An Open Letter to All Comissioners

To The Big Four (Roger Goodell, Bud Selig, David Stern, and Gary Bettman)

First off- let me just say I LOVE sports. I could watch game after game and be very happy with my day.

But this is not about that- this is about YOU and YOUR lack of commitment to the sport and to fans.

We hold our athletes to very high standards- we stick with them during the great wins and terrible losses.

Roger, in 2006 there were 35 arrests of your players according to the Washington Post and you didn't do anything about it.

For these athletes to not get in any real trouble from the league, this is absurd.

Bud- when all of your favorite money making atheletes test positive for steroids, why do you do nothing?
A-Rod tested positive in 2003 and you have done NOTHING- and now hes making $30 million a season and trying to kill the hopes of my Angels. Are steroids not banned from the MLB- okay, so WHY is A-Rod still playing? Manny Ramirez tested positive for drugs that HIDE steroids, and he only gets suspended for part of the season? Did we NOt jsut go over this- drugs = OUT! Stop owrrying about making money and stand up for something besides profits.

David- I have barely anything to say to you. Love that you instituted a policy for dressing better at games, hate that you dont really care when your athletes act like babies after losing playoffs cough LeBron cough or when your players are accused of rape coughKobecough. But you already know that.

And Gary- LOVE hockey, HATE you. Why do you have to continually ruin the best sport there is? Granted, you have it easy and most of your players are upstanding citizens, but Todd Bertuzzi attacked a man- and whether he meant to or not, broke his neck. Grow a spine and start handing out some pink slips.

All of these sports can only be made better when you four men take a stand and say this is ENOUGH. Do it for the fans that love you and fill your pockets with more money than you could ever need.

Love,
Me

Oh Lordy

So, what about when some athletes get in trouble for dumb stuff?
Here is out WTF moment of the week.
Plaxico Burress of the New York Giant went out partying in a club in New York on November 28, 2008 in a night club. He also brought along his Glock pistol, which happened to go off and he ended up shooting himself in the leg.

So- nothing happened, right- NO. Plaxico is now spending TWO YEARS in prison because he had no license for the handgun. Now , I understand that in order to have a weapon, and a concealed one at that, you must obtain permits and such, but the guy shot HIMSELF in the leg.

Donte Stallworth can be drunk AND high and kill a man and get 24 DAYS! thats not even a full month- now this makes NO sense to me at all.

So now poor* Plaxico, who shot himself, is rotting away in jail while Donte Stallowrh paid his way out of trouble and will be playing football next year.

*No- I dont really feel THAT bad for Plaxico, but c'mon, the guy shot himself- isnt that almost punishment enough. He didnt kill anyone, he didnt injure anyone else, its not really that big of an ordeal.

Hey Lady- You're Wrong

So I'm sure many of you are reading this and thinking- Uh- NO stupid girl youre out of your mind.

Many of you may think Micheal Vick has served his time and paid his debt to society and should be able to play. Donte Stallworth deserves to be reinstated because he also served his time.

Well, I think youre wrong. Lets think here-

Most people that commit felonies will have it follow them around for years. On almost all job applications there is a question "In the last __ years have you committed a felony" And then it usually asks you to to go into detail about what felony you committed. This will be a HUGE factor in whether you get the job.

However, we see that many sports, like the NFL, doesnt care. The welcome back players with open arms, even after Donte Stallworth was convicted of second degree manslaughter and a DUI, hell be allowed to play again and make tons of money.

In normal society this would NEVER happen. Anyone spending time in jail would find it difficult to have a job- Michael Vick would probably have to find work at a construction site doing hard work instead of back playing pro football.

The fact that because these men are famous, they have become above the law.

Excuse me but last time I looked if you killed someone- whether by accident or not, you should probably be rotting in jail and then not allowed to be let into society. Donte Stallworths status as a football plaer surely helped him out- he served only 24 of his 30 day sentence for KILLING A MAN.

How can NO one want to regulate stuff like this from happening.

For those of you saying that its justice, the law took its course lets do this.

Your child/spouse/best friend is killed by someone who is driving drunk.

They spend 24 days in jail, are on house arrest, but after two years will be making millions of dollars. HUH? They killed someone you knew- change anything for you?

Send in any feedback you guys have about these issues, I want to hear from YOU!

Wait, I May Be Confused...

So maybe you are reading this blog wondering to yourself, sure, all of this sounds great, but how do i actually change this.
Sure, you've given me the addresses of several Commissioners, but even then, what do I do, and why?

So lets get into some details. I have spoken about the league and the player's association many times, as well as the collective bargaining agreement. For those of you who are trying to catch up, lets break it down

Every league has a governing body of, usually some white old dudes, that make decisions about the league. This includes the commissioner and other people who don't matter as much. They are the people who help make the schedule and control the league and it growth and such and so forth.

There is also the players association, a union made of up all of the players within a league with former player representatives and current player representatives that make sure the old crazy white men dont get out of control. The players association also handled the licensing for all player-related gear and handles sponsorships and basically anything to do with the players of the sport.

Between these two there is what is called the Collective Bargaining Agreement, or CBA. The CBA control all the relations between the League and the Players Association. This includes the regulations for rookies, player's salaries, bonuses, signing bonuses, playing restrictions, injury information, basically anything that happens between a player and the league.

So- What does it all mean?!
The CBA is the player's lifeblood, with all the regulations and such. IF we can convince the comissioners to add a moral and ethical clause to all of the major CBA's we would be able to regulate athelet behavior and have a set guideline for the proper punishment and reaction to players bad behavior.
If this were to go through, players who decide to be idiots wont be allowed to beg for mercy to be let back into a league. Like, for example, Micheal Vick would be rotting somewhere by himself, and not ruining more lives by being a complete jerk.
This also means that high-profile players wouldn't be allowed free reign, and would not be seen as a cashcow by the league.

So- what am i looking for in this clause?
I want there to be a list of actions and punishments, ones that are not debatable and cannot be lessened by the commissioner.
It will outline acceptable behavior as well as be a guide for players to get involved with the right things (charities, foundations, etc) instead of wasting time dogfighting, drinking and gambling, and making other stupid mistakes.

It would give a strict guideline for player behavior during games, interviews, press interviews, and events so that specific actions could be taken after a player has committed one of these unacceptable behaviors.

So, thats my aim, I know its a pipe dream, but sometimes dreams come true- right?

more to come on CBA's later.

The Steeve Moore Incident Continued

So what we have below is the makings and reactgions of one of the biggest tarnish on the NHL's career. For those who arent sure what was going on.

The video shows Todd Bertuzzi, int he blue Canucks jersey, chasing down Steve Moore in the Avalanche, punching him in the back of the head and throwing him down on the ice. After this incident- Steve Moores neck was broken and he retired and no longer plays. This awful incident was the result of another similar incident that happened a month prior.

In mid February Steve Moore hit Canucks captain Markus Naslund when he had his head down going after the puck- the hit gave Naslund a concussion and he was out for three games. There was no call on the ice and the Canucks were not happy. They made it very obvious that Steve Moore was going to have a target on his head, but no one expected what happened on March 8th.

Bertuzzi later apologized and cried for the media,

and was suspended for a year, after which he was signed and back playing hockey.

So what does all this mean? This mean that the commissioner has COMPLETE control over the actions of the players in the league. Should Bertuzzi have served jail time? Probably.
Do the actions of players need to be more controlled by the league? Probably.
Should Bertuzzi be allowed to still be making $1.5 million a year with a Cup contending team (Detroit) Probably Not.

So- once again I'm sure youre asking But what can I do?

Gary Bettman, the comissioner of the league, I'm sure would love yo hear from you. Colin Campbell, the head disciplinarian, would love to hear from you. Give them an ear full. Is this bullshit- yes. Do people complain about it- yes. Do they know the right channels to go through to complain and to whom- no.

Gary Bettman
gbettman@nhl.com

1185 Avenue of the Americas, 12th Fl.
New York, NY 10020

Phone: 212-789-2000
Fax: 212-789-2020

The Steeve Moore Incident

So.. whats next?

I'm sure you've been reading this blog now saying, okay this all makes sense- but why this person vendetta against athletes. Yes- I'm no pro-athlete, nor do I have any great specific athletic skill. I cant throw a fastball, cant tackle an offensive lineman, cant slam dunk, or even hit a slapshot.

Let me just say- I am a HUGE fan of sports. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to spend a day at a sports game with good friends, wear a jersey, and cheer for my team. I dont get excited when i see a celebrity, but get a pro near me and let the twilight-fanatic in me loose.

So where did this hatred for some of these guys come from. I guess it comes from the fact that as a child, my heroes were sports stars. They could do no wrong and were the people who were perfection in the spotlight. People like Tim Salmon, an all around great guy. But then as I grew up i became aware of the fact that some of these guys are NOT heroes.



Michael Vick, in my opinion, should never EVER be able to put on a jersey and play. After making millions and making dumb decisions- you don't deserve to be excused.

Now, I'm sure the question you're asking is- WHAT do we do?

Heres What I want-
I want a moral and ethical clause attached to a players contract- that will be formed and presented in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
This clause will present players with a strict outline of acceptable behavior as well as outline base punishments that can ONLY be expanded upon, not lessened.
This would not allow for athletes to "beg for mercy" from commissioners and be allowed back in.

Sow what do we do to get that done you ask?!
Well, I've given you the addresses of two of the four commissioners, Roger Goodell of the NFL and Bud Selig of the MLB, in my next few posts well hit up the other two, the NBA and the NHL.