Rough time to be a pro- sports commissioner

Professional sports have seen better months.

Down the road, July 2007 will be remembered… Professional sports have seen better months.

Down the road, July 2007 will be remembered as a time when pro sports was against the ropes in serious need of a cut man. Each of the three major U.S. sports has recently had to deal with ugly incidents.

The National Basketball Association learned this summer that one of its referees, Mike Donaghy, was caught up in gambling on the sport he polices, leading to his eventual resignation July 9.

The National Football League had the name of one of its most recognizable figures, Michael Vick, mentioned 50 times in an indictment in relation to an illegal dog-fighting operation.

And of course Major League Baseball, steroids and all, was at the forefront because of Barry Bonds’ pursuit and success in passing Henry Aaron for the most treasured record in all of sports.

Granted, the steroids controversy has been evident for some time, but the pursuit of 755 has made what most would like to consider a mirage a mere fact. Even though Bozo Bonds didn’t break Aaron’s record until August, July is still the month in which the chase began to get serious.

The black cloud that has hovered over baseball is beginning to finally release moisture. For baseball purists like myself, this is one of the worst things that could possibly happen to the game we love so much.

This time, the controversy is not because the person breaking the record is black, as was the case with Aaron when he passed Babe Ruth in 1973, but rather because the player cheated. It seems the purity of the game been flushed down the toilet with Bonds’ “cream” and “clear.”

The thought that performance-enhancing drugs have disrupted the equilibrium of the game infuriates traditional baseball fans. It makes us mad that we can’t fairly argue who the better hitter was – Willie Mays or his godson Bonds.

Hank Aaron was a man of character – indeed a true icon for baseball. The way Aaron dealt with the racism while in pursuit of Ruth’s home run record was a true inspiration. Bonds could learn something from a man of such dignity.

You’d think in the midst of the most contentious issue in pro sports to date, Bonds could show a little more class – if not for the good of the game, for his own benefit. You’d think being booed in 29 out of 30 ball fields in North America should be enough to change his ornery demeanor.

If Bonds has any excuse, though, it’s that he’s just one of an entire generation of baseball players marked with suspicion of steroid use. Fact of the matter is we know others have done it. If indeed Bonds did knowingly take steroids, he’s not the first, and he won’t be the last. He just happens to be one of the best five hitters of all time, with or without steroids – yes, he is – so we take it out on him.

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig should absorb some of the blow also. The steroids era happened on his watch, and it’s about time he took some responsibility for it. Selig wasn’t there for Bonds’ home run No. 756, but he should have been. Even debating whether or not he’d be in attendance for the record-breaking blast is not enough for something he didn’t stop.

He claims to have made a “Herculean” effort following Bonds. Going out of his way to convince fans that Bonds and the controversy surrounding him appalls him doesn’t hide the fact that he is partially responsible for what happened.

Come on, Bud. You should have been there. It’s your job.

Tim Donaghy, however, is fully to blame for his actions. He has no excuse but being a compulsive gambler, over his head in debt with the wrong people.

Well, no valid excuse, anyway.

This is the first time since Henry Hill from “Goodfellas” (the guy portrayed, not Ray Liotta) that a ref accepting bribes has come to fruition.

Donaghy resigned because of allegations that he bet on NBA games, including ones in which he officiated. It’s also thought that he provided privileged information to bookies that could help them pick the winner of a game and allow them to manipulate the point spread.

Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest and the rest involved in the horrific display at the Palace at Auburn Hills in 2004 now have company at the top of the list for scummiest people in basketball.

The investigation is still ongoing, but for Donaghy to resign before any charges were brought, he must know there is sufficient evidence to be convicted. This is disgraceful. Commissioner David Stern called it “the worst thing to ever happen to basketball,” and as far as scandals, he may be right.

Of all sports, basketball could be the easiest for a ref to influence. Every whistle could potentially affect the point spread and over/under of a game. Being the master conspiracy theorist that I am – and by conspiracy theorist I mean recreational gambler — I’ve always watched games and yelled, “This game’s fixed!” Granted, in most cases I may have had a skewed point of view – and by skewed point of view I mean big bet — but now I’m paranoid more than ever. But thanks to traitorous Tim Donaghy, I now have a new idiom to express my skepticism: “This is Donaghy-ed.”

Under the surface, point shaving has occurred. But most of those incidents take place in college basketball, where the participants are not as wealthy as the glorified street-ballers of the NBA. And players, not officials, are almost always the culprits (See: Northwestern’s Ken Dion Lee and Dewey Williams in 1995 or the movie “Blue Chips”).

This isn’t exactly what the league needed on the heels of a Finals series that was as exciting as the Pirates playoff hopes are high.

What I need is a swing like Bonds or the arm and legs of Vick. Unfortunately, the only thing I may have ever had in common with these tremendously gifted athletes is the passion for sports. I’d be willing to guess that growing up we had the same childhood aspirations as most: to be a professional athlete.

It seems Michael Vick has another passion: animal cruelty. Apparently in some places in the South, fighting dogs is socially acceptable. Even if that were the case, and it’s horrific to think it is, it’s still illegal. Vick, and all other pro athletes should be going out of their way to make sure they do everything the right way.

Professional athletes are sometimes stereotyped as thinking they’re untouchable, and this does nothing to disprove that. Vick probably has five cars, a few huge houses and anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 in spending money in his pocket any given night. Why would you do anything to jeopardize that?

It’s painful to watch somebody take his or her God-given talent for granted. Especially in Vick’s case, somewhere along the line he forgot that playing in the NFL is an absolute privilege. Maybe it was when he signed his $90-million contract, or maybe it’s because year after year he has one of the NFL’s top-selling jerseys and does tons of advertisements, or at least he did before Reebok pulled his apparel off the shelves and almost all his sponsors dropped him like French class.

It seems like professional athletes can be charged for crimes and continue playing as if nothing happened. So every now and then it’s nice to see an athlete held accountable for his actions. Vick is in the process of being tried for accusations, including not only fighting dogs, but also killing them. Could this really be true? If it is, I hope Vick is made an example of, because to some people, their dogs are family. I hope the grand jury doesn’t allow him to get away with murder, because that’s exactly what it is.

I hope fans never forget what happened in each of these leagues recently. I hope they always remember them for what they were, distasteful decisions by individuals that hurt each of their sports. As long as they say that, though, they aren’t claiming that one of these incidents and individuals permanently damaged their league – NFL, NBA or MLB.

The fans do always seem to forgive, however. But if they don’t, they could always steer their way to the pitch for a good Major League Soccer match, if there is such a thing.