Athletes:the game or fame
...proves that money has become the center piece of sports. With players being sold to other teams, and demanding more money, it makes one wonder if they are in it for the money or for the love of the sport. From the outside, it looks as though these athletes are ungrateful because they always complain that they are not getting enough, or that someone else is getting more. Whatever happened to playing the game for the love of the sport and not the amount of figures on a piece of paper? Now it is nearly impossible for athletes to just be a sports player. They become an endorsement, a celebrity, or a role model. For the most part this can all be good. For it produces opportunities to collect more money. Every athlete should always thank the fans for part of their success. What is a fan? A fan is someone who admires the sport, and feels passionate about the players, and the game. A sports fan is what makes role models. The process starts by a player getting drafted into the sport. If he is good enough, then he will play his first season. An individual from the crowd or viewing the game notices the player. The viewer may like something that he did, or may see some potential in the player that sets him apart from the rest of the team. The new fan tells all of his friends about the player, and goes to all of the games, and buys anything with that player’s face, name, or number on it. This gives the player money, and gets the player known. When this has concluded, the cycle starts all over again. This is how a player gets famous. Unfortunately, in some cases, a fan may turn on his player and gather a following of people with the same views. For instance, in the case of baseball player, Barry Bonds, his fans would get irritated by him in the way of his lack of interaction with his teammates and his fans. The truth is that Barry is a quiet person. The fans don’t understand this and might start to make up nasty rumors and boo whenever he comes onto the field. Still, with all of these negative influences, he perseveres on and breaks almost every record possible. Barry Bonds should be one of the greatest role models to fans and players in that he tries hard to only care about the game, and not let things on the outside carry him away from whom he started out to be. Very quickly, an athlete learns that privacy is one of the first things that he will give up to the press. The press is the public’s gateway to an athlete. The press is a bunch of people who get paid for their stories. They seek out celebrities and other public figures and release their private life to the public. When a new athletic star emerges, the media swarms to them and tries to find every little detail. They won’t detach their pens from their note pad until they get what they want. This may be a bit overwhelming to the new athlete and cause him to say things that he should not. The press is known for twist...