All-star

Hey now you're an all-star get your game on, go play;
Hey now you're a rock star get the show on get paid

On Tuesday evening I sat on my couch incredulous at what I was seeing on my T.V. I had to look up the definition of the term "all-star" just to be sure that I really understood what this meant from the standpoint of athletes and their seasonal performance metrics. I found two definitions:

1). Consisting of athletes chosen as the best at their positions from all teams in a league.
2). Consisting entirely of star performers.

I got the sense that somehow these definitions did not mesh with the talent that was assembled at this year's baseball all-star game. Consider the following stat lines from some of the position players voted in by the fans:

• .224 average, 99 strikeouts in 294 ABs
  
• .249 average, 76 strikeouts in 297 ABs
  
• .244 average, 59 strikeouts in 315 ABs
  
• .225 average, 86 strikeouts in 241 ABs
  
• .247 average, 55 strikeouts in 283 ABs
  
• .208 average, 134 strikeouts in 293 ABs
  

I don't know about you but this is pretty appalling. In a time when we are setting the achievement bar lower and ever lower, giving trophies out to all of the players whether they came in first place or last place, these numbers from professional athletes are an embarrassment. An utter indictment of a once proud sport. Since when are underachieving, well below average, multi-million dollar athletes deserving of a national spotlight on primetime television. I would hope that anyone of these players with an ounce of pride in their work would publicly step away saying that they were not deserving of any applause or recognition for the steaming pile of crap that they had amassed during the first half of the season. Yet with all of these folks having contracts that pay them huge additional dollars for being named to such a roll, they would never let a thing like pride hold them back. Actually, I'm sure that I likely wouldn't either.