incident is the norm and not the exception.

I see what you're saying.  However, you could also say that the business world is cutthroat as well. 

Tonya Harding is a piece of trash. 

[takebackourtemple]

   When it comes to professional sports we are counting the few good apples instead of the few bad ones. I don't know enough about tennis to comment, but I have family members that trained for figure skating at Olympic facilities and if you think it is a bunch of good little girls and a few homosexual guys, guess again. These figure skaters have to be cut throat to succeed and that includes doing things like putting nair in shampoo, stealing skates, making false accusations and assaulting each other. The Tanya Harding incident is the norm and not the exception.

I see what you're saying.  However, you could also say that the business world is cutthroat as well. 

Tonya Harding is a piece of trash. 

The business world is. That's why groups like JTF are needed to fight for our country's values.