Times are a’changin. It’s an old saying, but always applicable to life and times. In sports those “changin times” are both bad and good.

Those “good old days” in sports are gone forever—the time when players played for one team their entire career, tickets prices didn’t price the little guy and his family out of going to a game, and even though sports is a business, players played it like it wasn’t. Now, players are going to the highest bidding team, budget busting ticket prices that forces a fan to pick and choose the one or two games a season they go to, and players, teams and leagues will sell their soul to a beer company, to a network or to a sexual dysfunction pill. The name of the game is m-o-n-e-y, and with it comes an addiction that has and will continue to change sports for the foreseeable future.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in the “American way.” There’s nothing evil about making money. But, there should be a balance between making money, and giving the people who pay that money a good product and something they feel good about. I know I’m being too idealistic and the “horse is out of the barn” on this. But, always the eternal optimist, I hope my talking about it will get people, fans, athletes, owners and leagues to think about it, and maybe do the right thing. Wishful thinking? Hopefully not.

The “Rock n’ Roll” generation has given way to the “hip hop” generation, and with it has come an individualism and flamboyancy never seen before. In sports, that has given birth to the player who dances, prances and celebrates. We now see the player who pounds his chest when he breaks up a pass, but was burnt for an earlier touchdown or the player who stands at home plate admiring his home run, even though it’s only his eighth homer of the season and he’s batting just .232. Let us not forget the player who hit’s a rare three pointer, but is only shooting 45% from the free throw line and plays “matador” defense. Mediocrity has become an acceptable standard in sports today.

When it comes to today’s sports fans, the few speak for the many. Fueled by a bad upbringing, bad attitudes, bad manners, bad judgment and bad decisions, fans have turned what should be a good time at a sporting event, and watching highly skilled athletes play, into a hostile afternoon or evening of frustration, foul language, and team, player, opposing fan confrontations. Let me give those “fans in the minority” a piece of advice. If you don’t like the way your team is playing, if you don’t like the team your team is playing, if you don’t like what athletes make or how they act, or if you just don’t like life in general, then just stay home and yell at yourself in a closet. Parents shouldn’t have to shield their children from assaulting fans, bad language and spilled beer. Those fans that have a true appreciation for the game and want to watch, should be able to do so in an environment of safety and competitive enthusiasm. So, you jerk fans, clean up your act.

The day of the “sportsman” owner is gone forever. Thank God for the Rooney family, Lamar Hunt, Ed DeBartolo, Jr. and very small handful of owners in other sports. Their day of caring about the fan, their players, their city, their franchise, their employees and the soul of their respective sport is gone. But let’s hope there’s enough of a memory of what they did that future generations of sports team owners will try to strike a balance between making a profit and caring about their sport and their fans.

The cynicism of the times, and the media, have turned players into single minded, ego driven, highly skilled, athletic mercenaries. None of which I have a problem with. That is the one aspect of sports that hasn’t changed over the years. In any specialized skill, those involved in that skill must be single minded, ego driven and highly skilled in order to perform that skill successfully-- and, even more so to do it at a “star” level. The teacher, truck driver or computer programmer isn’t evaluated on a moment to moment basis, nor is their daily performance covered in print, broadcast or on the Internet, or gets cheered and booed on a daily basis like the athlete does. Also, most working people can work at their craft into their 50’s and 60’s. Athletes can’t. So, be single minded, ego driven and make as much as you can, while you can, but, do us all a favor, and do it honestly-- no steroids, no drugs. Do that not only for yourself and the fans that pay to see you play, but do it more so future players will have a performance role model.

Finally, the media needs to “get a life.” Somewhere between the “old days” of turning your head the other way on athletes off field antics and life, to today’s “tell all” reporting, there must be a proper balance. The media’s job is to report, analyze performance and games, predict, and to put into a perspective the “how, when, where, and why” of the game. Too many times the media sees itself as the final authority on what’s right or wrong about an athlete, a team or a game. Fans aren’t stupid, but they can be gullible if you continue to tell or show them things in sports that are taken out of context and are presented simply for titillation or entertainment purposes. The media has to learn the difference between the game and the business of sports, report on that difference appropriately. Otherwise, the media is as bad as the person who yells “fire” in a crowded theater and causes a stampede and a disaster.

I guess the best we can hope for in sports is that common sense will prevail enough that the joy of sports won’t be lost to greed, bad decisions, bad manners and unrealistic expectations. And, the only way for that not to happen is to remember the past, know that it’s a business, but remember the fun of watching and playing the game. If we do, then sports will remain a positive, enjoyable part of our lives.

I’m Ron Barr

Ron Barr is an Emmy award winning writer and the host of the nationally and internationally syndicated sports talk show, Sports Byline USA.

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