Darren Paterson, Sports Editor

ou know, these are upsetting

y times, and with all that’s going

on, I’m very happy to have this

outlet for my feelings. Thanks to this little

column, I am able to ground myself and

vent my emotions by reflecting upon the
down side of sports.

And for this edition, I would like to
ask why it is that “professional” ath-
letes—that is to say, athletes whose main
goal in life involves sport, and who com-
pete at the highest possible levels of
sport—still end up making questionable
decisions outside of their athletic lives.
And I’m not just talking about the athletes
who are stupid enough to do steroids,
because while that is definitely a question-
able decision, at least the reason is clearly
defined (to get ahead). The people I’m
talking about are the athletes that get
sucked into the “glamour life” that comes

with their million-dollar paycheques.

Why is it that athletes like Theoren
Fleury sacrifice their careers for an addic-
tion to drugs? Why is it that athletes like
Dany Heatley drive drunk? Why is it that
athletes like Dennis Rodman squander
away their money on trinkets and
baubles? Why is it that athletes like Mike
Danton plot to kill their agents who won
them their money? Well... admit that
Danton’s case is a unique one. But my
point remains the same. Why do these
athletes, who are so disciplined in their
athletic lives, do such idiotic things in
their personal lives?

My favourite example is that of
Michael Phelps. Phelps, for those of you
don’t know, is a 19-year-old American
who won a record eight medals in the
Athens Olympics with six of them made
of gold. And I guess he was pretty pleased
with himself because, to celebrate, he
went out and got shitfaced before getting
in his car and going for a drive. Luckily for
everyone else, Phelps, in his inebriated
state, was stopped by a state trooper after
he ran a stop sign. But why did an athlete,
who set such an amazing standard at the
highest possible level of competition, go
out and do something as stupid as driving
drunk? And don’t tell me it was a mistake
of youth, because, when I was 19, I didn’t
have nearly as disciplined a lifestyle as he
has, but I still managed to avoid drunk
driving.

No, youth had little to do with Phelps’

mistake. I believe that the real problem
has two roots. One is that athletes who
devote their lives to success in their sport
miss out on things like having fun with
their friends. So, when they succeed at
their athletic goals, they naturally want to
catch up on what they missed. And, sadly,
this usually includes drugs and alcohol.
So, when a guy like Michael Phelps—who
likely spent his entire teenage life going
from the pool, to his school, to his
home—completes his goal and wins six
Olympic gold medals, the first thing he
does to catch up on what he missed is go
out and get drunk.

Which leads to the sec-
ond problem:
athletes find themselves
with the time and money

when

necessary to make impor-
tant life decisions, they also
find themselves without the
knowledge of how to make
the right decisions. This
problem is reinforced by
the coaches, teachers, and
parents of the athletes.
These are the people who
are supposed to be provid-
ing children with the tools
necessary to make smart
choices in life, and yet they
this
instead focus on teaching

neglect duty and
the athletes how to succeed

within their sport alone.

Parents keep telling their kids to win, win,
win. Coaches tell them how to win.
Teachers give them leeway so that they'll
have time to win. But nobody tells them
what to do after they win. And if we ever
want to see an end to athletes making
dumb life choices, then someone in this
process is going to have to take the time
and make the effort to ensure that athletes
are just as smart and disciplined in the real
world as they are in the sporting world.
And, the fact that that doesn’t always hap-
pen, represents, to me, the down side of
sports.

 

 

 

Darren Paterson, Sports Editor
ell, there’s really nothing hap-
pening on the NHL front, and

. since I’m likely to only receive

one more newsworthy story from that
league, I'd like to use the space normally
reserved for Canucks/Lockout Corner to
highlight what I think is the next best

GhEPPPeSs
tH

league right now, the NBA. So let’s get
started, shall we?

Boy, the NBA has really been shaken up
with all the player transactions lately, and
the power structure has really changed. Of
course, this was to be expected, but what
nobody expected was that Steve Nash and
the Phoenix Suns would be leading the
league with a 31—5 record despite their lack
of a big guy down low. Nash, with his
league-leading 11.1 assists per game, has
powered the Suns to a surprising run with
the help of three-point ace Quentin
Richardson and emerging superstar Amare
Stoudemire.

Another player who has made a big
impact on his new team is Shaquille
O’Neal, who, along with Dwayne Wade,
has helped the Miami Heat to a 28-10
record, good enough for first place in the
East. But Shaq’s old pal and teammate
Kobe Bryant has been doing an okay job
by himself, and is second in the league in
points scored and points per game.

Another trade that made a big splash

 

was Vince Carter from the
the
Unexpectedly, the Raptors seem to

Raptors to
have benefited from this deal more
than New Jersey. This is thanks to
the emergence of Chris Bosh and
Morris Peterson, who have picked
up the slack and made the Raptors
look like a strong team. What was
not surprising was that Vince
Carter, in his first game for
the Nets, went down with an
injury to begin his tenure.
The team that’s where
it’s supposed to be right
now is the Atlanta
Hawks, who are 6—26
behind the expansion
Charlotte Bobcats
(8-23). The team that’s
not where it’s supposed
to be in the standings is
the Phoenix Suns. But a
lot can change before
our next issue, so if you

Toronto
New Jersey Nets.

get a chance then you should take som
time to watch Nash and th
Suns play—they hav

  
  
 
 
  
  

made basketball wor
watching again.

JahUary = 18/2005