Where Are the Heroes?

I've been waiting a few days to put this post down. I was waiting for some personal time so that I could try to write it well, but it took on new meaning just a few minutes ago.

Another baseball player has been "found out". Sammy Sosa has tested positive for banned substances. And he swore to Congress that he hadn't used anything nor would he.

Liar liar pants on fire.

It's very disheartening to me.

Baseball cannot seem to get handle on its players. There are no more Ted Williams or Cal Ripken, Jrs. Where is the grace of Lou Gehrig when you need it? At least Wade Boggs has spoken out against all these "cheaters". In his opinion, testing positive for enhancing drugs should disqualify you from Hall of Fame eligibility. I have to say I agree. Why should players who achieved with assistance be compared to those who achieved the old-fashioned way? They earned it.

I firmly believe there are, or should be, consequences for our decisions. Good and bad. There can be positive consequences, rewards, when we make good decisions and there should be deterrents for bad decisions.

Contrast baseball with football.

Roger Goodell, NFL Commissioner, is getting a grip on the football players.

Donte Stallworth was convicted of DUI and vehicular manslaughter. He was fined and sentenced. Probably neither punishment was adequate but there was a punishment. And he accepted responsibility for his actions and will financially provide for the child he left fatherless. The NFL suspended him indefinitely from the League without pay.

Consequences.

Deterrent.

Maybe it will make one or two other players stop and think before they do something as incredibly stupid as drinking and driving. I'd like to hope that it would stop everyone from drinking and driving but I'm a realist.

We can hope, anyway.

And no one really wants Michael Vick on their team. As a dog lover I personally could not care less if he ever works again. I won't support a team that employs him. But I won't get off on that.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This country puts way too much stock in the athletic and entertainment industries. These folks are placed on pedestals and all they do, in reality, is play a game or act in a movie. Play time.

My cousin just emailed me that his stepson (a former wife's son but still a part of my cousin's family) was killed today in Afghanistan. His second tour of duty in the military.

Those are the men and women that should be held in the highest esteem. Anyone who's job is to defend our country and freedoms is truly the hero. Yet they have no Hall of Fame. Only memorial walls.

And those are too slow in coming.