Prevalence of Criminal Activity On The Part of Pro Athletes...

[Kevin W.]

I'm pretty sure the reason why no one gives Milbury crap about is because it was nearly 40 years ago. Plus, Cantona was rightfully condemned, considering he, you know, kicked a fan square in the chest. They did not get off scot-free. Stop trying to make this a racial thing.

[Rockstar Matt]

Dude, you're getting too worked up about the apparent dissing of the NBA (what??) on these boards, lol. I didn't think people cared about it this much.

I was talking about in the general media not on these boards.

Here's the facts, the NFL has more players than the NBA and because of that they'll almost always have more players committing crimes than the NBA.

You moron, if you are going to comment on someone's post please learn to read it all the way through.

I have already debunked that idiotic notion by showing that NHL players commit less crime than NBA players even though there are more of them.

Also there is a higher percentage of NFL players doing crime than NBA players. If what you said was true then the percentages should be the same.

You'd do well to heed your own advice as I was practically agreeing with you.

Haha keep telling yourself that.

Have you considered that hockey players generally don't come from the inner-cities/ghettos? The NFL and NBA are full of players that grew up on the streets and in neighborhoods where the threat of death and gangs were prominent.

I hate to say it, but people in general, across the country are more likely to let a star football player get away with more than a star basketball player. That could be a reason why the NFL doesn't have that "Thug" label that the NBA has.

[Magnus]

Sad how a sport (basketball) invented by a Canadian to keep "good, upstanding, white American boys" active in the winter has been transformed by the public consciousness and media into a sport thought of (by some people) as one that only inner city, disadvantaged youth play...

Sorry for the tangent. Just making an observation. My dad is a huge basketball fan, but he could do without all the gangsta rap trimmings of the sport. He likes it for what it is as a sport.

[IceCap]

Artest (Metta World Peace) seemed to realize that not much happened to many Bruins, especially Milbury still has a public career, since 1979.

Does anyone have any idea of what the hell he's talking about here?

Milbury and Eric Cantona can go into the stands, yet they are not called "thugs".

Cantona is a ManU Legend and Milbury is a white guy which non-whites really do not know about on 2013. Nobody cares about 1979.

Artest and Jackson can do it and they are now "thugs"? WTF? We are not the best presenting this issue as black folk, but that is not the story here.

You're comparing to what the public of 2013 says about incidents that happened in 1979 and 2004. That's faulty logic. Yes, people called Artest a thug in 2004 and in 2013. To truly compare the reactions, however, you need to compare what people said about Milbury and company in 1979 and the years immediately afterwards, not what they said about them thirty-four years later.

So what did they say in 1979? Well that's obviously before my time, but see, I like to read. And I've read quite a bit on NHL history. I know that this period was sort of a dark ages for the sport. "Goon hockey" took over, fights became more frequent, more penalties were called, and the whole thing started to resemble a circus. It's the kind of hockey that the movie Slap Shot parodied.

When Milbury and the Bruins went into the stands people were upset and people did call on the NHL to clean up its image. So no, people didn't just let Milbury and company get away with it because they were white. People did call for their heads, and people did call them thugs.

The reason why no one calls them thugs anymore is because it happened more then three decades ago. Ron Artest's fight in the stands will probably be similarly forgotten by 2038.

Haha keep telling yourself that.

He has though. He's shown that, both in terms of players arrested and percentage of offenders, the NBA is more law abiding then the NFL. He shouldn't have called you a moron, but his underlying point is still valid.

[Harmening]

Dude, you're getting too worked up about the apparent dissing of the NBA (what??) on these boards, lol. I didn't think people cared about it this much.

I was talking about in the general media not on these boards.

Here's the facts, the NFL has more players than the NBA and because of that they'll almost always have more players committing crimes than the NBA.

You moron, if you are going to comment on someone's post please learn to read it all the way through.

I have already debunked that idiotic notion by showing that NHL players commit less crime than NBA players even though there are more of them.

Also there is a higher percentage of NFL players doing crime than NBA players. If what you said was true then the percentages should be the same.

It is by one percentage point if the 53-man, regular season roster numbers are used (1,696 NFL players vs. 450* NBA players) and it is less than .34 of a percentage point if the 90-man, training camp max roster is used since they are still "signed" NFL players.

*- The NBA roster must have a minimum of 12 players and a maximum of 15.

Training Camp rosters are BS and you know probably know it by the fact that you put "signed" in quotations.

Percentage points in this case are rather huge. If the NFL was at the percentage of crime that NBA players had (using regular season rosters) last year they would have only 18 arrests instead of 42 which is a huge difference.

Dude, you're getting too worked up about the apparent dissing of the NBA (what??) on these boards, lol. I didn't think people cared about it this much.

I was talking about in the general media not on these boards.

Here's the facts, the NFL has more players than the NBA and because of that they'll almost always have more players committing crimes than the NBA.

You moron, if you are going to comment on someone's post please learn to read it all the way through.

I have already debunked that idiotic notion by showing that NHL players commit less crime than NBA players even though there are more of them.

Also there is a higher percentage of NFL players doing crime than NBA players. If what you said was true then the percentages should be the same.

And just like that you've really lost any credibility you may have had. Personal attacks at someone because they disagree with you generally shows a lack of maturity. And it's hard to take anything you say seriously.

Also ignoring the content of what someone wrote because of a few harsh words is shallow.

The way that you presented your "few harsh words" was completely immature. If someone decides not to focus on the "content" of what you wrote, doesn't make them shallow. It means you are immature, and they won't waste their time with you.

[Gothamite]

As someone without a horse in the race, I have to admit that your perfectly valid point gets lost in personal attacks on your fellow posters. It's counterproductive.

[Nyk33]

Dude, you're getting too worked up about the apparent dissing of the NBA (what??) on these boards, lol. I didn't think people cared about it this much.

I was talking about in the general media not on these boards.

Here's the facts, the NFL has more players than the NBA and because of that they'll almost always have more players committing crimes than the NBA.

You moron, if you are going to comment on someone's post please learn to read it all the way through.

I have already debunked that idiotic notion by showing that NHL players commit less crime than NBA players even though there are more of them.

Also there is a higher percentage of NFL players doing crime than NBA players. If what you said was true then the percentages should be the same.

It is by one percentage point if the 53-man, regular season roster numbers are used (1,696 NFL players vs. 450* NBA players) and it is less than .34 of a percentage point if the 90-man, training camp max roster is used since they are still "signed" NFL players.

*- The NBA roster must have a minimum of 12 players and a maximum of 15.

Training Camp rosters are BS and you know probably know it by the fact that you put "signed" in quotations.

Percentage points in this case are rather huge. If the NFL was at the percentage of crime that NBA players had (using regular season rosters) last year they would have only 18 arrests instead of 42 which is a huge difference.

Dude, you're getting too worked up about the apparent dissing of the NBA (what??) on these boards, lol. I didn't think people cared about it this much.

I was talking about in the general media not on these boards.

Here's the facts, the NFL has more players than the NBA and because of that they'll almost always have more players committing crimes than the NBA.

You moron, if you are going to comment on someone's post please learn to read it all the way through.

I have already debunked that idiotic notion by showing that NHL players commit less crime than NBA players even though there are more of them.

Also there is a higher percentage of NFL players doing crime than NBA players. If what you said was true then the percentages should be the same.

And just like that you've really lost any credibility you may have had. Personal attacks at someone because they disagree with you generally shows a lack of maturity. And it's hard to take anything you say seriously.

Also ignoring the content of what someone wrote because of a few harsh words is shallow.

The way that you presented your "few harsh words" was completely immature. If someone decides not to focus on the "content" of what you wrote, doesn't make them shallow. It means you are immature, and they won't waste their time with you.

I find just focusing on harsh words in order to ignore what a person is actually writing is shallow and a sign of thin skin.

That is probably the last thing I will say on this matter because there is nothing more to go into.

[Harmening]

Having little tolerance for unnecessary personal attacks is not thin skinned and shallow. It's called maturity.

[The_Admiral]

Every bad life decision I make is informed by the comfort that Mike Milbury is still gainfully employed.

[Rockstar Matt]

Haha keep telling yourself that.

He has though. He's shown that, both in terms of players arrested and percentage of offenders, the NBA is more law abiding then the NFL. He shouldn't have called you a moron, but his underlying point is still valid.

Oh, I'm not disagreeing with him. His points are valid and make sense. I was just pointing out that using the NHL, to say that just because a league has larger team rosters doesn't mean they'll have more players committing crimes, is not a good example.

I think one would have to take into account the neighborhoods in which these players come from. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many NHL players come from crime-ridden areas like the NFL and NBA do. The NFL and NBA have more players who grew up with violence, drugs and just overall really :censored:ty neighborhoods.

I do think the NFL has a bigger problem than the NBA with their players committing crimes, but they don't necessarily get the bad rep that the NBA does. I think a lot of that has to do with the popularity of football in the US. To me, people are more likely to let a star football player get away with more than a star basketball player and forgive me, especially if the star football player is white and the star basketball player is black. I mean Ben Rapestberger has been charged with Sexual Assault on 3 different occasions (one is a mistake, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern) and acquitted all three times before any of them could go to trial. If a star black basketball player did that, you can bet your ass he'd be in jail. It's not fair, but it's the truth. Racism is disappearing but it isn't gone altogether.

[BBTV]

Haha keep telling yourself that.

He has though. He's shown that, both in terms of players arrested and percentage of offenders, the NBA is more law abiding then the NFL. He shouldn't have called you a moron, but his underlying point is still valid.

Oh, I'm not disagreeing with him. His points are valid and make sense. I was just pointing out that using the NHL, to say that just because a league has larger team rosters doesn't mean they'll have more players committing crimes, is not a good example.

I think one would have to take into account the neighborhoods in which these players come from. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many NHL players come from crime-ridden areas like the NFL and NBA do. The NFL and NBA have more players who grew up with violence, drugs and just overall really :censored:ty neighborhoods.

I do think the NFL has a bigger problem than the NBA with their players committing crimes, but they don't necessarily get the bad rep that the NBA does. I think a lot of that has to do with the popularity of football in the US. To me, people are more likely to let a star football player get away with more than a star basketball player and forgive me, especially if the star football player is white and the star basketball player is black. I mean Ben Rapestberger has been charged with Sexual Assault on 3 different occasions (one is a mistake, two is a coincidence, three is a pattern) and acquitted all three times before any of them could go to trial. If a star black basketball player did that, you can bet your ass he'd be in jail. It's not fair, but it's the truth. Racism is disappearing but it isn't gone altogether.

You cannot prove that.

[Brian in Boston]

I've created this new thread to serve as a home for discussion regarding criminal activity engaged in by professional athletes, including a comparison of the levels of prevalence of such activity amongst athletes by sport/league.

Please, let's keep said discussion RESPONSIBLE.

[OnWis97]

As a Vikings fan, the biggest surprise I had is that they were only tied for most.

[rams80]

Rams: 9 arrests since 2000.

Wow, we had some really out of control criminal masterminds. The 4 pillars were so frickin' necessary Spags.

[BBTV]

Can we acknowledge that "thugs" is just a word that certain white people use as a synonym for the n word? It's clear what a poster's agenda is as soon as that word Is typed.

[IceCap]

Can we acknowledge that "thugs" is just a word that certain white people use as a synonym for the n word? It's clear what a poster's agenda is as soon as that word Is typed.

No. Context is important. It's not clear cut. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn't. I called Mike Milbury a thug in this thread. Not quite synonymous for the n word there.

That doesn't even get into the origins of the word "thug."

[infrared41]

Artest (Metta World Peace) seemed to realize that not much happened to many Bruins, especially Milbury still has a public career, since 1979.

Does anyone have any idea of what the hell he's talking about here?

Milbury and Eric Cantona can go into the stands, yet they are not called "thugs".

Cantona is a ManU Legend and Milbury is a white guy which non-whites really do not know about on 2013. Nobody cares about 1979.

Artest and Jackson can do it and they are now "thugs"? WTF? We are not the best presenting this issue as black folk, but that is not the story here.

It sure looked a lot like you were saying that, before he decided to go into the stands in Detroit, Ron Artest was thinking "well nothing happened to Milbury back in '79 so what the hell, may as well go kick some ass." Anyway, you're way off the mark on this. Listen to the latest episode of Basically a Sports Show. Ice_Cap/Mike gives a great explanation of how faulty your logic is.

[IceCap]

Oh, I'm not disagreeing with him. His points are valid and make sense. I was just pointing out that using the NHL, to say that just because a league has larger team rosters doesn't mean they'll have more players committing crimes, is not a good example.

I think one would have to take into account the neighborhoods in which these players come from. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I don't think many NHL players come from crime-ridden areas like the NFL and NBA do. The NFL and NBA have more players who grew up with violence, drugs and just overall really :censored:ty neighborhoods.

Sorry, I disagree with your premise.

You claim that the NBA and the NFL are both worse off then the NHL because their players mostly come from bad neighbourhoods. Except that, well, in 2012 the NBA had five arrests and the NFL had 42. That's not even close. If upbringing is what accounts for the high rate of crime in the NFL then according to your own argument we should see similar numbers in the NBA because, according to you, they all come from the same troubled environments. That the NBA is a bastion of law abiding citizens compared to the NFL sinks your whole "where they're from" point.

[nash61]

Boston Globe- "The myth about crime and pro athletes"

[infrared41]

Boston Globe- "The myth about crime and pro athletes"

Sure, when compared to the general population but that doesn't change the NFL vs. NBA crime rate discussion.