As an alumnus of the University of Florida just about all of my sports enthusiasm can be found in my devotion to its college football & basketball programs. Having said that it might make it easier to understand why such a devoted fan as myself of college sports could careless about the professional side of it. At a minimum I haven't watched an NBA basketball game in more than three decades. The public persona's of the players and posturing during this period by the league as it embraced the "gangsta" image as a public relations bridge to their target demographic really served to make me uninterested and somewhat turned off to the whole kabuki theatre aspect of it all. Recent subsequent actions by Wizards star Gilbert Arenas only served to reinforce all those negative images I harbored.So, when I read Mr. Arenas' article this afternoon in the Washington Post that acted not only as a mea culpa for his actions regarding guns in the locker room but a call to action for himself and others to change their image in the community and undertake the responsible roles they have as public figures my perception of Gilbert Arenas as just another ghetto wannabe gang banger underwent a complete 180. I wish him all the luck I can 'and hope the positive that comes out of this makes a difference to just one kid. Then it will all be worth it.
