Just flip on the tube, and much of what you’ll see is thirty-one flavors of death, destruction, deficits, debauchery, (uh, well I ran out of things that start with “D”) and that’s just Nickelodeon. Even our beloved sports highlight shows have become largely indistinguishable from the evening news. Here’s a question, when did the “perp walk” become a Sports Center highlight?

Back when I was a kid my friends and I knew everything there was to know about our favorite ball players. We knew their batting averages, fielding percentages, RBI’s you name it. How long will it be before Topp’s starts printing wrap sheets on the backs of cards, or until USA Today comes out with an “All Prison” team?

Many athletes don’t think they’re role models, and perhaps they shouldn’t be. But the truth is kids still look up to them despite their human frailties. I remember watching the little league world series and was amazed to see that when polled, nearly all of the foreign players from Chinese Taipei, listed guys like Kobe Bryant,(rapist) Alex Rodriguez, (cheater/liar), Big Popi,(cheater, liar) as their favorite players. Is this really the best we have to offer our youth?

I know most adult fans don’t care about these indiscretions as long as these guys help our teams keep winning, but its getting increasingly difficult to explain to my kids why, insert name here, is handcuffed, or why so and so is not on the field today, this season, etc.

I don’t know what the answer is here, but I know sports are something that many of us rely on to make connections with our kids. It used to be enough to be a student of a particular game, now it seems like we all might need to go law school just to keep up.