News Associate Editor
One faithful reader of my column told me this week that every time he reads it he always expects high moral content in relation to my view on various issues in sports. I quickly (and jokingly) squashed his notion by telling him that my literary-self is far more pious than is my actual personality. The moral god that many may think me to be would, and should write about his anger pertaining to the recent moral upheaval in the NHL. And indeed I shall, but unfortunately for those who look forward to my moral upstanding on a weekly basis, as this is my last column, I will take a slightly slanted stance on this gambling bonanza that hockey’s Great One has found himself, if only peripherally, still involved.We all know that professional sports have had their fair share of gambling scandals, most dramatically and recently Pete Rose’s. This scandal tarnished Pete Rose’s record as a player and reputation as a manager and person. In addition to that, in the eyes of the Pete Rose supporters, Bart Giamatti’s record as a supporter of minority rights and quality of stadium environment will forever be tarnished as well. Here’s where my moral upstanding is put to question; Rose’s situation, although clearly outlined in MLB’s by-laws, was handled completely incorrectly. Rose’s actions were 100% immoral. He gambled on a sport that he loved and contributed so much to—he even bet on his own games. Giamatti loved baseball and understood Rose’s contribution to the sport, but because he wanted to establish himself as a no nonsense commissioner he banned Rose without hesitation. Giamatti should not have done this because in my opinion, Rose’s contributions far outweighed his wrongs. The fact that Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds have not been banned for life by MLB and Pete Rose has shows two things. First, it shows that Selig, despite his adamancy against steroids understand how these men have revitalized the game, and on that same note it shows that the MLB is still an organization littered with hypocrisy and corruption.So what example should the NHL follow? This is not the first time that a sport’s icon has run into gambling problems. Although David Stern denies that he ever approached Michael Jordan about his gambling problem, albeit outside of sports, many speculate that Jordan’s first retirement was brought about by Stern. He was aware of Jordan’s iconic position not only in Basketball, but also in global pop-culture. This is the case that the NHL finds itself in. Yes, Gretzky is not directly involved in this current gambling situation; however, his assistant coach and wife are two of the major players within it. Gretzky has gone from not knowing about it to having e-mails saying how he has to cover up his wife’s involvement. If all athletes are the same, then before we know it, Gretzky will have bet on every game in the last ten years (pardon my exaggeration).If the NHL knows what’s best for them, they will keep Gretzky’s name, records and reputation as far away from this scandal as possible, because the last thing a league with a recent labor stoppage, T.V. contract dilemmas and a current break in the season for the ever so popular Winter Olympics is for their idol to have his name go down in flames.On a bit of an unrelated aside, this is the last Showtime with Sherman article, however when a question of morality comes up in athletics, a simple way to react to it is to simply wonder what I would do. In the end, you can’t be wrong.
