The problems with professional sports

I have been a sports fan forever and I grew up playing and watching most sports. In the last 20 years, sports have changed for the worst, and its not getting any better. I will try and explain the downfall of professional sports. Lets have a look at the major sports leagues, NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA.

The NFL is having huge image problems with its players, management, coaches, etc. The commissioner had to implement a conduct policy because so many of their players were getting arrested and having trouble off the field. We all remember Mike Vick problems with dog fighting, Pacman Jones involved in a gun fight outside a strip club. Then there is the Patriots and spy gate, and the trouble surrounding video taping. Now the owners have opted out of the current contract and will have to get a new one in place soon or face a work stoppage. Here is a league that has huge image problems. I would bet that there are more criminal records in the NFL than any other league. The Bengals had 8 active roster members who got in trouble with the law in one off season. Come on guys, whats the problem here. You can make your own conclusions from this statement. The 2 most successful franchises over the past 5 years have been the Colts and the Patriots, the 2 whites teams in the league. The easy answer to this question, i must be a racist and this is all just propaganda. The other possible answer, maybe i am right and there is a direct link between race and conduct. This is the place where no one wants to go. Questions should be asked, but they wont be, because race is an issue that nobody wants to talk about.

MLB and steroids. Thank you Bud Selig for being the caretaker of the game during the whole steroid era! How do the owners respond to this fact, they give him a raise and a contract extension. Now you know why baseball is screwed up! The mitchell report came out and now the average fastball is down by almost 2MPH and home runs are down in both leagues. At the end of the season at the current pace, there will be 1000 less home runs then last year. There is also the problem with baseball of no salary cap. So every year we have to watch the richest teams fight it out. I know that there are exceptions to every rule, but the money teams usually win. The officials have been brutal this year. Home runs are doubles or foul balls, there are missed calls and wrong calls every night. 75% of owners want instant replays for home run calls, but Bud Selig doesn't want them. When are these commissioners going to listen and stop running their leagues like a dictatorship.

The NHL needs to stop screwing around with things. Every off season the first thing is to change a bunch of rules. Second, lets do whatever we can to market this game in the US. What about Canada? Once again, the NHL is run by a little troll who does not want another team in Canada. Lets get a team in Kansas or Oklahoma, but not Winnipeg or Hamilton. There are people (Jim Big Balls, i own blackberry Ballsilee) who desperately wants a team, but Gary doesn't want him to have a team. The Instigating rule is stupid and over 75% of players want it gone, has the league listened....no. The refs have the hardest job of reffing a league where the rules always change.

The NBA and the "fixed" games. Games are in question of being fixed from past playoff series by a former ref. He has said that games in the 2002 playoff were fixed. Its funny because when the games took place, there were questions that day of the game being fixed and the refs being bias. One of the coaches got a record fine for asking such a question. Now years later, that same series has been called in to question again. Looking at the job that the refs are doing in the LA vs Boston series, is no wonder people are questioning weather these games are legit. When a Boston bench player has more fouls in 15 minutes of playing then the Lakers did in the whole game, there will be questions. The commissioner David Stern is widely regarded as an idiot. He will not even listen to the possibility that other officials could be involved. He thinks that its one ref who got caught cheating trying to save his own skin. Maybe he is trying to save his skin, but maybe he is also telling the truth. David Stern would rather jam his head in the ground and pretend everything is OK. The only problem with this is, some people, including myself, think that basketball is almost the same thing as WWE wrestling. Great athletes, but the outcome is predetermined by management.

Professional sports are becoming less about the sport and more about the money and business side of things. Owners have no loyalty to players. Players have no loyalty to teams and owners. The only place i see loyalty in sports are the fans to their teams. Personally, i have been questioning my own loyalty to teams and organizations. I have become a fan of players, more so then teams. The things that use to make these leagues great has been disappearing for years, and i hope that someone realize this before its too late. The games were played for the love of the sport, but now its the love of the money. I remember hearing stories of the old time baseball players, who played their whole career in order to buy a farm and retire, played for the love of the game. Now all i see are rich athletes who sign $100 million dollar contracts, and the minute someone else makes more, they wont play until they make the most.

I am not really sure where this is all going, but i am sure that i don't like it so far.