[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Dakota

I am NOT talking about the personal integrity of individual players (i.e. the "role model" issue). Instead, I'm talking about the integrity of the sport as a sport.

NFL: Did the Patriots cheat to win the Super Bowl with illegal video taping? Did they cheat to win other games with illegal video taping? Why did the commissioner engage in an obvious cover up by destroying the evidence? Does the commissioner's cover up taint the integrity of the NFL going forward?

Stupid rule, who cares! Maybe congress will continue to waste our money and come up with their normal inconclusive results after a year of hearings.

MLB: Did the pretend commissioner conspire to look the other way while the integrity of the sport's most hallowed records were tainted with 'riod-juicing players as a way to re-generate fan interest after the strike year? Does this taint the integrity of MLB going forward?

Nothing worth seeing. A bunch of babies playing a child's game for megabucks, but whine and act more immature than Little Leaguers. Umpires who worry more about fashion and less about rules knowledge are not impressive. Owners with no balls are a joke. If there was any integrity in baseball it died with the Curt Flood issue.

If they were true baseball people, they would have told the federal government to stick their anti-trust exemption up their collective a$$es and held their ground. For that matter, they should do the same thing today with the steroid issue.

NBA: Will there be a full investigation into the accusation of the fix being in on playoff games or will it be white washed by a commissioner who already knows the answer? Regardless of the official outcome of this, has the integrity of the NBA been tainted going forward by these accusations and by the actions of Tim Donaghy?

This hasn't been a sport for more than two decades. Again, a bunch of babies playing a childs game for more than their collective skills are worth. This is entertainment where the rules are tiered based upon popularity and income of each player. I have turned down more free NBA tickets than I can keep track. I'd rather watch the Harlem Globetrotters.

I don't know how many of you are fans of professional sports (I am a MLB fan; not so much the others), but, personally, I am very disturbed by the trend here.

The NBA, in particular, seems to be morphing into the Harlem Globetrotters (only using stereotypical Harlem players) vs the Washington Generals times 15. No one believes that the record of 13,000 and 6 between the Globetrotters and the Generals has any legitimacy at all. And, no one expects professional wresting to have any integrity as a sport. Yet people still buy tickets and watch for the entertainment in both cases.

Is that where big money professional sports is heading?

If we are lucky, down the drain. Strikes in all sports did not change anyone's life. People found other sources of entertainment and ways to spend their hard-earned dollar. I know some will not believe this, but NASCAR has probably gained the most from the decline of field/arena pro sports. The marketing folks who onced scoffed at selling advertising on a car turning left started looking around and discovered NASCAR fans showed a higher level of product support than any other group. Now, they all fight to get their name somewhere on a car, track wall or even the pit crew's tool box.

Market shares for MLB, NBA and NHL have diminished over the past decade. The NFL has been holding on, but that's because they were only on twice a week. Look for their numbers to diminish now that they are routinely trying to expand the exposure. Yeah, putting more games on a network not carried by most cable companies on their basic level of programming will really work.

Kudos to the NHL owners a few years ago when they called the players' bluff and just cancelled the season. And unlike the lacrosse league this year, stuck to their guns and came back with a good product.

To answer the question, there is no integrity in professional sports as we know them today. You want to know why Team USA is so popular? For the same reason most NASCAR drivers are, they know where their bread is buttered and that is the folks in the stands. Thats why it would be a rarity to not be able to get an autograph from any of them.

This is of what the big time professionals have lost sight. The only autographs they worry about is theirs on a contract and the owner's on their check and the rest of the world be damned.

BTW, can we do a thread like this on entertainment folks like singers, actors, bands, etc?