Why Are Athletes Getting Off Easy?

As St. Louis prepares to host the epic March Madness finale known as the Final Four, the city's sports scene is understandably dominated with college basketball talk. Which works out well for the city's other big sports story, Leonard Little's court case for another DWI, which has been able to fly under the radar of the national scene. The problem is, I don't think the abundance of college basketball is the reason Little's story hasn't had much run. I think people just don't care.

For those of you who don't know, Leonard Little was back in court Monday on drunk driving charges from last April. Naturally, this wasn't Little's first battle with the bottle, as he was driving drunk in 1998 when he ran a red light and killed an area woman. Little got off lightly from his first charge, spending three months in jail and doing community service, but thanks to a persistent offender law in Missouri, Little is facing four years in prison for his latest DWI.

I think an argument can be made that everyone makes mistakes, and if Little had been profoundly affected by his first DWI, maybe some good could have come from it. He could've become an advocate against drunk driving and spoke to kids about it, trying to prevent something similar from happening again. The death of the woman would always be something Little would have to live with, but maybe she wouldn't have to die in vain. Instead of trying to make a difference, Little said little after his first incident outside of the classic, "the bitch ran a yellow light and ruined my $45,000 car."

I just can't comprehend the lack of outrage at this whole incident. Last season, fans were still rooting for him and were wearing his jersey to games. No one seemingly had a problem with him playing in 16 games when he should've been playing in a prison yard. The guy killed a woman and robbed a family of a wife and mother simply with carelessness. For people with a soul, that would be enough to get them to drastically change their lifestyle. Then again, people with a soul would've said something to the family and the mere fact that he continued to drive drunk is sickening.

It would be one thing if the indifference was confined to Little, but drunk driving just doesn't seem to be an issue for people anymore. Last summer, it was University of Cincinnati men's basketball coach Bob Huggins getting arrested with a DUI after the local law enforcement agencies had let him off the hook several times before. UC, obviously concerned about the lack of integrity in their basketball program, dropped the hammer on Huggins after that incident, hitting him with a paid vacation and a "suspension" that lasted until the start of basketball season.

What I don't understand is how anyone can have the nerve to call for Temple coach John Chaney's head and be fine having Huggins on the sideline. What Chaney did was reprehensible, but his actions didn't put lives in jeopardy. How can so many people be outraged at what Chaney did, but give Huggins a free pass to booze up and get behind the wheel?

Recently, one of Huggins' assistants was charged with a DUI. Nothing screams integrity for a program like averaging more DUIs than graduations. Yet, for the most part, there has not been an outcry against Huggins or the program. As recent news might suggest, the apathy DUI cases are met with isn't confined to the sports world.

Over the weekend it was announced that Donald Trump and the organizers of the Miss USA pageant decided that Miss Delaware would be allowed to stay in next month's competition, despite her 2004 guilty plea for drunken driving. Their reasoning?

"She was 22 when this happened. What 22-year-old hasn't done that?" said Mary Hilliard McMillan, Miss USA spokeswoman.

Brilliant. Simply brilliant. Of course, Miss Delaware didn't need someone speaking in her defense.

"I've learned my lesson," she said. "I think I'm more of a role model now after going through these hardships."

Right. Nothing says role model like not being held accountable for your actions. Then again, it's not like she's much of a role model to begin with, let's face it, she's in a beauty pageant, it's not like she's there because of her intellect. If anything, her actions may have helped her, as ironically enough one of the judges in this contest is none other than Olympian-turned-drunk driver Michael Phelps.

Again, I can understand that people make mistakes and can change, so I guess can't be too hard on Phelps and Miss Delaware. After all, it was Leonard Little who once said, "You can't judge a person by one situation." In that case, the free passes should be gone for people like Huggins and Little.

Unfortunately, that just isn't the case. Huggins will be coaching UC next season and, more than likely, Little will be back on the field, which is a complete joke. I guess I'm crazy for speaking out against people like Little and Huggins, though, because according to Miss Delaware's logic, they must be two of the biggest role models in sports today.

Mark Chalifoux is also a weekly columnist for SportsFan Magazine. His columns appear every Tuesday on Sports Central. You can e-mail Mark at [email protected].