I used to drive my wife crazy in the morning when I would reach for the sports page in the paper before I even grabbed my cup of coffee. It got to the point where she would have it sitting out waiting for me. Not the whole paper, just the sports page. But with all of the crap going on in sports now the only reason I grab the sports page is out of habit. When I read it, I get to the point where I can't wait to get it into the bottom of the bird cage right away. The problem with that is that now the parrot is pissed.

When did things get so bad?

Can we blame the skyrocketing salaries on Charlie Finley and the Oakland A's from late 60's and early 70's? Charlie started throwing money around to build World Champions and he had some success. It wasn't long, however, before the best team between the lines, was the worst team in the locker room. A lot of  "I" came before "we" toward the end of that dynasty (?). It continues to get worse.

Did the arrogance of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali change the attitudes of athletes so much so that now everybody has a chip on their shoulder? And the attitude has just grown and grown over the years. It seems that if a guy has even minimal skill the attitude gets out of control.

Did John Elway lay the seeds of discontent when he would not go to the original team that drafted him out of college? If he did it, and he is a Hall of Famer, then I can do it because I will be a Hall of Famer. We can take this a step further and say, I don't care how much you pay me, I'm not going to play in the outfield!

Did Dave Forbes beating the hell out of Henri Boucha change the concept of fair play? If you are a competitor then compete but don't beat someone into submission and end their career and claim you did it because you are competitive? Hi, I'm Todd Bertuzzi and I'm competitive, I'm also a jerk!

When did the concept of punishment fitting the offense become such a freaking joke? The aforementioned  Bertuzzi still draws a paycheck from professional hockey while his victim still has vision problems and will most likely never draw a paycheck from professional hockey. Oh, but it is alright. Bertuzzi was suspended and had to sit out a long time. Yea, while the rest of his peers were sitting out during a strike over labor issues. Some suspension he received.

When did the need for upgraded or new playing facilities become my problem as a taxpayer? Hey, if the players and owners demand a new stadium then make them pay for it. I'm never going to play on it and I'm never going to see a profit from it. Besides, who are the ones with the money here? In the grand scheme of parity, it ain't me. If I were a business owner that directly profited from having a professional team in my community then I would be alright paying my share. I'm a teacher and I didn't get into education for the money. C'mon guys, show us the money!!!

And now we have the ultimate slam going on. We actually have three guys in professional football (Owens, Walker and Culpepper) who are already inked to lucrative contracts. We have three guys in professional football (Owens, Walker and Culpepper) who demand renegotiation of said contracts. We have three guys in professional football whose behavior is just short of impossible to believe who have demanded more money, slammed their teammates in public, slammed their bosses in public, attempted to rip-off the fans with their demands, played terribly after signing the original contract before the demanded re-negotiation, or demanded the re-negotiation while hurt or coming off of career threatening injuries. And we actually have people out there who defend these behaviors. Not agents or other players, but fans, sportswriters and coaches. When did it become alright to accept these kinds of behaviors from professional athletes when people such as myself would be out of work?

I completely understand why the parrot is angry. He does what I want to do to these things, he craps on them. He is taking a stand and I am glad for him. I support anyone who takes a stand to these kinds of behaviors from anyone, NOT JUST PRIMA DONNA ATHLETES!

I coach high school athletics and try to instill character, teamwork, competitive spirit, humility and sportsmanship along with skill sets and content. Situations and people that I have mentioned make that task extremely difficult. So I say, TAKE A STAND!

Cut salaries and get things back to somewhat realistic area. Too much money creates big problems for immature and young individuals. I used to buy into the argument that athletes had a limited earning period and neede the money to support their families when they could no longer compete. Now that argument is crap. Get it in your second contract but don't try to rip everyone off by demanding a re-negotiation for something you don't deserve.

Go Vikings! Zygi and Brad are on the right path. Remove the issue before it gets out of control. Childress has been through it twice and the problem was removed. I applaud him. More owners and coaches need to take this approach.

Go to who drafts you and don't be a pompous ass. You have been selected to advance your career to the next level. You should be excited at the opportunity regardless of which team provides it to you.

Show me a competitive judge or owner. Show me someone who will suspend you indefinately or release you from your contract and then someone who will put your butt in jail for simple "assault and battery" because you are competitive.

You can have attitude, think context. I love it when my hockey players show attitude. But one of the things we tell them is to act like they have been there before. When they score they can celebrate as they have traditionally done. But don't make a spectacle by aiming your stick at the net a pulling the trigger, or pretending to be putting the sword in the sheath or stuff like that. So, if a linebacker is paid to make tackles, make it and get back in the huddle. Don't act like some complete idiot dancing around or standing over the guy you tackled screaming at him. If you make the tackle on 4th and goal and you will win the game because of it, have fun with it but don't get in the opponents face. Show some class and sportsmanship. If they can't behave appropriately - flag 'em and send 'em home!

I don't know where the behaviors got so out of control. I think the money and the media have taken over and now everything is like a circus. The media allows itself to be used and abused by these over-priced and over-rated buffoons as much, if not more, than they abuse the morons. They feed the demons so to speak. Culprit-pepper e-mails the media to put pressure on the Vikings and they allow it to happen. Owens holds press conferences on his lawn so the world can see what idiots he and his agent are and the media is there in hordes. It is getting hard to read about and even harder to watch on television.

There is a blogger here who has taken to posting about hockey players from back in the days of the Original Six, Letsgoredwings. They are fun to read and help take me back to a time when sports weren't played for the money but for the passion, the comraderie and the flat out love for the game and all that it brings. The things he posts actually prompted me, while walking through a Barnes and Noble, to buy a book called Phil Esposito: Thunder and Lightning. It has been fun to read. He speaks fondly of his teams, players, coaches and owners (?). He speaks of some of the escapades he has had with teammates. He also has no fond comments about the new age of ownership who fired him from running the Tampa Bay Lightning who he helped found. I guess I long for the days when I didn't have to pick up the sports page or turn on the television and get blasted with this player or that  player's insane contract demands or see what inappropriate behaviors they had exhibited or read how ungrateful they are while having the opportunity to play their kids games.  Not that a player from the Original Six didn't have some questionable exploits but at least I didn't have to read about them while they were demanding more money for less production. By the way, that would get most of us fired. When Phil Esposito signed his first contract they gave him a signing bonus of $1,000.00. He didn't demand it, they thought that was what he was worth and he signed it. He gave it to his dad.

My stand - I piss off the parrot now by lining the bird cage without reading the sports page. I don't go to professional sporting events unless I am invited by a friend with a ticket and then it is only for the friendship. I won't pay to support them any more than I have to. I don't watch them on television because I can't stand to watch the way they play the game, any game. I still manage to get more than my share via the radio and news on the exploits of todays sports stars. Owners, coaches and fans can make a difference if they are willing to take a stand. It is my guess things will only get worse.