Assignment 5-1

I would like to address something that has been bothering me for quite some time: the worship and preferential treatment of professional athletes.  I do not see the reason behind quite a few people's obsession with these athletes.  I understand that through marketing, television, jerseys, hats, radio, etc professional sports are heaped on us every day, but I think some people take it too far.  On the same page are sportscasters who provide analysis or critiques of an athlete's professinoal performance as well as personal.  Many athletes are normal people from humble beginnings, but there are quite a few that do the wrong thing more often than not.  

Everyone does dumb things, but it seems as though athletes are forgiven for transgressions due to their status and the amount of money they bring in for the NFL, NBA, and MLB.  Is that the reason they are held to a different standard than the rest of us?  Why are they given a pass so many times?  It's not just athletes either; look at actors, musicians, and other well-known celebrities: they're all given a free pass.  I believe a lot of it has to do with the fact they can afford expensive attorneys, while the rest of us are forced to use public defenders or someone that advertises on the back page of the Yellow Pages.

I would love to see a more equitable process in the judicial system when comparing athletes and regular people.  I have seen so many headlines about athletes beating their wives, driving drunk, starting fights in public, and being caught with drugs, but rarely are they punished as the rest of us mortals.  I believe that entirely too much emphasis is placed on professinoal sports in this country, thus creating the idol worship evident with today's athletes.