How Sad The Sports World Has Gotten......

          While watching ESPN there was a report on 8-27-08 on "Outside The Lines" on sperm banks for athletes. Basically the premise of the report was that it gives parents the ability to try to create the perfect athlete in the womb. It made me wonder first of all what's wrong with the parents? Secondly, just because they're engineered to become an athlete what if they enjoy something else like acting, singing, math, etc...? Then what are they going to come back and sue the sperm bank for not creating them an athlete?

          Now, how does the sperm bank gets it samples of sperm? Well that's the easy part. From the information gathered by ESPN there are three locations, one is near UCLA, the second is near USC, and the last one is near Stanford. The sperm banks offer $75 per sample and the athlete can go up to 3 times a week, meaning in a month the athletes can make $900. It also allows for the athlete to put information about what sport they played in college as well as an audio clip of the person.

       Seems like a stretch of the imagination to me that there are people who are willing to pay money to a sperm bank to make as one of the women interviewed is quoted as saying "Another Tom Brady or Tiger Woods." So, basically what's disgusting about the report is that the parents want to live off of what their kids are going to make when they become thhat big time athlete.

      Too me it's sickening to think that people would actually think that a machine can create the perfect athlete. Sure it must be great for the athlete who is donating the sperm because they're making money because of it. Just because a person is created to be rather tall and become a basketball players doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work out. There are plenty of people who are 6'3 or taller who have never set foot on a college basketball floor.

     It's just sickening to hear a story about something like this. Athletes are not machines and they aren't just simply created once they are born. Sure there are some who find athletics rather easily, but in most cases to become an athlete it takes time, patience, money, and practice. An athlete isn't made by filling out a form and picking out what characteristics the child will have once it is born.