“Show me the money.”That once-famous movie line sadly became a reality in more ways than one in the sports world, proving that no sport is invulnerable when it comes to controversy.
First there were baseball and steroids, then there were football and the infamous sex boat. Now hockey has gotten into the act with the gambling charges on Wayne “The Great One” Gretzky’s wife, Janet Jones-Gretzky.
I’m not one to sit here and accuse anyone of being right or wrong, but for hockey to make the headlines in the south means something serious had to have taken place.
Believe me, I couldn’t really care less about the sport, but after surfing through ESPN.com and watching SportsCenter, I realize that hockey needs the limelight and, well, they got it.
For hockey’s greatest player ever to be involved in such a scandal only shows that no player is immune to the public’s desire for a good scandal.
Gretzky, now head coach for the Phoenix Coyotes, claims he wasn’t involved, but wiretapped phone lines proved that he did, at least, know about it.
The funny thing is that the scandal was uncovered almost two months after Gretzky’s assistant coach, Rick Tocchet, was arrested on charges of a multi-million dollar gambling ring.
Coincidence? I think not.
It’s hard to believe Gretzky right now.
After being interviewed by the media upon arriving in Torino for the Olympics, Gretzky dodged any questions that had to do with the allegations.
Sure, the Olympics are important, and helping Canada defend its gold is even more important, but for Gretzky it may already be too late.
Once something has been tarnished, it’ll take even more to fix it and, let’s face it, Gretzky’s image has already been tarnished.
Over time his image of being the greatest player ever in the game of hockey will resurface, but, like everything else, it will take time.
I’m sure that many people from the South are as passionate about hockey as most people in red states, but even I’m getting tired of hearing about the negativity in any sport.
It seems to me that no matter where I turn, there is going to be controversy.
The only thing this scandal does is prove that these sports “idols” that everybody once looked up to are human.
It was only a year ago when the National Hockey League had to cancel its entire season because of conflicts between the league and its players’ associations. Your guess is as good as mine there.
If this scandal did anything, it put a dark cloud over the NHL and everything it stands for.
If it were up to me, I’d dispense with the NHL in favor of ultimate frisbee or even football all year long.
Even if he is innocent, which he very well may be, Gretzky must now try to get out of the shadow of Pete Rose, whose betting caused him to be banned from Major League Baseball forever.
Only time can tell whether Gretzky will redeem himself.
As a fan, it’s truly sad to see many of these athletes who I may have once idolized get in trouble. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that it’s almost impossible to believe any professional athlete these days.
I would love nothing more than to report on the good instead of the bad, but that seems unlikely.
As long as there is controversy, I assure everyone that there will be at least one professional athlete involved.
We’ve seen enough controversy just this year than I think I’ve seen in my 20 years of being a sports fan. It’s sad to see many of the things we once loved become tarnished by the greed of the sport’s higher-profile athletes.
The world of sports as we know it can never be the same, as “show me the money” has become the motto in the professional sports arena today and likely forever.
