Hot-Dogging: The Downside Of Fame, Good Fortune

For someone who has always been interested in sports, whether as a participant or watching my favorite team perform, it is disheartening to see what is going on, especially at the professional level.

Many of our superstars today are not satisfi ed with letting their ability speak for itself but are now showing out and hot-dogging, just another example of the “all-about-me” syndrome.

Slam dunks and chestpatting by basketball stars have reached epidemic proportions.

A prime example is Lebron James, who plays professional basketball for the Miami Heat. He puts on such an act each game, including his pregame performance, it is embarrassing to watch.

I assume he believes this behavior makes him more appealing to the fans and therefore makes his many sponsors happy. I can’t help but think of the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson days when those great athletes were content with being a team player, making their teammates look better because of their unselfi shstyle of play, in addition to their scoring and ballhandling profi ciency. How they played the game established role models for the younger generation, emphasizing teamwork rather than performing like a member of a vaudeville act.

The stars of professional football have fallen into the same pattern, acting out after making a touchdown or a tackle. You might think a coach could put a stop to such behavior, but star athletes are paid a much higher salary than the coaches and you know what that means. If a coach complains too much about your star’s hot dogging, he will lose his job.

I realize Lebron James is not the first person to let the public’s adoration go to his head, whether talking about an athlete, an entertainmentcelebrity or a politician. It’s the age-old problem of how to maintain humility while basking in fame and good fortune. The real culprit is the power that comes with celebrity status and how it can turn a person’s head.

A recent example is how, in the latest statewide election, Republicans gained a majority in both the House and the Senate. This resulted in legislation making the state of Arkansas the subject of ridicule. Instead of the General Assembly dealing with matters of urgency, such as poverty throughout the state, the need to find a way to upgrade our education system and maintaining our eroding infrastructure, the politicians now in control are acting like the new bully at school, pushing through measures dealing with additional restrictions on abortions, measures to allow the carrying of guns on campus, contemplating a law requiring the Arkansas Razorbacks play the Arkansas State Red Wolves in football and mulling new voting restrictions. I wonder if they ever considered how these bills would look to corporations consideringrelocating to Arkansas and how their employees would think about living in such an environment? Would this type of legislation help attract future faculty members, or would it be a turn off? Might it cause existing faculty to think about moving on?

Take the bill that has been enacted allowing faculty to carry firearms on campus, despite opposition from the academic community.

Refusing to abide by the input from the teachers who are directly involved and substituting the judgment of newly elected politicians is really frightening. I am sure the majority believe their passage of new bills increasing restrictions on abortion is a daring piece of legislation, but any lawyer would tell you it is unconstitutional and its only purpose is to grab national headlines. The bill that places new restrictions on voting is just another example of legislation attempting to turn the clock back and undo hard-earned safeguards for voters.

We certainly aren’t the only state whose legislature has been captured by theradical right, but that is hardly comforting. The good news is a women’s right to vote is still safe, the poll tax remains dead and no one has introduced a bill requiring all students to bring a Bibleto school each day. But you never know.

BASS TRUMBO IS A RESIDENT OF FAYETTEVILLE, AN ATTORNEY AND A FORMER COLLEGE INSTRUCTOR IN BUSINESS LAW.

Opinion, Pages 11 on 04/28/2013

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