False world of sports professionals

Poor St Kilda.  As a club it has certainly been through the media mill off field lately.  It hopefully is a lesson to all sporting professionals, not just the players of the St Kilda football club (who themselves do not seem to be learning any lessons).

The above linked article says “These young men live in a false world. Too much adoration, money and spare time.”  That statement doesn’t just apply to St Kilda’s young men, but to all sports professionals.  It is indeed a false world.  Some sports do not seem to be as bad as others:  tennis, for example, is not generally rocked by such scandals.  Cricket has the odd loose cannon such as Shane Warne, but generally, not so bad.  Cricket’s dramas usually revolve more around match fixing, it seems, that sex, alcohol and drugs.  Golf?  Well there was Tiger, of course, and even The Shark has had some colourful moments.

Footballers seem to take the cake every time.  Is it the pack mentality?  Get a group of young, irresponsible, overpaid men together with way too much time on their hands and perhaps a lack of rigorous education and look what happens.  The adoration aspect is clear: yet other sports professionals have a similar fan base and don’t get into the same scraps.

Too many bumps on the head?  After all, it does seem as if footballers, irrespective of code, end up in more trouble.  AFL takes the cake locally, but worldwide anecdotal evidence would suggest footballers end up in the media the most.

I think I’ll be steering my sons in the direction of tennis.

What sport do you encourage your sons to play, and why?

 

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