Professional Ath-uh-letes

There are numerous reasons why I'm no fan of professional sports. Primary among them is the self-deluded demi-god attitude of those who get paid insane amounts of money to play games. It's not a blanket accusation, by any means, as I know there are notable exceptions to my own rule. There are plenty of stories of those who attempt to ennoble their sports through their examples and charitable activities around the nation.

Still, there are, I think, far more of these ath-uh-letes that forever give professional sports a black eye. Considering the life of absolute privilege in which Josh Howard of the Mavericks lives, you'd think he'd have a somewhat better attitude about his country of birth:

When the national anthem is being sung, various participants are shown mugging for the camera. When the camera gets to Howard, he says: "'The Star-Spangled Banner' is going on. I don't celebrate this [expletive]. I'm black."

He then, according to the article, made some rambling (nearly incoherent) comment about Barack Obama for whom, I'm assuming, he intends to vote since he seems to consider himself to be such a victim.

And the team's leadership? It's Mark Cuban. What'd you expect?

"...we will be going through some advanced communication-skill sessions together this training camp," Cuban said Tuesday.

I'm sure that'll do it. If only he'd change the phrasing by saying "I don't celebrate this stuff," all would be instantly forgiven.

One has one's image to uphold, after all.