New England is feeling happy these days, since the Red Sox first won the World Series in October and then just recently, the Patriots repeated as Super Bowl champions. But unfortunately, not all is well in the world of sports these days. If I look around, I see that the National Hockey League is all set to cancel their entire 2004-2005 season because the players and owners can’t decided on a new contract.

And most recently, former Major League Baseball slugger Jose Canseco has written a tell-all book in which he describes how some of the best players in recent history became great by using steroids, including the well-respected Mark McGwire. Of course, this is on top of the existing steroid controversy in baseball which has implicated players like Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi and which ultimately forced baseball to implement a stricter policy against steroids. And of course, let’s not forget the ugly “basket-brawl” incident between Indiana Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans last year that sent that sport reeling.

Are these incidents all indicators of the moral decline of America, when something as innocent as sporting events morph into displays of greed, cheating, and outright violence? Is it a reflection of how commercialized and “corporatized” sports has become where the emphasis is on making profits at all costs? As a sociologist, I would probably say yes to both. As a sports fan, I can only say, “Say it ain’t so.”