"Sports don't build character...they reveal it."
John Wooden
My last post didn’t offer much in the way of charity towards professional athletes, particularly professional basketball players and the Boston Red Sox. So in the interest of fair play I would like to present a response of sorts to my recent pro bashing. No this isn’t a post written by some outraged reader demanding equal time on behalf of maligned ballers nor is it a nod to someone who took me to task. I rather wish someone would take me to task. At least it would be an indication of an engaged readership. Hell it would be an indication of a readership. Hello! Is there anybody out there? Read me. Pass me on. Pardon the groveling.
So, you say, he’s rebutting his own post. The writer is certifiable or wishy-washy at best. No, no, this isn’t a rebuttal per se. I stand by what I wrote about the seeming cluelessness and greed that professional athletes exhibit. And I haven’t changed my opinion that behavior of that sort offends and angers a good many Americans. But I do recognize that professional athletes represent a particular segment of society and that no segment of society is perfect; they all have their blemishes, good citizens, bad citizens and those that just want to do their job and get through life. Athletes that seem to be slow on the uptake or detached from the reality of the everyday plebeian have either forgotten that their lives are subject to the scrutiny of the microscope that is the electronic media or they realize it and just don’t care. Is that scrutiny fair? Maybe not, but it’s a fact of their famous lives. They opted for pro sports, worked for it and coveted it, in many cases since they were in their early teens. And so with the fame, the riches and the ability to make a living playing a game that they love they’re forced to either be circumspect or deal with a media and public opinion that can bite and bite hard; those teeth leave marks. Just ask any other public figure who fell from grace and landed badly because he thought he was immune to public scrutiny. Ask a guy named Weiner who had his wiener published. Ask Tiger Woods who let his own wiener make bad decisions for him and then watched just about every aspect of his life auger in; professional, personal, popular and financial.
But enough of the negative. This is supposed to be about the positive. It’s popular to say that it’s easy to find negative stories about athletes but the good stories just get buried. Not true. It took no time at all to find some of these stories.
My favorite might just be Warrick Dunn and The Warrick Dunn Family Foundation and Homes for the Holidays. I heard about this story some years back and it’s stuck with me. Dunn’s charity helps single parents to achieve the American Dream of home ownership. From the foundation website, The Warrick Dunn Family Foundation is dedicated to providing opportunities for economically disadvantaged single parents and children who have demonstrated a commitment to achieve financial independence and stability. Dunn’s foundation has helped more than 100 single parents become homeowners and provide a more stable life for their children. In 2007, he founded Athletes for Hope an organization that guides athletes in becoming involved in charitable causes. Dunn, a running back with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Bucs is out of football now but during his career was given awards for his charity work, including The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.
Say what you will about Lance Armstrong but the man’s work in raising funds and awareness about cancer might just be without peer. The Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer research and the awareness campaign has been a resounding success. If you doubt that, think about how often you see one of those little yellow bracelets. A few years ago I rode in one of Armstrong’s Livestrong charity bike rides. During the ride I was literally brought to tears when I saw people along the route, people who had been touched by cancer in some way, waving and hollering “thank you” as we rode along the 60 mile route. Sometime later while walking through a parking lot I was stopped by a fire fighter who noted the T-shirt that I was wearing, the one I got from the ride, and thanked me. Seems his father had died young of cancer. And really all I did was to go on a bike ride. I’m struggling with Lance. I’m something of a bike rider and I was a fan of the sport until the doping got too pervasive to ignore.
Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation has awarded more than 8 million dollars in grants to afterschool programs and abuse prevention programs as well as providing money for college scholarships. From the Turn 2 website, the foundation’s mission statement; To create and support signature programs and activities that motivate young people to turn away from drugs and alcohol and "TURN 2" healthy lifestyles. Through these ventures, the Foundation strives to create outlets that promote and reward academic excellence, leadership development and positive behavior. Turn 2's goal is to see the children of these programs grow safely and successfully into adulthood and become the leaders of tomorrow. Turn 2 provided 500 thousand dollars to the Phoenix House in Tampa. Phoenix House is an outpatient program helping teens and their families overcome problems associated with substance abuse.
Former NASCAR driver Kyle Petty’s mission is to help special needs children. Petty organizes the Charity Ride Across America, a motorcycle ride that raises funds for children’s charities including Petty’s Victory Junction Camp for chronically and terminally ill children. Victory Junction serves children who wouldn’t normally be able to have a camp experience; children with bleeding disorders, spina bifida, sickle cell disease, burn survivors, kidney disease, lung disease and heart disease among many more.
In the San Francisco Bay Area where I live pitcher Barry Zito’s struggles on the mound haven’t much endeared him to Giants fans. But whatever they think about Zito’s pitching woes, his Strikeouts For Troops foundation has earned him praise and respect from both media and fans. Zito and a number of major league ballplayers started the charity to raise funds for troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. From Strikeout’s website; Strikeouts For Troops provides comforts of home and lifts the spirits and morale of wounded troops during treatment at military hospitals nationwide. Since its inception, Strikeouts For Troops has raised nearly 2 million dollars through contributions made by more than 60 professional baseball players, fundraising events, fan donations and corporate partnerships.
These charities are just a smattering. Athletes have stepped up and used their fame and their fortune to promote charities that benefit numerous causes for children, the poor, the disadvantaged, education, the sick, the elderly and many of the marginalized who these days are ignored by politicians and their corporate cronies. As out of touch as athletes seem to be they can always be outdone in that department by politicians. So here I’ve gone and dispensed a measure of the fairness doctrine to professional athletes. Don’t expect the same when it comes to politicians.
This post has links to all of the charities mentioned. I would encourage a visit to their websites and if you can bring yourself to skip a few lattes or that 12 pack of Bud you might consider making a donation to one that strikes your fancy.
I'll not take you to task over last week's posting because I believe that most pro athletes don't have a real idea how fortunate they are.
ReplyDeleteThe foundations you wrote about are very good examples of those athletes who do realize how fortunate they are and that they are able to spread some of that almost incalculable wealth to do some good. Occasionally I've heard people scoff at such athletes with comments such as "Well, they can afford it and it's a pittance to them". My response to such comments is "OK, how much do you donate to charitable organizations? How much do you donate to support NPR affiliates?"
Your ending comment about not dispensing the fairness doctrine to politicians is spot on. Take for example the Republican presidential candidates and their calling for a flat tax. I've lived for 55 years and long ago learned to view anything the Republicans tout as good for America with deep suspicion. Sure enough, the proposed flat tax would benefit the wealthy and screw the poor and working class.
As flawed as our taxation system is, it is more fair to all concerned than the flat tax. Is there a better alternative? Yes and here's my take on it.
The current system should be adjusted so that, regardless of one's income level, any taxpayer who opts for maximum withholding should never be liable for additional taxes to be paid on their annual tax return.
I'm not an economist and don't pretend to be expert in such matters, which would partially explain the reality that I will be flat broke in five years if my income situation doesn't improve. What I do know is that tax breaks for the wealthy on capital gains and other such ill-deserved breaks do no good to anyone except the wealthy. That's why most of them dislike Warren Buffett when he calls for increased taxation on the rich. He understands the inequity of our current tax system and realizes that correcting the inequity is good for the country as a whole. Most of the wealthy seem to care only about what's good for them and their disgustingly ostentatious lifestyles.