I was just listening to Mike and Mike as they were coming up with their list of "Hall of Shame" sports figures. This is a list of sports figures that did not reach their potential because of drug abuse, violence, etc. Sadly it was quite a long list, and I disagreed with quite a few (Jason Grimsley?), but there was one name that struck me as odd:
Tim Donaghy.
Why was he on this list? I thought it was a list of sports figures. Tim Donaghy, in my opinion, is not a sports figure. He is a figure, and his job involves sports, but I don't think he is a sports figure. Just mentioning the words 'sports figures' makes you think of athletes; the guys that actually play the game. Even still, how did he make that list??? Not once have a I thought that Tim Donaghy didn't reach his potential as a referee because of his illegal betting on basketball. I'm not sitting here going, "Man, Tim was in the prime of his reffing career, it's too bad he did what he did and had it all cut short."
Maybe they didn't explain the list very well and I'm misconstruing what they are trying to show. All I know is a referee isn't a sports figure, and I don't like that Donaghy is on that list.
~Mikey D
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4 comments:
I agree that Donaghy is not a sports figure, but I don't think the list should be limited to only athletes.
What about coaches? Or in rare cases, owners. (Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones, George Steinbrenner, etc)
I wouldn't call them sports figures either. Just because they have something to do with the game doesn't make them sports figures. It's all about how far you want the term 'figure' to reach.
If you include coaches, refs, owners, you could also make a case for the fan who attends the game. Where do you draw the line? I will draw it at the athletes themselves. ESPN goes farther out, which is why we here nonstop about Steinbrenner, Donaghy, Cuban, etc., when all we really want are the real sports figures.
I think you completely misconstrued the list. Who brought shame to sports or themselves? Donaghy put a black cloud over a sport where people search for controversy. 84 Draft Lottery anyone?
Oh I didn't misconstrue anything.
That's not what they were talking about at all, at least from 6:00-6:30 in the morning. They displayed a "Hall of Shame" list of "sports figures" and commented on how their careers/greatness was cut short due to a personal pitfal.
If they had created a list where they talked about what you said, then yeah, Donaghy can go on it.
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