Splitting Hairs?

Jose Reyes of the Rockies was suspended 52 games without pay for a domestic violence incident that didn’t lead to a conviction.  I have a problem with that.  The U of I cut ties with junior basketball player Kendrick Nunn after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from, yes, a domestic incident.  And I have no problem with that.  What’s the difference?

Let’s see if I can explain it.  Reyes was not convicted in a court of law; Nunn was.  Reyes is a professional athlete; Nunn, purportedly, is an amateur.  There are different rules for each.  The amateur athlete doesn’t have the right to a scholarship in the same way a professional athlete has a roster spot based on performance.  The amateur is held to a higher standard of conduct, if you believe everything embodied in the NCAA logo.  The professional athlete should stay on the right side of the law, nothing more, nothing less.  But if the MLB players’ association agrees to abridge its members’ freedoms, so be it.

At the end of the day, I’m still a dad who doesn’t want anything to befall his only child.