What happened to the days when guys like Barry Bonds and MarkMcGwire were just heroes and the race of your favorite quarterbackdidn’t matter?

When favorite players weren’t rumored to be on performanceenhancing drugs and the words “affirmative action”sounded more like next Saturday’s morning cartoon.

I remember going to watch sports as a kid. Balancing on my seat,peering over the shoulders of the fans in front of me, takingnotice of everyone sitting around me 8212; still learning how tobe a fan.

Cheering when others cheered, booing when others booed, nevertruly understanding why we were all behaving so strangely, but atthe same time, being trained to understand.

The child’s mind never wanders towards the negatives insports: the issues surrounding drugs, the salary cap or otheroff-the-court trouble.

It’s black and white. Win or lose. Hot dog or cottoncandy.

Simple.

We’re all taught, one way or the other, how to enjoy theworld of sports. We’ve all had different teachers and learnedin different ways.

My teacher was my grandpa, and like any other leader in sports,he led by example.

He was the first person I called when the Giants folded in theWorld Series last year and he will be the first person I call whenthey make it back. He was surprisingly calm during the wholeordeal.

“At least they made it this far,” he said.”That was fun.”

He put it in perspective. His composure actually helped with themourning 8212; truly.

He taught the innocence of sports in its purest form.

Discussions with my grandpa about sports never seemed to extendfurther than the team or players’ performances on thefield.

But I am no longer just a kid and now sports represent more thanjust a game.

The innocence is gone.

Sports is a platform for many of the sociological issues in oursociety. Controversial topics like racism, homophobia and ethicscan be interpreted through sport.

Sports fans following the Kobe Bryant trial are suddenlydiscussing law, ethics and the over-sensationalizing of the media -not Bryant’s stats.

Fans learned that marketing and the media can create their ownstars. LeBron James became the NBA’s biggest star in lessthan a week.

Barry Bonds will soon testify in front of a grand jury regardinghis involvement in an organization charged with producing illegalperformance enhancing drugs.

Fans already have begun to discuss the ramifications of thesedrugs and their consequences on the authenticity of sport.

Rush Limbaugh comments on quarterback Donovan McNabb’ssuccess coming only from the media’s desire to push anAfrican-American quarterback.

The NFL establishes a rule that says every NFL team mustinterview minority candidates when searching for head coaches.

Fans suddenly feel free to discuss the otherwise uncomfortabletopic of racism.

Headlines and images on the sports pages are showing less of thegames and more of the scandals surrounding it.

Controversy and scandal has always been sexier than pastime.It’s not always a bad thing, but it does take away from thepurity sports holds when you are young.

To know sports in its simplest form, just listen to a group offifth-graders hanging out and playing basketball on theblacktop.

They’re talking about Chris Webber, the “mostawesome dunker ever!” Not the Chris Webber who just lied to agrand jury.

Sports provide an escape from everyday life, it gives usunforgettable memories and it acts as the glue that bringscommunities together.

Unfortunately we all too often get away from the magic insports, losing sight of why we fell in love with sports in thefirst place.

I miss the days when it was just cotton candy and Grandpa.

Do you despise the media’s corruption in sports or are youleaving class early tonight to catch the men’s hoops team inaction – let me know what you think of the 2003-04 squad.

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