Precarious Times for Sports and Politics

By:  Joseph Rosenfeld

You have to be living under a rock to remain unaware that two of our country’s greatest interests, sports and politics, are going up in smoke.  The average American today is struggling to identify with good players and good politicians because most of the players and politicians who are constantly featured in the news are not behaving as good sports.

What sports stars Michael Vick and Barry Bonds, and politicos Hillary Clinton, and Mike Huckabee all have in common is that they devalue their accomplishments by actions that run counter to a solid game plan.  We, the public, are confused and disillusioned with the athletes’ illegalities, alleged or proven, and by the politicians spotlighting their rivals rather than maintaining a positive focus on themselves in the media and on the campaign trail.

The negative behavior of athletes and politicians have created major image issues for the institutions of professional sports and for both major political parties as well as for fans of sports and spectators of politics.

At the time of this writing former US Senator George Mitchell announced that eighty-six Major League Baseball players abused steroids to enhance their performance on the field.  And during this same week, un-Olympian Marion Jones was erased from the record books, stripped of three gold and two bronze medals.  The Atlanta Falcons quarterback, Michael Vick, was just admitted to the hooskow for nearly two years after being convicted for financing dogfighting and helping to kill animals.  Decisively, it’s been a lousy week for the image of sports.  Games are being played and are being won and lost, but the focus has been on these players’ fall from grace.

The other current hot topic is the political scene.  Hillary Clinton’s biggest problem is that she’s focusing on Barack Obama.  Who needs Oprah when the Clinton camp shines such a bright spotlight on Senator O?  Clinton just needs to focus on her campaign much like the Obama strategy, which is not all about being polite as much as it is about maintaining the public’s fascination and interest.  As for the other side of the aisle, Huckabee’s refusal to walk away from his 1992 comments about homosexuality, that it’s “an aberrant, unnatural, and sinful lifestyle” does not support his appeal as a compassionate conservative, but rather paints him as a Christian right candidate.  When rival Rudy Giuliani’s more open stance on gays is factored into the political rhetoric, and even that Mitt Romney governed over a state that voted for gay marriage during his terms in office, it seems that Huckabee’s stated label is misguided.

This is the crux of what’s wrong with sports and politics.  We, the People, are being misguided by misrepresentations.  All of the bad, bad things done by just a few poor sported good athletes have tainted the way we look at professional athletics today.  And all of the fancy flip-flopping footwork of politicians will still somehow gain one of them entry into the White House, just like the young collegiate flip-flop wearing women athletes.  Somehow, flip-flopping has become a part of the American soul.

So here we are at the end of a year, where the only thing that ends is the calendar.  What an amazing year ahead it would be if every athlete and every politician, and each of us tell our stories with guts, authenticity, and glory.

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