Image Problem?

The NFL Player seen showboating his way into the endzone is Jerome Mathis. According to Profootballtalk.com, Mr. Mathis was just arrested for choking is pregnant girlfriend. Classy.


This is Dwight Howard. He has never choked his pregnant girlfriend. And he is far better at what he does than Mr. Mathis. For the most part, few NBA Players have gotten in trouble for off the court mischief, while countless NFL players have committed crimes. Jared Allen, Jerramy Stevens, Leonard Little, Mike Vick, and Pacman Jones are among the most severe examples of NFL players who have misbehaved off the field. Najeh Davenport once Shat in someone's laundry basket. I am compelled to ask, why is it that according to a Harris Poll, the NBA is the league with the image problem?
Bill Simmons, the espn.com writer whose homerism even I find egregious, insinuated in his column yesterday that the reason for this discrepancy is race. Sure the faces of the NBA are black, while the faces of the NFL are, as ridiculous as this may be, The Manning Brothers, Tom Brady, and LaDainian. However, anyone with two eyes can see that most teams in the NFL, with the exception of New England, are predominantly NOT Caucasian. Simply put, playing the race card is a cop out excuse.
The NBA has an image problem because most people do not watch the NBA. The NFL has at most 20 games in a season for a team (GO BIG BLUE). This makes it pretty simple to watch games. Moreover, the games are entertaining to watch, and watching the product on the field makes people put the off the field nonsense on the backburner.
People should watch the NBA. The athletes are incredible, and it is a quality product. However, 82 games a year, plus playoff, is a lot of basketball to watch. Additionally, ESPN and TNT seemingly have decided that the only teams worth watching are the Spurs, Lakers, Pistons, Mavs, Suns, and Rockets. The Celtics have recently joined this list. Before the recent trade flurry, These teams were, with the exception of the Suns, fairly boring to watch. A repetitive and boring product is not going to draw viewers, so casual observers instead focus on the occasional non-basketball related problem that the league runs into.
There is hope, however. The recent trading explosion, coupled with the emergence of young, well behaved talent like Dwight Howard, Brandon Roy, Kevin Durant, etc., makes Professional Basketball intriguing once again. Now it is up to the programmers to vary the games that they show. Show me Hawks- Blazers once in a while, Dammit!
The image problems with the NBA are not caused by Race, they are caused by lazy television executives. For the first time since the Melee in Detroit, things are looking bright for the NBA. Sadly, it is the NFL that must now clean up after itself.