Will 2008 bring more discipline?

Well, here I sit, on the second day of the new year, pondering about the past and wondering about the future.

Like every other person, I hope 2008 is better than 2007. Not to say last year wasn’t a good year, but things can always be better.

Every year it seems someone in the world of sports does something to not only embarrass themselves, but embarrass their team and their sport.

2007 was no exception as Pacman Jones embarrassed the state of Tennessee and the Titans organization as well as the NFL. Pacman’s off-the-field troubles may have been a good thing in the long run for the NFL.

The NFL finally recognized that they had a serious problem with some of their athletes, and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has taken the right steps to send a message to some of these players who think their beyond the law.

His appeal to be reinstated as an active player on the Titans roster was quickly shot down by commissioner Goodell, and rightfully so.

And if the NFL didn’t have enough problems, then comes Michael Vick. Once again the NFL had to deal with a serious criminal offense and once again the league played hardball, showing no signs of backing down.

Vick’s connection with dog fighting shocked Americans, and more than 300,000 people urged the NFL to suspend Vick. Not only was Vick’s conduct illegal, but also cruel and reprehensible.

The question I have is, will either one of these guys be able to return to the NFL?

As for Pacman, probably so. He plays a position which he can work or play his way back into a starting role.

Vick on the other hand, will never play as a professional football player again ‘ at least at quarterback. He’s spending almost two years in federal prison and will face more charges from the state of Virginia sometime in the future.

Maybe if he was a lineman or something like that, he might be able to make a comeback. But quarterback is a position of leadership and role model for so many youngsters, and Vick will never play that role again.

Goodell hasn’t handed out any suspension for Vick just yet, but I’m sure if he was released from jail tomorrow a suspension would soon follow.

Goodell is trying his best to clean up the image of the NFL ‘ and so far, so good.

Bud Selig could take a few lessons from Goodell. Selig has basically done nothing to clean up the image of major league baseball’s steroid abuse.

In fact it’s seems baseball and steroids go together like ice cream and apple pie. Sure they have a lackadaisical drug testing program, but it hasn’t done a thing to keep players from juicing up.

But let somebody bet on a baseball game and you can’t get in the Hall of Fame even if you’re one of the greatest players of all time. And it’s OK to break records with the help of drugs.

All I’m saying is, it’s 2008 and it’s time for these over paid athletes to be held accountable for their actions. The only thing that is going to help baseball is to remove Selig and replace him with someone who will stand and take control of the situation.