Friday, March 18, 2005

Idol Worship

I happened to be home yesterday and caught a great deal of news. It was pretty well filled up with the baseball steroid hearings, Scott Peterson's trip to death row, Martha Stewart and her new ankle bracelet and Michael Jackson and his version of boy's town.

I cannot believe that with issues such as terrorism, illegal immigration, anthrax scares, Social Security, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Syria, China/Taiwan etc., the items being addressed by the news and congress are the most important of the day.

I watched as representatives gleefully participated with these overpaid buffoons we call superstars as if they were at some autograph fest.

Baseball began to die for me the day they had their first strike. The game lives by statistics and you cannot have continuity in shortened seasons and try to pass it off to the fans. I stopped attending baseball and football games back in the eighties and haven't been to one since. Now, I certainly believe my decision was the correct one.

If these guys want to poison themselves why are we more concerned about protecting them than Terri Schiavo?

Anyone who is allowing their children to idolize today's sports heros and use them for role models needs to be in a rubber room at the funny farm.

Watching a group of adult congressmen who supposedly represent us grandstanding on this relatively unimportant issue is frightening and the fact that media reports it with a straight face is depressing.

2 comments:

Headmistress, zookeeper said...

Spot on. I have never understood the idolatry that so many Americans sports fans engage in.

BobG said...

Agreed, headmistress, the attention and adulation given to sports figures is a part of our culture that speaks poorly about us. The fact that more Americans know who Babe Ruth was than know what Jonas Salk did is shameful.