How to really handle Ray Rice and AP

I'm getting sick of the judgmental media and all the holier-than-thou hoopla. Let the judicial system and law enforcement sort these things out. It's all about the drama and the ratings, which is sad because people usually tune into sports to get away from all this BS.

I actually hope AP gets to play every Sunday unless he actually goes to jail. Let Ray Rice come back soon too if a team wants him. Let the chips fall where they may. Getting suspended is the easy way out. When Kobe had his trial and all of the legal matters going on, he stepped up his game and dominated. With limited sleep and practice time and tons of media scrutiny, Kobe had some of the best games of his career. His life was in shambles and people booed the living hell out of him, yet he made his mark. He showed resolve and determination and completely sent a message that they'd have to put him behind bars to take him off the court. Love him or hate him, Kobe has balls. So did the late Jerry Buss. Jerry Buss was a smart and determined business man and he wasn't about to let off-the-court issues affect his team unless their was no other choice. And as much as I usually can't stand David Stern, Stern had the common sense to let the legal stuff play out and let the basketball be basketball and not to let one affect the other. Stern wisely stayed out of the way and didn't grandstand. Buss and Stern didn't let the media grapevine or TMZ make their business decisions for them.

What does all of this say to our kids, to our society?! That at the first sign of a PR conflict, you've got to distance yourself from it as fast as possible?! Avoid distractions at all costs?! Sever ties quickly and try to keep everyone happy?! Run like hell at the first sign of controversy?! Yeah that's some swell advice *sarcasm*. How about having the resolve to function and the discipline to work despite the distractions present? One hair in a soup bowl shouldn't close an entire restaurant or force them to stop selling that soup. That's a far-fetched metaphor, but you get the idea.

Life goes on. Life isn't always ideal. This isn't mamby-pamby land. I live in the real world and sometimes people have crazy personal stuff happen and guess what, as a professional, you still gotta man up and go to work. It's a goddamn business. Here's what I would do with Ray Rice or AP - "You screwed up big time and you're lucky you're still a free man. But you made this mess and I expect you to take care of it. You don't get to hurt this team and our goals just because YOU screwed up. Here's how we're gonna handle it, or we're gonna cut you. You're gonna donate your game check to charity. You're going to have a press conference to apologize and answer questions, just you and our GM, no agents, no lawyers. Then you're going to play your ass off. I don't care if you get booed. I don't care if your teammates are mad at you. That's on you."

Let Ray Rice and AP face the music. I want to see what they're really made of. I want to see what their teammates and the other players are really made of. Let the team and the league take a PR hit and let's see how they respond too. Sitting at home suspended, hiding behind their lawyers because some special interest groups or talking heads feel butt hurt by their playing, tells us nothing. Absolutely nothing. Would their playing be a huge distraction? Of course it will. Perhaps we should just grow a pair and get over it. At some point PROFESSIONAL sports turned into "we gotta please everybody and try to maintain this unattainable spotless reputation and kowtow to public opinion and strive for political correctness at all times" sports. PROFESSIONAL sports used to be "It's a messed up world but we're here to make money and entertain the hell out of you while doing so and if you've got an issue just get the hell out of our way" sports. I'm hoping we rediscover the latter definition of PROFESSIONAL sports again.