Waking up at 6 a.m. every Friday for work, I'm barely coherent enough to put on a pair of pants, let alone feel a wide range of emotions.
All of that changed when I stumbled out of bed two Fridays ago and turned on the news to learn four Indiana Pacers-Stephen Jackson, Marquis Daniels, Jamaal Tinsley and Jimmie "Snap" Hunter-were involved in a scuffle outside a strip club that included gun shots, marijuana and Jackson being hit by a car.
With my eyes still only halfway open, I mumbled every curse word I could think of while feeling disappointed, upset, angry and embarrassed in the span of about five minutes.
How could The Pacers be this classless and unprofessional?
The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized that this is indicative of how professional sports are today. They're being filled with unprofessional players whose on and off the court/field actions are tarnishing leagues.
It's depressing to think about, but how often do professional athletes make you question their character and professionalism?
In the past few weeks, there have been numerous and rather ridiculous stories in the professional sporting world that make me wonder if I want my future kids looking up to them as role models.
Two Sundays ago during an NFL game, Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth stomped on Dallas Cowboys' center Andre Gurode's face after a play in which Gurode's helmet came off. Think about that. This guy actually put his cleated shoe to another human's face and gave it a swift stomp.
Gurode needed 30 stitches to close the cuts and will most likely require plastic surgery. Oh, yeah, did I mention it came about one inch away from his eye? Haynesworth was suspended for five games, and if you think that's either too much or just the right amount, you're out of your mind.
This guy should be suspended for the year, if not more. The argument to protect Haynesworth, that "this is football, these guys are bound to get hurt and it's a physical game anyway" is just utterly asinine. What a joke. Way to run the league there, NFL commish.
We all know the story behind Terrell Owens and his apparent suicide attempt that wasn't, even though he might have been depressed enough to try it. What a head case. Is this a person a kid should look up to?
No. Don't tell me you would want your kid looking up to these players as role models.
Players are forcing their 24-year-old nannies to perform sex acts on them-NBA's Rueben Patterson-taking a zillion different kinds of steroids-¡-89 percent of MLB-and taking cruises with multiple prostitutes-the Minnesota Vikings. Hell, the entire Portland Trailblazers' team has a web site documenting 17 past and present players' ridiculous amounts of run-ins with the law.
Where have the Cal Ripkens, Reggie Millers, Dan Marinos, Larry Birds and Don Mattinglys gone? Why do we make it OK for current professional athletes to be whack-jobs, drug users, perverts, egomaniacs and rapists?-á
They're supposed to be professionals. That not only means they excel at what they do, but it also means they should treat the profession with respect and be aware that they are role models.
If leagues such as the NBA, NFL and MLB want their family oriented images back, then commissioners, owners, general managers and coaches all need to collectively crack down on players who act inappropriately on and off the court or field. It's the only way we won't look at professional athletes as "thugs" anymore.
Ryan Smith is a senior journalism major and writes 'Don't Take This Too Seriously' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Ryan at rjsmith@bsu.edu.
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