Is the NBA lottery rigged? If you want to find out, then you can read of the other 50k articles on the web about if it is or isn't. This post actually has nothing to do with that, just thought I would throw you for a loop. I am actually writing about something that has still been talked about a fair amount, but not by me... so prepare to have your mind blown. I am talking, of course, about what kind of behavior we have come to expect out of professional athletes off the field, if those expectations are fair, and my reasoning for why they may or may not be. This topic has been on my mind for a good.. 7 years or so ( Since the whole Mike Vick debacle.... we will discuss him individually a different day... PETA, close your eyes for that post ), and I figured it was finally time to get my oh so important opinion out into the public.
If I asked you to tell me what Mario Rodriguez, Willis Hawkins, and Brenden Treman had in common with Hines Ward, Charles Barkley, and Justin Blackmon, could you? As Mr. Katt Williams always says, Don't worry.... I'll wait. The answer is that all 6 of these people have been arrested for suspicion of driving while under the influence of alcohol. The first three names are every day citizens that were pulled over after sipping back on grandpas old cough syrup ( Dumb and Dumber fans will understand... non Dumb and Dumber fans... you're dead to me ), the latter three were also arrested under the suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.... but we all knew that already, because it was all over the news since they happen to be professional athletes. Same crime, completely different views and treatment.
When a professional athlete becomes a professional athlete, and this day in age, if hyped enough, when they are in College or High School (See: Lebron James, Jameis Winston, Kobe Bryant.. you get my point ), a good chunk of their private life starts to seem not so private anymore. They are scrutinized for every move, and aspects of their every day life start making headlines all over the world. One might say, "these guys are paid millions, so they have more responsibility resting on their shoulders", really, do they? What makes their DUI any more damaging than, lets say, an insurance agent, or maybe an architect? I am not arguing either way, yet..... just posing the question as a general thought ( my views will be out in the open soon enough ).
First, lets look at why these athletes make all the headlines, and why any slip-up is all over social media within 5 minutes of it being leaked. The answer is pretty obvious, so no need to think to hard about it, it is because they are famous, superstars, whatever you want to call it; some might say that they are icons. I'm fine with that concept, and I do believe that, to an extent, PART of the reason that these people are paid so much is because they are so highly scrutinized, they are agreeing to sell away a little of their privacy when they sign the contract to become a professional athlete, I'm just not so sure they all know exactly what they're getting into. Think of it this way, many of these kids... yes... KIDS are coming from poor/middle class families, and signing a contract that gives them upwards of 2-5 million dollars a year at the ages of somewhere between 19-23. Ask yourself this question before you read on, when you were that age, or if you are currently in that age range, what would you do if somebody handed you a signing bonus check of $1,000,000 dollars and proceeded to say " there ya go, now be good, you're an icon/role model now" ? Anyone, other than possibly a few saints that read my posts, would probably not make the smartest decisions, I know I wouldn't.
Now, I understand that there are orientations, and seminars that are supposed to prepare these young adults for their transition into stardom, but if these orientations are anything at all like some of the ones I've been through when starting a new job.. I can promise you that most of the information will go in one ear and out the other. Even if these orientations were highly beneficial and informational, many 19-23 year olds' minds would be quite distracted during a seminar if they knew that they had upwards of $1,000,000 in their bank account after never having much more than MAYBE $2,000-$4,000 tops. This is a major flaw in the system, and quite frankly, it might be a damn near impossible one to solve. I'm not sure what methods would successfuly stop the type of "on top of the world" feeling when receiving that much money... I know that not much advice could stop me from making at least a few questionable decisions if I had that handed to me, but who knows, maybe my self-control just isn't there.
When thinking of professional athletes being held to a higher standard, social media has started to come into play in a BIG way the past few years. Athletes are fined, suspended and analyzed over every post that they make. I'll admit, some people shouldn't have social media. I am a firm believer that if you can't keep yourself from saying idiotic things ( Just look at Mike Pouncey's Twitter if you don't follow ), then there is no reason for you to have a social media account. That being said, I know many people, myself included, have moments when we say something that we later regret on social media. The difference between every day citizens, and professional athletes is that if I say something dumb I can go in and delete it with little to no backfire, within 1 minute of a professional athlete posting something dumb, it will most likely be on ESPN and retweeted etc. as many as tens of thousands of times. What I am trying to say is that these athletes don't get the luxury of going back and simply deleting what they said with little to no repercussions. Social media scrutiny is something that doesn't sit well with me. If you go on idiotic tangents all the time, then that is one thing, but for the most part, you choose to "follow" these athletes so you are willingly exposing yourself to whatever it is that they want to say on their account. Of course, derogatory and offensive statements should not be tolerated by the leagues, but other than that, you're social media should be free reign.. keep it up Ochocinco.
Now, I've gone over a few ways that professional athletes are scrutinized, and analyzed in different ways that they may not be used to. When it comes down to the hard facts, I do believe that athletes should be held to a slightly higher standard than your every day Joe, they do make millions of dollars, and are somewhat expected to be a role model to society. I am not sure if that is fair, but it is what it is. On a side note though, I do think that the media today has started to hold these athletes to an extreme standard, something that may not be warranted. Every little slip up shouldn't be on ESPN for 2 weeks after, and we shouldn't be talking about what so and so said on social media during the playoffs... these athletes get paid, for the most part, to show off the talent that they have and to play sports. Lets start focusing more on what they do on the field, and just a little bit less focus on what they do in their private lives.
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