You're Not That Special

I get it.  Some people really believe that, because they've been blessed with some sort of ability, they really think the rules do not need to apply to them.  I also understand grief, struggling, and emotional pain.

But let's just get past all of this.  I understand a young woman who runs fast wants to compete in the Olympics because, well, she runs fast.  But she lost her birth mother.  And due to this, she turned to drugs to self-medicate.  And so, once again, someone who should know better feels the rules don't apply to them.

And that's the truly sad part.  We're seeing the end results from an entire generation of people who don't like to be held accountable, held to standards, and held to the same rules that everyone else is.  Because there's this fellow by the name of Reggie Bush, who played football, and back in 2005, won the Heisman Trophy, which is given to the allegedly best college football player.  And in Bush's case, it was taken away.  Then there's the young lady who runs on a track and wants to go to the Tokyo Olympics later this month.  

In Bush's case, he lost the award he received because he cheated.  Or, well, he didn't follow the rules.  I am not, never have been, and am not at all in any way associated with any sort of high performer sort of athlete, so I've not been through any sort of training that these people are given.  I have to believe that, as in Bush's case, at some point, he was told of the rules which he would have to follow to continue to remain eligible for his college sports career.  And yeah, I'm aware that the alleged Supreme Court said that athletes can make money now from their personal appearance while still continuing to play as a college athlete.  

But that ruling was handed down recently.  In 2005, the rules were that one was not to accept money or other items of value while playing a collegiate sport.  And Bush, despite the rules, accepted things like money that did therefore render him in violation of the agreement which kept him in college football.  So, in a very short and sweet to the point conclusion, sucks to be him.  He knowingly and willingly violated the rules.

As did this young woman whose name escapes me at the moment, who lost, as the news reported last night, her birth mother.  My mom passed away five years ago, as of last week.  And coming up next month, we will run into the second anniversary of the death of my mother-in-law.  So I am familiar with that sort of loss.  I get it.  I understand.  I know.  It is what it is.  I know the pain.  

As an athlete training to make it to the Olympics, this young woman has, I'm sure, been told what she can and cannot do.  And she chose, in a moment of pain, to self medicate.  And while I would not in a million years consider marijuana to be a performance-enhancing drug, it is banned for athletes.  And this young woman chose to use it anyway.  And now she's crying that it's so unfair that she cannot compete in the Olympics because she broke the rules.  

So the bad news, if you will, is that this young woman is not going to be able to "make bank" on the eyelash extensions or hair dye she uses after she returns from the Olympics, presumably holding some medals, and the rest of her life is going to be utterly miserable because she, well, didn't follow the rules.  

And you know what?  She needs to be held accountable.  Because if she's not, she will serve as yet another flaming example of how people who don't follow the rules get a pass because they might be better than someone else in some rare thing.  Sure, I've never run particularly fast.  I mean, I did for some time hold my old high school's school record for the number of sit-ups one could do.  And yeah, I, as an overweight teenager who was not at all involved in any high school sport, was on the chart for that.  And I'm sure someone has now overcome that 750 number.  And good for them!  I didn't train or go through a lot of grief, I had my normal peanut-butter toast breakfast that morning, and did my sit-ups anyway.  And yeah, I probably skipped lunch because, well, I wasn't overly hungry mid-day, and I managed to survive anyway to dinnertime.  

And no, I didn't demand special treatment - because I wasn't special.  None of these athletes are.  I mean, sure, they're unique, some of them are high performers, some of them may make a lot of money, but that's not the important bit.  It seems that today, for whatever reason, we're willing to give a pass to people who might do something well, because, well, they shouldn't have to follow the same rules.

I have no idea how collegiate sports is going to look after the fallout of this alleged Supreme Court decision impacts the people who are going to make millions of dollars as college athletes.  I mean, when you're the quarterback of the football team, and you have two players open down field, do you throw it to the guy who is wide open, or do you throw it to the guy who might help you get a better endorsement deal with the local used-car salesman?  I can write the headlines already - one or more of these prima donna athletes, the highly-compensated student-athletes, will wine to a local reporter "I didn't get the ball because the other guy didn't want to make me look better."  In some cases, they may have a legitimate gripe.  In other cases, they're just doing the wounded peacock strut because it keeps their name in the headlines.  

How does that help the team?  Not at all  As the old retort goes, the only I in TEAM is found in the A-holes.  So, kids, remember that.  You can be part of a team, or you can be part of the A-holes.  I've pretty much gotten away from watching professional sports, and really sports of any kind, because of the way it is shoved down our throats.  Far too many billionaires are paying too many millionaires to play games and make money.  Good for them, but no thank you.