As I’m sure CNN’s InSession will “reveal” today that in November a jury convicted Tyrone Hartsfield of attempting to murder former Jacksonville Jaguars’ player, Richard Collier, and in December Hartsfield was sentenced to life (he had priors).

By all accounts, Mr. Collier has gained a new perspective on life and recognizes that he’s lucky to be alive. It’s a sad commentary on our culture, though, that a man who “had it all” could only understand the value of life after he had his athletic career stolen from him.

Nancy Pelosi coined the phrase “culture of corruption” to paint an entire political party with the brush of scandal. But if any culture in this country is corrupt it has to be the sports business—it’s big business that’s exempt from monopoly and anti-trust laws. It encourages bright young people to leave the educational system prematurely by luring them with mountains of cash, sex, drugs, and rock & roll. And then, once they make the big leagues, they’re engulfed in the seediest of underworlds.

If you Google “nfl players arrested” you will find hundreds of thousands of blogs and articles like these:

Thirteen Football Mugshots (San Diego News Network) 1990s and 2000s

http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/2010-01-07/sports/football/top-13-nfl-mugshots-of-this-decade

Football Players Arrested in 2006 (Washington Post)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/nfl/longterm/2006/nfl_chart_12162006.html

Sports Blog (2008)

http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/NFL_playersmascots_arrested_in_the_past_year/330565

Palmetto Football Talk Blog (Some of the Most Recent)

http://forums.palmettofootballtalk.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/6371083665/m/8261017328

NFL Crimes Newsblog (Most Recent)

http://nflcrimes.blogspot.com/

One of the most disgusting was the Minnesota Vikings Sex Boat Scandal of 2005

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Vikings_boat_party_scandal

Does this situation seem sustainable, let alone desirable? I say, let the NFL players strike so more college players will be lured away from their degrees. Let them be locked out. Maybe then big-business sports will have to give way, at least briefly, to high-quality amateur sports. And maybe CNN will cease to follow the tawdry trials of fallen sports heroes.