With good reason, these three men are unpopular, and in the eyes of the general public, these athletes are villified more than their colleagues Steven Gerrard, and Lee Hughes, to use as examples. Gerrard, whose nightclub assault on a DJ who didn;t succumb to his request to have control on the music played was well documented. With the CCTV of the incident that was distributed and the pictures of the victm did show the severity of this mans injury. After pleading not guilty, claiming self-defence (whereas the 2 other charged pleaded guilty) the case was dropped and no charges were made. Not a story you want an MBE to be apart of. In my mind, not enough was made of the arrogance of Gerrard to react in themanner he did at being told "no", it showed the pedestal elite sportsman are placed, a bulletproof pedestal, where they cannot be touched.
Hughes, now playing for Notts County in League 1, was involved in a car accident during the 2003-04 season. Hughes, accused of "callous disregard" for other people, and allegedly fleeing the scene, which killed the driver of the other vehicle was rumoured to have been under the influence at the time of the crash. Hughes was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment, which he served less than 3 years of before release. Hughes, when leaving prison, joined Oldham Athletic and resumed a once promising football career. As a supporter of everyone earning a second chance, I don't feel that this should be totally forgotten, as it seems like it has. I fail to see how somebody like this isn't criticised in the media as heavily as somebody like Robbie Savage, whose off-field record in pristine.
In Britian, "professional footballer" is the occupation most often charged with driving offences. Not a stat ti make pleasant reading for these so called role models.
It's not just here where DUI's are an issue with athletes. Across the pond, our transatlantic cousins have their share of incidents. The main culprit of this has been Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, who the night before the Tigers one game play-off in Minnesota, was charged with a DUI, and allegedly striking his wife. With baseball mourning the passing of young Anaheim Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart just a few months earlier, who was the victm of a drunk driver. Cabrera issued his apology and after an off-season of getting "clean" he bounced back to have a "career year" this past season.
With that in mind, and Cabrera's past misdemeanours apart of the past, the news that he was stopped in Florida with an astronomical blood alcohol level sent shockwaves rippling through the U.S media. However after a few days of intense reporting, a new story emerged: Charlie Sheen.
Sheen, the latest Hollywood star to suffer, what now must be considered, the sociological cliche of the "mental breakdown". Everyones favourite "warlock" went on a critical rampage of all "them" that were against him, and expressed his anger through his UStream show "Sheen's Korner". Sheen's attitude and fall from grace was met judgemental dissections of his character and mental fragility.
The Cabrera story was then met with apathy, despite the fact that getting into a car drunk endangers all people on the roads near him, and civillians, Cabrera wasn't nearly as villified as Sheen, whose strange ranting, peculiar metaphors and recreational drug use were seen as more newsworthy. The fact that the only person Sheen is a threat to is Sheen himself shou;d've been confirmed when videos like this were made. (Let it be known, that i think Sheen is a cultural icon, and although most breakdowns are dull, this is the best since Britney)
Having Tiger Blood is now worse than having a high Blood Alcohol.
Althought DUI's are a high issue and the most serious in the contemporary sporting world, there's been someone else whose irked me, but this time with ignorant comments. Adrian Peterson.
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| "Does he look like a slave to you?" |
Now, anyone with a working knowlede of the NFL knows of the ongoing lockout. As of now, the season isn't scheduled to start, so the players won't be getting their obscene salries whilst the lockout is in effect. Peterson, with that in mind, described being an NFL player as "modern day slavery", because a salary a clip under $11 million, before bonuses, endorsements and sponsorship deals. Not to mention the free college education when being awarded his scholarhsip. Slavery is playing the game you've loved and played since you were a young boy.
Without turning this into a race issue, given that Peterson, an African American would make such outlandish comments considering the days of slavery, and apartheid. If he ever read about slavery, if he ever listened to Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, etc he would know what slavery was. My job, I work in a basement with dim lights, heating only comes on 2 hours into my shift and it's early starts (6am), and I find myself quite lucky to be in employment (given that by 2013 5 million Britons won't be). To put it into, perspective, it would take me about 9 years to earn what Peterson earns in a week.
Peterson said "without us (the players)- there's no football". Maybe the owners could trade some common sense and morlaity to him in exchange for Football, because it seems he;s lacking it. Given that Japan has just an earthquake that nearly hit 9 on the richter scale. That in America people still live in poverty, and have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to make ends meet and put food on the table. Peterson should look in the mirror, see how blessed he is to be in his position and apologise for how ridiculous his comments were, if not for Jedward speaking on ITV2 last night, it would be the most ridiculous thing i'd heard in weeks.
If there's no football, his some off-season training for Peterson: Watch Roots. Then tell Yahoo if what you do is slavery.
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