For Love Of The Game? Not Anymore

As a sports fanatic, I, like thousands of others, make SportsCenter a morning and nightly ritual. I love to stay current on everything that is happening in the world of sports.

The other day, however, I couldn't help but stop and think to myself, "What has happened? Where along the line did the sports world take off into a frenzy of contract dilemas, self-image, trouble with the law, and the list goes on and on."

I can't help but think back to the days when players didn't hold out to negotiate their contracts, and didn't have to wear suits everywhere to make sure they didn't take a bad picture. When it wasn't acceptable to badmouth your coach and fellow teammates, and you didn't have to miss practice because you had an Old Spice commercial to do.

A day when athletes went out and put the ball in their hand and appreciated every moment of it. A time when legends and icons were created. And you didn't have to question every milestone because of the possibility it was a product of performance-enhancing drugs.

I think about how it must have been like when a player took the field with complete respect for the players next to him, the fans in the crowd, and, most importantly, the game itself. That must have been fun to see: the game played as a pure sport.

I'm not limiting these statements to any sport, but putting them on sports as a whole.  Whether it's baseball, football, basketball, or any other sport, the games have changed.  It's so hard to believe that some of today's athletes respect and love what they do. 

When players put their team in second to money, or their own ego, it's a very hard thing to see as a sports fan. Some of todays athletes forget they are not being punished; they have been given the chance to do what millions of people would die for. And then they have the nerve to say they need an extra $2 million or they will refuse to play. I, and many others, would play for nothing, because we love the game.

I would have loved to live in a time when professional sports were more about who won the game, who played their hearts out, and how they played the game. Today it seems it's about who took steroids, who's asking for more money, who's going to prison, and whose trainer injected their wife with HGH.

I mean, aren't we losing sight of the game we love? I honestly don't care who's dating Madonna. If you go out and play the game with respect and as hard as you can, and you appreciate every moment, that's when I care.

I can't honestly say there is no respect for the game. There are those moments in sports where your heart jumps and your hair stands up on your goosebumps. But that's more of a rare thing than it used to be. That used to happen every day.

I will always be a huge sports fan. I will turn on SportsCenter twice a day and watch the latest holdout or who has badmouthed who. I just wish I could have had a chance to witness how it used to be, when it was based on respect, joy, and, most of all, the simple love of the game.