With the sports world succumbing to gambling, corruption, steroids and scandal right before our very eyes, we are rudely awakened to the reality that even one of life’s practical pleasures can be easily tarnished by stupidity and the brazen disregard for authority. Whether it’s Michael Rasmussen’s ouster from the Tour de France for skipping two drug tests this week, Tim Donaghy’s debasing of the game of the basketball in order to pay off gambling debts, or Michael Vick’s indictment on dog-fighting charges, sports has never been so bombarded with the type of negativity it has had to absorb this summer. 

Take for instance the NFL. Who would ever think that in one offseason, with its popularity, parity, and marketability at such an all-time high, the league could undergo the type of unforgiving relentlessness of irresponsibility it has received from its players. From Pacman Jones’ “make it rain” fiasco in Las Vegas during NBA All-Star weekend to Tank Johnson’s continuous run-ins with the law, Roger Goodell has barley had any time to breathe in his first year as commissioner.

Now comes his greatest challenge in the form of Vick, whose case will undoubtedly cast a dark cloud over the league for quite some time considering the sensitivity of his alleged crimes and the looming circus that only looks to grow larger in scrutiny once the quarterback is finally arraigned and tried in the coming months. Clearly, the implementation of Goodell’s harsher conduct policies hasn’t hit home yet to many of the NFL’s players, and it will be interesting to see just how eager he is to make his presence felt without being bias and pressured by the windfall of negative press scathing his league. 

In the case of the NBA, Donaghy’s alleged gambling, point shaving, and mob-related involvement might be just the story to give Goodell and the NFL’s behavioral woes a break from the front pages. In fact, it may even be more monumental in that this incident not only eats away at the very integrity of the sport, but feeds into the conspiracy theories that casual fans have always had about the NBA playing to its favorites. In commissioner David Stern’s press conference earlier this week, he called Donaghy a “rouge” among his officiating peers, assuring the public that this wasn’t a league-wide problem. For Stern and the NBA’s sake, let’s hope so, because the consequences of this breach have already had a significant impact. Donaghy was already involved in officiating one of the worst called games in sports -- Game 3 of this year’s Spurs and Suns semifinals series. If you don’t remember that game, YouTube the package, and you’ll see one of the greatest fixes in sports alter this year’s NBA champion. Sorry San Antonio, scandal or not, there has to be an asterisk. 

Lastly, let’s turn to another event that may also be one of the greatest fixes in sports -- Barry Bonds’ chase for 755. Ever since he hit 700, a majority of fans probably hoped he would just retire and die. However, that’s not Barry Bonds. His ego and his vendetta against his detractors won’t let him hang it up just yet. Whether you hate him or love him, Bonds is going to break the home run record in the next few weeks, maybe by the time this article is posted. With fair-weather support from Bud Selig and non-existent backing from Hank Aaron, he chases history in a game that is ambivalent and sometimes even apathetic to his athletic prowess. Like it or not, we are witnessing a sad twist of irony in what should be a celebratory time for baseball.

In a perfect world, Bonds’ quest of achieving one of sports’ ultimate milestones would have been marveled and championed by all, a stamp on a Hall-of-Fame career for arguably the greatest hitter of our generation. Michael Vick would be heading into training camp learning Bobby Petrino’s new system. The past two years of NBA basketball would be legit. And every Tour de France winner or leader would be considered dope free.

Instead these are all reminders and vignettes of what crookedness can do to the integrity of sports. All we can hope for now is that the headlines return to being about the competition rather the incompetence, the milestones instead of the soap operas, and most of all the entertainment instead of the misery.