In a simpler time, our favorite athletes played for the same team for most of their careers.  Of course Roger Maris was shuffled off to St. Louis to quietly diminish, and the Babe wobbled out in Brooklyn, but for the shelf life of their magnificence, they served consistently in  glorious Yankee pinstripes.  Jim Brown debutted and hastily retired from the once-proud Browns.  Al Kaline will always be a Tiger and Brooks Robinson will always be an Oriole.  George Mikan will always be a Laker either in Minneapolis or Los Angeles.

    The only consistent symbol representing today`s athlete is the $ sign!  A kid`s only hope is to root for the uniform!  Rarely is there a chance that your favorite player will stay put.  Or out of jail.  Or off drugs.  Or out of the closet.

   Was it a simpler time because athletes in the public eye held themselves to a higher moral standard?  Or is it simply the intrusive and unforgiving eye of the modern media revealing pecadilloes that went unreported years ago?  No doubt, today`s press hounds would never have allowed Mickey Mantle to slip quietly into alcoholism.  Yesterday`s athletes certainly had their share of frailty, but how do they compare to today`s athlete?

   My review of the moral turpitude infecting the modern athletic scene falls into several distinct categories:

    The Cheaters.  Bubblehead Barry Bonds and the Enhancers for instance.  How did his head get that big?  Does human growth hormone stimulate the ego?

      The Reprobates.  I know the Bambino was known to play loose and get a little wild now and then, but how does that compare to someone like Steve Howe? Howe put  a whole new twist on the concept of rehabbing!

       The Thugs.  Guys like Jamal and Ray Lewis are quasi-criminals, while guys like Jose Canseco and Allen Iverson just skirt around on the edges of the law. 

     The Morons.  There are a passel of hebetudes out there who can barely tie their shoelaces together,  yet they make it onto the pro scene anyway.  Time and again, agents, owners and promoters attempt to steer them into the athletic arena, hoping their immense physical talents can overcome their inability to understand what it takes to fit into sporting society.    Maurice Clarett, Ron Artest and Ricky Williams immediately come to mind.

  See my blog over the next few days for an in depth look at what`s left for our kids to look up to (or down at!)