levision shows such as ESPNs The Life, where a television crew follows around a professional athlete all day long documenting what it is they do when they are not playing their respective sport. I pay attention to all these things and often come to this realization; these people are just like me, they play a sport for fun and at times show many of the same characteristic traits that I employ; yet there are two major differences. One, they get paid very large amounts of money to play, in most cases, their favorite sport, and two, they are watched and therefore admired by many, making them famous in their own right. It is with these notions that I find it appalling to think and see that these same people many look up to in admiration, commit acts of crime. The history of what I personally know as the start of crime in the sports world started in 1919 with the Black Sox Scandal. This crime, although sports related, was based on many of the players on the Chicago White Sox baseball team, eight to be exact, throwing the World Series. Betters paid these players to play poorly, thus allowing these gamblers to bet on the opposing team that was not favored and win a large amount of money. The players were caught in this scam and those that were involved were kicked out of baseball as a result. One of the players suspected to be involved was Shoeless Joe Jackson. Jackson, a popular player at the time, was prohibited from playing professional baseball thus ending what was to be a promising career, all for making a bad decision to take money to play poorly. A popular phrase was coined in relation to this event, and thus is the reason for mentioning Joe Jackson and the incident. Jackson was approached by a young boy after the trial that found the group of players guilty, and they boy was documented in saying, Say it aint so Joe, say it aint so. The young fan couldnt believe that his hero, the person he looked up to, could be involved with...
