Conclusion

People make mistakes. Everyone does it and it is a part of life. Not everyone is in the public view and eye for every step made though. News stations are rooting for you to screw up. More drama creates a better story and sells more product. Limit the product they are able to sell! Do what you know is right and avoid the wrong in life. By following these guidelines, kids will look up to athletes and thrive to be more like them without parents cringing in the background envisioning their kid's future. Make us all proud and stay out of trouble!

With Love,

Eric Adams

Twitter Trouble: Part II

Another personal favorite Twitter story of mine has to be involving one of my favorite football players, Rob Gronkowski. This six foot six inch, two hundred and fifty pound stud tight end, recently posted a picture of himself, shirtless posing with adult film star, BiBi Jones. Ms. Jones was wearing Rob's jersey and the picture quickly was the front page of ESPN.com. Rob plays for the New England Patriots (My favorite team), and this is a big no-no with Patriots head coach Bill Belicheck. Staying out of trouble is considered the "Patriot Way". Stories like these are big no-no's in the Patriot locker room. The Patriots had a bye week, and this story is not one die-hard fans want to hear about players losing focus. Anyway, Gronkowski quickly apologized to the organization and media for embarrassing the team. Really though he embarrassed himself. If he knew this is something he should not be doing it should just be kept in his private life. 

Another favorite player of mine, Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics caused some stirs on Twitter a few years ago. After winning the first two games of the an NBA Playoff Series against the Magic, Pierce posted "Anybody got a BROOM?" Pierce was referring to the possibility the Celtics would win all four games of the best of seven series without losing. Then Pierce proceeded to claim, “hacked in... while on podium. Disregard chatter." Ha ha ha. Mr. Pierce stick by your guns. You obviously meant to post this comment, stick to it and take the heat. Athletes need to take the responsibility of their actions especially on Twitter, but it would be nicer for them if they tried to stay out the news for once.

Twitter Trouble

Nowadays if you are famous thousands of people on social networking sites want to know your every move, thought, or opinion. Whether the site is Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace these players garner following interest in their everyday life from fans. Recently athletes have gotten into trouble by posting controversial messages specifically on their Twitter pages. Rashard Mendenhall, of the Pittsburgh Steelers had a famous controversy on a post referring to Osama Bin Laden. His page quoted "What kind of person celebrates death? It's amazing how people can HATE a man they have never even heard speak. We've only heard one side..." On the fifteen of April, Bin Laden's death was celebrated across the United States. Mendenhall decided he wanted to post this comment on Twitter and unfortunately for him consequences followed. Mendenhall was a given a label as an anti-American after the horrors Bin Laden caused on September 11th, 2001. Also, Rashard was reprimanded by his team's owner and front office management. To top it all off Mendenhall lost his lucrative endorsement deal with the company Champion. What a week! All of this controversy over something that could have been kept to himself. Actions have consequences; don't regret your actions later because for Mendenhall's case money was lost on current endorsements, and future endorsements!

Illegitimate Children in Professional Sports

Being a professional athlete seems to have it perks. The big paychecks, thousands of fans screaming your name, and of course all of the women that athletes attract. In an attempt to keep this blog PG-13 I will simply say these men and women sometimes take their meeting to the bedroom. In many cases these people don’t talk for weeks or months until this athlete receiving notification that the women is pregnant. Of course accidents happen, but these athletes have to stay aware of money hungry women. In the case of Travis Henry, ex-running back for the Denver Broncos, he has 9 children from 9 different women. This seems like the same ol’ mistake each and every time. Since being out of the NFL, Travis Henry has not been receiving steady paychecks. Without these paychecks Mr. Henry is having trouble paying his "baby-mamas" their child support sums. This has led Mr. Henry into a foreseeable future in a federal prison. The funny part of the story is that Henry spent $250,000 dollars on jewelry and a car on one contract, in court he defended his statement by saying "That ain't a lot." Players like these need to get their act together, and stop being so selfish.

 

Chaos in Happy Valley

In the past week dangerous allegations have been coming out of Happy Valley. Penn State University's AD has been indicted on a perjury charge of lying to a federal court. Tim Curley, told the courts falsified facts on his knowledge of Jerry Sandusky's sexual abuse case. Jerry Sandusky was a defensive coordinator for the PSU football team until he "retired" in 1999. Sandusky opened a foundation to help youths with special needs. Sandusky went on to sexual abuse eight of the kids in his foundation. Each child was a minor. Penn State University failed to report their knowing to federal courts and University officials part of the cover up are being fired left and right. This story is rocking both the sports and news world. It makes you question how the leadership of these student athletes have is affecting their decision making. If their superiors can't set a positive example for these kids how can we expect these players to act any differently. Last year Coach Jim Tressel of Ohio State was exposed for breaking NCAA rules and now legendary coach, Joe Paterno of Penn State is facing a similar situation. Both of these men were seen as "god fearing" Christain men with high moral ethics, Jim Tressel paid the price with his job,will Joe Paterno lose his job too?

Sandusky (left), and Paterno (right) pose for the camera

Above the Law

Many professional athletes make millions of dollars each and every year. With that money they buy cars that can drive four times fast than a posted highway speed limit, party, go to clubs, and "make it rain". After a fun night out on the town these same athletes often get pulled over for speeding, suspicion of drunken driving, or any other traffic violation. To make their situation even worse these athletes feel the need to embarrass themselves by resisting arrest and by making arrogant retorts. Not only are these public figures breaking laws and getting arrest they are laying lines down like “Do you know who I am?” or “I am an NFL player and I’m going to sue your ass.” Allen Iverson and Legedu Naanee were the culprits of these quotes, and were way out of line. A story like this embarrasses the franchise and could lose these player’s their jobs if this behavior is continued. Just because they are making more money than most citizens and people know who are doesn’t make you any more important than your “Average Joe”. The sooner athletes start to realize this fact; fewer stories like this will be released to the media.

Suspensions in college sports

With as many problems and broken laws as professional athletes have, collegiate athletics also have similar problems on their universities’ campuses. Recently the Louisiana State University’s (LSU) football team has been a source of controversy for collegiate athletics. Before the season even started starting quarterback, Jordan Jefferson was arrested in a bar fight and suspended indefinitely from the team. Several weeks later right as Jordan Jefferson was allowed to come back to the team, LSU’s star running back, Spencer Ware, and cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon were suspended. These players were each suspended for one game against Auburn after failing mandatory team drug tests for synthetic marijuana. LSU is the top ranked team in all of college football and therefore is one most heavily publicized teams in the nation. These players brought more negative attention to an organization that needs a positive break. College athletes need to know that their every move is under a microscope. Professional teams are checking out their games AND their behavior. They need to grow up quickly or suffer the consequences!