Question Of The Day

Saw this as a sidebar when I read that Ricky Rubio's spending the next two years in the Euroleagues. I'll get to that in another entry.

Here is the Question of the Day; Are stories about a player's struggles with emotional and/or substance issues news?

Answer: Yes.

Because substance abuse issues directly impact a player's performance, and a player's performance is always news. I don't assign addicts any moral stigma -- I've got family that're in recovery. However, athletes with drug and alcohol problems have a duty -- to their organizations, coaches, teammates, fans, family, friends, and selves -- to seek help for their illness, to treat it by whatever means necessary, to recognize that recovery is a lifetime process (addiction never goes away), to recognize signs of a relapse, and to repeat all of the above when relapses happen. The same goes for emotional problems. An athlete is responsible for keeping him/herself functioning at the highest possible level. That's their job.

Yes, I'm looking at you, Josh Hamilton.
-BJ