Do Love And Marriage Affect Free Agency in Pro Sports?

Lately, sexual moralists have had their way in the sports world. 

Tiger Woods has been thoroughly chastened, and swingers like Ben Roethlisberger (above) are getting, or will soon get, their comeuppance in the courts.

"Amen," say upholders of marriage and family. "This is how things should be. Happily ever after."

But is happily ever after really compatible in the sports world? 

On paper, at least, a happily married player should concentrate on his job better.

The ideal picture is one where the player looks after his job and his wife looks after the home.

But in most cases, the two become intertwined.

There has never been, and may never be, a study of professional sports team athletes that reveal how a player's wife/girlfriend influence their significant other's career.

Free agency would provide a really interesting subplot in this hypothetical study.

When a player becomes a free agent, or requests a trade from his current team, he usually gives his agent a wish list of teams.

Does he choose them, or does his wife?

How much does he really care?

Chris Pronger provided one of the most notable cases.

Upon trading for Pronger, the Edmonton Oilers soared to the Stanley Cup Final. They hoped to keep Pronger for the rest of his career.

But his wife said no. She didn't like Edmonton.

So the Oilers were forced to trade Pronger and begin their slide to the very bottom of the league.

Before him, there were fears (wrongly) that Janet, the new Mrs. Wayne Gretzky, would not be happy living in Edmonton either.

That proved to be no problem, but she certainly influenced where Wayne was traded to.

Partly to help her career, Wayne told the Oilers that if they traded him, it should be to Los Angeles.

That supposedly did wonders for California hockey, but Wayne Gretzky never won another Stanley Cup.

The formal decision to accept or reject a team is the player's. But behind the scenes, who really makes the decision?

Is a team really negotiating with the right person?

Right now, those who are preaching marriage and family are having their way.

But when you think about it, sports fans may be happier with loose-living Ben, than with happily married Chris.