Hazing rituals are shameful and so are the players who perform them

No, I'm not going to talk about players being taped to the goalposts, or locked naked in a bus washroom on a road trip or any other disgusting and offensive behaviour usually reserved for college age or hockey types.

No, this one comes from the world of professional sports and football to be exact. I have just finished a story about  rookie dinner where one player was required to make amends for not carrying a veterans pads, by purchasing dinner for some of the other players. Apparently, the story tells the dinner was only for the "offensive" players. Now there's a handful just in that one word alone.

The player, Dez Bryant, paid almost $55,000.00 for a dinner for some of the players. It's just grown men having a little fun right. Most people who watch these players don't make that kind of money in one year and these behemoths blow it on one dinner. What an offensive thing to do when millions are out of work, so many more are losing their homes and so many people are living on the streets.

Maybe, just maybe, if some of these guys took some time to see what it takes for the average Joe to make that kind of coin, then maybe they might just change their hazing rituals. The lowest paid player in the NFL makes more than that in a year, never mind a month, what they should do is take a look around and require the rookie to donate the money to a cause that could use it. Food for children who go to school without breakfast might be a start.

This is more than hazing. This is an affront to sensible people. Unfortunately, most people will accept it as part of the game, but these guys who play in a billion dollar playpen just don't get it.  If a small group started to boycott something like the NFL or the NHL I wonder if it would make a difference?

The real problem is that we have set these people up as idols. We pray at the flat screen altar on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons and get our vicarious kicks all the while checking out the scantily clad cheerleaders.

It's time to wake up and do something more than try to fulfill our unmet desires on this idolatrous altar. How many of us(myself included) would be willing to walk away? I wonder?