Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Baby-faced Assassin
The question that I find myself asking is Why do retired athletes seem to create negative controversy in the news? You would think that they would be able to continue their lives after sports in a positive way and give back to their communities. Recently, an athlete that has made headlines in the news is Isiah Thomas. Isiah Thomas was the all-world point guard from Illinois that led the Pistons to back-to back championships in the 88-89 season. He was a player with phenomenal talent and had a sense of awareness on the court that was second to none. The issue that has been brought upon him is a sexual harassment suit. According to Chris Broussard, an ESPN writer, Isiah was accused of calling former Knick executive Anucha Browne Sanders demeaning names and made sexual advances toward her. Even though these accusations could prove to be false Isiah is a professional and should not be caught up in these situations. On top of that when asked about the situation he said it would be worse if a white man called a black women a demeaning name than it would if a black man called a black women a name. Already his image has been questioned and is perceived as a rude individual. Isiah why would you incriminate yourself even more than you have already been? This is a big case and comments like that are not needed. Another factor that is affected by this case is his role as coach/general manager of the Knicks. What do you think of Isiah now that he has been put in this crossfire? In my opinion, I would let Isiah go and make him think about his life. He needs to step out of the spotlight and handle his business. Isiah has jeopardized his career and will have to repair his image. The backlash in society will be monumental with parents having to explain to their kids the situation he is in. Its an embarrassing situation for the Knicks organization and Isiah needs to reflect on who he has become. Athletes having negative press in the news has become more and more common and hopefully it will be corrected in the future.
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1 comment:
I agree with the first few sentences of your post where you give the general idea that retired athletes tend to get themselves caught up in the news, but I think that you should have given a few more examples, rather than getting so caught up in the Isaiah Thomas case. Perhaps you could have touched on how Tiki Barber was criticizing his former quarterback and coach. Or even the most obvious, O.J. is back in jail! Haha, who would have thought? Either way, I completely agree with the idea that former athletes do most definitely find themselves in the spotlight quite often, and sometimes they are there for all the wrong reasons.
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