The sub-prime lending crisis, the war on terror, the war in Iraq, gas prices and the possibility of an economic recession and the devaluation of the dollar are all major concerns of the day. To read or listen to those who are critical of governments’ involvement and oversight in matters of sports, you would think that the elected officials of the United States are doing nothing in the face of these real-world situations, when in fact there are thousands of news accounts that detail the steps that the US government has taken in response to these “crises.”

On this count, that the government has more important things to do than worry about sports, these people are way off base. The feds are involved in all of our problems and to state otherwise is to be ignorant of the world around you. Government involvement does not mean that problems will be solved, nor does it mean that the government will do things in a way everybody will agree with. That’s the problem with government involvement, and once they get started everything is fair game.

The argument can be made that the government should not be involved so intimately in the world of sport, but the underpinnings of this argument are not that the government has more important things to work on. Those folks critical of governments’ involvement in the world of sports need to look at the big picture and realize that just like every other aspect of American life, the government can meddle with whatever it sees fit because we've allowed them to do so. Sports are no different.

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