Fans.

When you think about the players in pro sports, you sometimes have to ask, "What are they thinking?" In just the last month or so, one has come out explaining that he took steroids, one had multi-affairs, and one had 4 guns in his locker. Sure they make good headlines and talk, but that's about all; they continue to reinforce with the fan base that these well known multi-millionaires are out of control. So as fans we continue to pay high prices to be a part of the sport we love knowing that at any time your favorite player can be dragged through the mud---both on the field, and off it.

Look at teams like the Atlanta Falcons---one year they are 8-8 and the next they have one of their worst in 43 years. For those fans who didn't give up on the team, in 2008 the Falcons did make the playoffs. But the embarrassment for the fan base was felt for the entire year and probably still is today--yet those same fans who stuck with the team were paying a lot of money to watch the team and hold on to their season tickets during the good and the bad. I know it's the risk you take for purchasing season tickets, but when the best player on the team is sent to jail for dog fighting, it just seems completely unfair.

Before I went to the game the other night, one of my associates said, "I can't stand the NBA." Because it happens to be my favorite sport, I had to ask, "Why?" I could not argue with his response. He said, "They don't start to try until later in the game, they are grossly overpaid, and many are thugs." Okay, so sue me, but I still "Love this game."

Because I am a white middle-aged male, I know my playing days are over; okay, they actually were never there but I used to dream I would wake up and they would be knocking at my door. I suspect they went to a neighbor. So that left me with loving the teams I grew up with---the St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues. (I was never a big St. Louis Cardinals football fan, and the St. Louis Hawks basketball team moved to Atlanta when I was about 7 years old.) Even today, with Mark McGuire coming out saying he used steroids I still am a Cardinals fan. Why? Because like every true fan you know one day the magic is going to come back. When it does, I want to say I was there the entire time. This is the way I also feel about the Chicago Bulls.

The photo above was taken Friday night at the Chicago Bulls game. As the owner of one of those signs, I know they rarely if ever effect the shooting of the opposing players, but it's a lot of fun to be a fan helping to win the game. I do hope the leagues continue to closely monitor the players---the fans are the ones who also take it on the chin, gut and hearts. To think we pay for this!

Thanks for stopping by.