A month of poor behavior
For some reason, pro athletes have been misbehaving more than usual lately. First, Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback of the Pittsburg Steelers, was accused of sexual assault at a Milledgeville, GA, bar. Though Roethlisberger has not yet been charged with a crime, this is not the first time he has been accused of this. Ben has shown arrogance and poor judgement to even be in a position to be accused in this manner.
Multiple NASCAR drivers have been acting up lately. Brad Keselowski continued to drive in an over-aggressive style, wrecking Carl Edwards for the 4th time. Edwards showed his version of road rage by going after Keselowski once his car was repaired enough to return to the track. The result was Keselowski flying through the air upside-down at 190mph. Driver Kevin Harvick chose this week to take a verbal cheap shot at Edwards, probably resulting from a past altercation the two had wherein Edwards physically got the best of Harvick. During a radio interview, Harvick said, “I’ll be honest with you, I’m not a huge Carl Edwards fan. I think he’s fake as hell.” Edwards, in typical fashion, responded directly, “I have absolutely no respect for Kevin Harvick,” Edwards said. “I think he’s a bad person. That’s my opinion. I’ve told him that. We’ve had our deal before and his actions through that interaction were so devious and underhanded and cowardly that, it’s like, I just have no respect for him.
Even tennis players got into the act. During an charity exhibition at Indian Wells last week, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras made the night uncomfortable with their spat. Agassi was running his mouth when Sampras decided to do an imitation of him. Sampras then stood pigeon-toed and waddled, angering Agassi. Agassi responded by making fun of Sampras’ alleged poor tipping habit. As this went on, it became clear that it was not all in good fun. A night of stars, raising money for earthquake ravaged Haiti, turned sour because of these childish acts.
Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington admitted this week he used cocaine on one occasion last year. The next day he announced he smoked marijuana and took amphetamines during his playing career. Many thought the Rangers should have fired him for the cocaine use, now it turns out they knew about the drug use even before he was hired.
We won’t even talk about the text messages, supposedly sent by Tiger Woods to a mistress, which were released this week.
Will the public ever hold these athletes accountable for their actions? Or do we not care what example they set as long as they showcase their incredible sporting skills?
