COMMENTARY: Good guys going the way of the buffalo

I grew up thinking the feel-good world of sports was here to distract us from the ugliness in a world at war. There is a kind of peace in this, I thought, watching children and those that never grow-up run around in homemade jerseys pretending to be Tom Brady, Ken Griffey Jr., Kobe, Michael, Shaq or Dr. J.

These are the good guys after all. In this world the weak and virtuous triumph and all are created equal – even if they don’t start out that way in real life.

I remember prancing around in my Superman pajamas pretending to be a superstar mix of Mark Rypien, Darrell Green and Art Monk. It was Washington’s tour de force, my good guys. I would run the backyard – and the living room when the parents were not home – with number 23 as my cape.

At some point, I can’t remember when, that bright world of goodness simply imploded.

What happened? Where are the days that sportsmanship trumped the outcome, and battles were fought on frozen tundra? When did all that change?

Sure, it’s naive to think that things were always good and happy. One of my first football cards was a 1988 Topps Dexter Manley and I remember my dad carefully explaining that football players were people just like the rest of us. They had problems just like us too. Manley’s was a drug problem. But his struggles were rare it seemed. And If he wasn’t the only one, he was a rare one.

And then I woke up.

Dallas Cowboy Nate Newton was caught attempting for moving weed. Twice actually, for a grand total nearly 388 pounds all up. Teammate Michael Irving got sent up for cocaine and solicitation a couple times. Dallas Cowboys are notorious for these sorts of misdeeds so this should not be a shock to anyone.

New York Yankees Darrell Strawberry and Doc Gooden, two good guys of the game, went to jail for similar cocaine-related offenses.

There is the Latrell Sprewell choke, and the Ron Artest fan brawl. Then there’s Hall of Fame running back OJ Simpson and scum-sucker Rae Carruth. Only one of these two double-murderers got locked up. Where’s the justice in that?

Did Lance Armstrong cheat? We know 2006 Tour De France “winner” Floyd Landis did.

Good guy Sammy Sosa corked his bat and allegedly used steroids. Good guy Raphael Palmeiro was tossed out of baseball for testing positive. Good guy Mark McGuire never was caught. But that good guy never said he didn’t. In fact, that good guy made himself look like a fool in front of Congress earlier this year by refusing to answer questions one way or the other. I suppose McGuire could have taken the easy way out and lied like Palmeiro. It does not matter. He still cheated.

Barry Bonds – what about Bonds? Folks, let’s get real here. Bonds was never a good guy and he never pretended that he was. But Bonds is a cheat too. Just like Jose Canseco. Just like Albert Belle.

Bonds should take a clue from those two hotshots and make a quick exit. Don’t look back.

But who knows what will happen to Bonds? He could pull a Pete Rose and write a book. We have not heard the last from him, that I assure you.

Just recently five Duquesne basketball players were shot, one in the head, outside a dance because they talked to the wrong girl. What a world!

There was the father on the sideline that clotheslined a kid playing pee-wee football. We’ll never know the reason for that. And every year a handful of little league level umpires are attacked for making a bad call.

In the pro ranks, Tennessee Titan Albert Haynesworth was suspended only five games for kicking an opponent’s helmet off during a game last week, then stomping down on his face with metal cleats.

His bloodied opponent, Dallas Cowboy Andre Gurode, needed nearly 30 stitches for his face to get put back together.

Good guy skipper Frank Robinson is out in Washington. Narcissistic Terrell Owens is back in Dallas. He’s back to doing what it is that Terrell Owens does best: Loving Terrell Owens.

It is much too much. There is only so much “blah” one can digest. I want graceful losers and athletes that don’t whine. No more training camp holdouts, no more negotiating contracts in the media.

I want teams that play to win, but also play for the kids in the stands.

Twenty million American kids register to play sports every year according to the National Alliance for Sports. Of those, 70 percent quit by the time they turn 13 years old.

I’m not saying that these good guys turned bad are responsible for kids dropping out. I’m saying that we have a limited time to make the right kind of impression on them.

Where have all the good guys gone?