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Show -zzliing off Sports: Remember -::Zn Tim Hide Had lorann? r when it used to ., Remember 's. example of s ,hat was clean and rURER nen '&'isloforBet - litics and just Irtiton the field? '"'J, when sports was ! fwaKeuptothe Dodger pitcher Don ' 'wnout of a game ' t lacing" three ..I'l'sdunngthecourseof '1 walks out on his ' ';hemiddle of a stir-race. stir-race. Knapp an-;' an-;' e's quitting the , indicating the prin-'mvolved prin-'mvolved was more im-han im-han his teammates. fir Reggie Jackson "-If ignores a sign from ;.,iger in the crucial j a lame and bunts in-lf in-lf swinging away. Af-:S Af-:S he can't understand jiole are so upset at - Rick Barry becomes l(em and, without even Vr of the word loyalty, ..Golden State, to join j-,jSon Rockets' basket-,m basket-,m The deal, explains ;. was "strictly Mitis." I OB "4 the J.S.tT IS happening in " ' is today unfortunately is ' -.-ger so different. These 1. 10 longer games with Est., own special ground tDii The code of honor we once knew seems to have been trampled in the greedy race for prosperity. And as for loyalty, well these athletes of today are loyal, all right. They're loyal to their bankbooks, their wardrobe of carefully designed three-piece suits and their Rolls-Royces. SO A Sutton is caught defacing a baseball, so what? His defenders contend it happens hap-pens all the time. How long has Gaylor Perry been throwing wet ones up there? How about all the other pitchers who apply mysterious substances to the ball? That's not the point. If the umpires have enough evidence, they've caught Sutton Sut-ton cheating. And if that's the case, action has to be taken. BASEBALL is viewed by millions of people, many of them impressionable children. Do we want to teach them that cheating is the American way? Do we want them to think illegal methods are okay, just as long as you get away with them? And what about the Knapps and Barrys? Sure, it's a free country and they have a right to follow whichever course they choose. BUT WHAT about emotional emo-tional ties to a team or a city? What about considering those who have paid hard-earned dollars to watch them perform? per-form? What about the welfare of those who play alongside of them? Maybe what our new system sys-tem is producing is just so many Reggie Jacksons. You know, the millionaire superstar super-star who has allowed his role to expand out of proportion. The athlete who thinks he has become more important than the rest of his team. The jock who is so coddled and cajoled he thinks he can do whatever -he wants whenever he wants. SOMEONE once wrote that the true fascination of sports is that they mirror our daily lives. Well, for a long time, it wasn't so much a reflection as a diverson. The events were an escape a means to forget the hassles and bitterness we found in the outside world. For a long time, we didn't have spoiled millionaires and conniving pitchers and selfish free agents. FOR A long time, we just had the games. And the enjoyment. en-joyment. Remember? |