The Indiana Pacers are a disgrace to professional sports. Last week, Stephen Jackson was involved in an incident at a strip club with two other members of the team. During the incident, Jackson ended up pulling a handgun out and firiing several shots. I cannot believe the media has left this alone. Am I the only one who thinks there is something seriously wrong here?
For starters, why is Jackson and others at a strip club during training camp? Part of being a professional athlete is the responsibility for upholding a decent image of yourself, the team you play for and the sports organization you work in. It's no different than being a teacher, firefighter or doctor. I certainly think that people deserve to have a private life - but don't do stupid things to make it public. The Pacers should suspend Jackson and the other players for no other reason than he was screwing off during training camp.
In a time when many players can barely play the game correctly, we have idiots at strip clubs until the early morning hours during training camp. I wonder what his performance was like in practice the next day. It really is a shame that there aren't more guys like Grant Hill or Bo Outlaw in professional sports. While a lot of players give money to help out others, few go the extra mile of being a true role model.
One ex-NBA player has finally come out and said that enough is enough. Reggie Miller recently made comments about the incident from last week. You can read more about what he had to say at ESPN.com.
Personally, I think it's time for more players to stand up and voice their opinions on this and other incidents. Maybe a little peer pressure will help clean up professional sports.
