Last night it was reported that Terrell Owens was taken to the hospital because of an adverse reaction to his pain medication. Today it's being reported that he had tried to commit suicide. If Owens was a "normal" person, he could recover from this attempt and move on with his life. (Unless he were placed in jail since I believe it is illegal to try to commit suicide in this country. That's always made a lot of sense to me. You don't feel life is worth living, so you try to end it, and your punished for it by being put in a place where life definitely isn't worth living!)
But I won't talk here about the fact that people should have the right to commit suicide if they want to.
The thing is, Terrell Owens isn't a normal person, he's an athlete who makes a gazillion dollars a year, and so of course the news media isn't going to leave him alone. For the rest of his life people are going to ask him about his suicide attempt...keep the pressure on...so much so that he may well try it again in the future. "Just leave him alone," I say - but of course I know they won't do that.
The whole culture of college and professional sports needs to change in this country. (I'm sure many of the same problems exist in other countries, but here and now is what I know.)
A young boy who exhibits athletic skills above and beyond those of his contemporaries can be set for life. As soon as he falls into the clutches of coaches and agents, he's fine. He can do practically anything he wants and get away with it. (Albeit, recently there's been a crackdown on this. Students have recently been dismissed for stealing from their 'employers' - ie. video stores, and you've got to wonder, how stupid are these kids. Once they get into the NFL or NBA they'll be millionaires, do they really need to steal a $2oo TV set?)
I suppose really, these days, it's only sexual peccadillos that won't keep you off the team. (Except at Rutgers, but it was only the lacrosse team after all. If it had been players from the money sports of football or basketball team...who knows what would not have happened?)
Anyway, I blame the media for much of this. They lionize players, such as Barry Bonds, who have nothing but contempt for them. I say leave the guys alone. Ignore them!
As for whether or not organized crime has an effect on the outcome of various games, I wonder. Players these days have so much money they don't know what to do with it so they gamble it away, get trophy wives, etc. etc., and then all of a sudden there's a knock on the door - do this or your trophy wife won't look like a trophy anymore...
Disturbing thoughts.
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