Play Time Over?

Professional sports, and even college sports to a lesser extent, have long been populated with boorish thugs who, despite criminal and idiotic behavior, are kept around because they can play. The NBA, in my opinion, has been especially sociopathic. However, it looks like things might be changing for the better. Cases in point:

• A Dallas hockey player was suspended for 6 games for a "crude remark." It's a start, but hockey players can still get away with vicious on-ice behavior.

• A New York football player was suspended for the season after he shot himself in the leg with his own gun at a nightclub. However, they might bring him back next year.

• A New York basketball player was banished from his team for some manner of obnoxious behavior (I'm not really sure what's going on here.)

• OJ Simpson is going to jail.

Of course, the NFL keeps letting Pacman Jones back in. So there's still some progress to be made in cleaning up sports.