MiddleClassSports.com

The biggest debate in 21st century sports media coverage involves the comparison between the court of law and the court of public opinion.  A steady stream of sports personalities make their way through the United States court system, and, because of the 24/7, instant news atmosphere, it is immediately covered on sports television and sports radio all across the country.

Athletes or other sports personalities complain about this instant coverage because it often leads to a guilty verdict in the court of public opinion.  These alleged or suspected criminals have not been found guilty by a court of law, but because the media attention is immediate, the public often assumes that they really are guilty.

Whether or not a court of law ever finds athletes like Barry Bonds, Pacman Jones, or Ron Artest guilty, they are already guilty of something else.

Poor judgment.

Millions of Americans make it through each day without problems with the law.  They know that if you don’t speed, you won’t get pulled over.  If you don’t have and hang out with friends who do illegal drugs, you won’t be suspected of illegal drug use.  If you don’t beat someone up outside of a strip club, you won’t get arrested for assault and battery.  It is common sense.

The fact that so many athletes find trouble with the law goes back to how they were raised.  Many athletes come from broken homes, were raised in troubled neighborhoods and have a poor selection of friends.  When they become professional athletes, they still have that past holding them back.  They fail to realize that the past must be left behind.  When a team throws millions of dollars at that athlete, they expect him to represent the team and the city he plays in with pride, respect and honor.  As the saying goes, when you have more, more is required of you.

So when an athlete is in the news for breaking the law, or being suspected of breaking the law, in all likelihood, he is there because of poor judgment.

Unless that athlete is Cedric Benson.

Last weekend, Benson was operating his boat in Lake Travis when he was stopped for a random check by the Lower Colorado River Authority.  He apparently failed a sobriety test, then became physical with the officers, so they pepper sprayed and arrested him. 

But another side to this story has surfaced.  Testimony from one of Benson’s passengers has been made public.  A friend of Benson’s who was with him on the boat said that she called her dad, asking him to call 911 because the police were attacking Benson for no apparent reason.  She said he wasn’t drunk and didn’t resist the sobriety test.  Plus, it appears that the LCRA has pulled over Benson’s boat in each of his last six outings on Lake Travis, leading to questions about racial profiling.

So was it Benson who showed poor judgment, drinking too much while operating a boat and then resisting the instructions of police?  Or was it the officers themselves, who racially profiled Benson and then provoked him to attack?  Or, finally, was it the media, who jumped on this story before all of the details have been released, forcing Benson to face a guilty verdict in the court of public opinion?

Unfortunately, there is no ending to this story.  Not yet.  There are no answers to the important questions.  The most important thing right now is this:  Wait to make your verdict in this case.  Cedric Benson may be innocent of the charge of poor judgment after all.