Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Sports & Recreation Controversial Athletes in Sports Controversial Athletes in Sports Due to the greediness of sports figures, professional athletes are not punished in the same manner as other professionals are. It’s like they are in a completely different group that uses an entirely different set of morals. Team owners care more about making their money than they do about setting a good example for young kids and making pro sports fun again rather than a business. Three good examples of this greediness are Roberto Alomar, Warren Sapp, and Dennis Rodman. Team owners and their respective leagues need to do something to turn this situation around before they have murderers and rapists playing sports for millions of dollars a year. Roberto Alomar makes 5.5 million dollars a year due to his five Gold Gloves. He is one of baseballs best all-around players and a sure in for the Hall of Fame. In a 1996 divisional playoff game, Alomar was up to bat; Umpire John Hirschbeck called Alomar out on strikes. Alomar went back to the dugout where he started to argue the call with Hirschbeck. The umpire finally tossed Alomar; Orioles manager Davey Johnson, along with Alomar went racing to home plate to argue the ejection. As Alomar was being pushed away by Johnson, he spit at Hirschbeck. Alomar was suspended for five games which was to be served at the beginning of the 1997 season, so he could continue to play in the playoffs. A five game suspension for this type of action is inexcusable and should have been more severe. Major league umpires threatened to strike during the playoffs due to Almomar’s behavior and inadequate punishment. This may have been different if Alomar wasn’t such a high profile player who brings in enough money for the league; that its officials felt Warren Sapp, payed 4.2 million dollars a year and was one of the best defensive players in the 1995 NFL Draft. Sapp had tested positive for drugs, mainly marijuana, seven times while playing college football at Miami, including once for cocaine. In the beginning Sapp called the reports false, but later changed his story and said he did flunk one drug test at Miami. Even after this admission of guilt, the NFL still allowed Sapp to play because they knew how much his athletic talent was worth. They even tried to clean up his image by saying that Sapp did not test positive for cocaine, and saying that the marijuana tests were inconclusive. In any other work field, someone who had tested positive for drugs that many times or even mentioned with having to do with drugs would not be considered to be hired. Dennis Rodman, the National Basketball Association’s bad boy, is notorious for getting in trouble. In a January 15, 1997 game, Rodman lost his balance after going for a rebound. He fell into a row of photographers. Photographer Eugene Amos started to take pictures of Rodman as he layed on the sideline. Rodman became angry by Amos’s action, so he kicked him in the groin. Amos layed on the court in pain and was removed from the arena by stretcher and taken to a Minneapolis hospital. Rodman only received an eleven-game suspension, was fined $25,000 by the league, and ordered to get counseling. Compared with 6.3 million he is paid a year for playing basketball, the fine he received is less than one percent of his annual salary and would be like him buying a candy bar at a convenience store. An individual who earns $30,000 a year would be fined more for throwing a piece of litter out a window, while driving on the highway. Rodman’s behavior acted in an arrogant and obnoxious behavior. This in no way is an acceptable manor of any person in today’s society and if one chooses to conduct themselves this way, they are dealt with in a serious manner. Not because they are of unimportant societal stature, but because this is how society deals with these improper actions. All of the situations mentioned prove one point. Professional sports are corrupted and need to have a serious transformation when it comes to the punishment of its “special” athletes. Roberto Alomar should have at least been suspended immediately rather than the owners allowing him to continue playing and by their soft punishment, society is lead to believe that what Alomar did was not that serious. Warren Sapp would make a better role model for children if he made anti-drug posters, instead the NFL feels it is fine to allow a known and admitted drug-user to play football and make it seem to children that even if you do use drugs you can still make millions of dollars a year. In the real world this is completely unacceptable and is punishable by jail time. Lastly Dennis Rodman should be the reason the NBA does not allow violent people into their league. Dennis Rodman as a role model does not do anything but degrade the sport he claims to love and himself. The selfishness the NBA shows in paying him millions of dollars to be this kind of delinquent character is a shame because all they are doing is promoting him and in return making more money for themselves. At the rate professional sports owners are going at in promoting these players, people will began to realize what is actually going on and that sports is not played for the love of the game, but for the money it produces. This will eventually cause the decline of professional sports and its athletes. Bibliography: Word Count: 876
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