In coming up with a list of the top infidelities in sports for the year 2009, I will stick to my role of providing a teachable moment with thoughtful lessons on how this information might affect our personal lives and choices and share the "juicy" stuff. In fact, this is what one of my books, 'Financial Lovemaking,' is all about. Some of the thoughts may not be in line with your own thinking, but freedom of expression is in full effect here on BV.

One place where you don't have absolute freedom is in the institution of marriage. After making the vow of monogamy, you then become public enemy No. 1 if you violate the terms of that agreement. Some argue that due to the presence of high testosterone levels in their bodies, some athletes tend to have higher sex drives than most. There is also the massive temptation of having your dream girl thrown at you every single day of your entire life, which tends to be the case for most superstars. But in the sanctity of marriage, such excuses are not allowed to apply.
The infidelity subculture within professional athletics is rampant, as some even argue that there is an agreed upon code of ethics for athletes' mistresses (who knew?). In the age of AIDS, though, there has to be some kind of accountability, and I am sure that many athletes are enduring private consequences for their behavior that you'll rarely see announced in a press release. All the while, I seriously doubt that the advent of AIDS is going to stop people from "getting busy" with the objects of their affection. The drive is just too strong, and God meant for it to be that way (can I get an amen?).

Here is a list of the most Earth-shattering athlete infidelities of 2009:



1) Steve McNair murder-suicide: Sorry to those who thought I was going to pick Tiger Woods. But the fact that McNair's mistress shot and killed him in his sleep and then killed herself trumps Elin Nordegren allegedly chasing Tiger down with a golf club. This McNair story, which occurred over July 4 weekend, was both surprising and tragic, since one rarely sees infidelity go this far. But the truth is that athletes who cheat on their spouses have no way of knowing that they might run in to a fatal attraction. This gives credence to the idea of getting to know someone before granting them too much trust.



2) Tiger-Tiger Woods y'all! Yes, Tiger is still making headlines weeks after his initial car accident. Had the accident never occurred, it is likely that his affairs would never have made the news cycle. The most surprising thing about Tiger's fall from grace is that he is not the only athlete involved in multiple affairs. Why the public chose to make him into the symbol of marital disgrace is likely due to his squeaky clean image, the color of his skin, the number of women that he was spending his time with and their chosen professions (a porn star, Tiger? Come on, dude, that's just nasty!). Elin is apparently getting "gangsta" with Woods these days, demanding half of his $600 million fortune. Whoa.



3) Big Shaq: Shaquille O'Neal was pushed toward divorce by his wife Shaunie not too long ago after she grew tired of his long-winded appetite for infidelity. Shaq was further put on blast by the fact that the text messages between he and his mistress, Latosha, were released on the Internet. I'm not sure how people get access to that kind of stuff. Is there any limit to what people might do to get all up in ya business? At the end of the day, Shaq appears to be yet another athlete who probably should not have gotten married. Even Kobe Bryant claimed years ago that Shaq pays women to remain silent when they are sleeping with him. Why go through all of that when you could just be single like Derrick Jeter and sleep with whomever you want?


4) A-Rod and Madonna: Who would have thought that this relationship would even happen? Isn't she twice his age? Not quite. But she was almost college age when A-Rod was born; I guess kids grow up fast these days. Well, according to A-Rod's wife, Madonna is the reason for their breakup. She even went as far as saying that Madonna brainwashed Rodriquez with Kabbalah, her religion, and claimed that A-Rod thought Madonna was his soul mate. At least this affair seemed to involve some kind of connection that went above the waistline. Good for you, Madonna. Keep pimpin' alive, you 51-year-old she-stud.

I sometimes wonder why athletes bother to get married in the first place. Many of them don't want to do it, aren't ready to be faithful and lose millions when the marriage is over. But perhaps we can assume that there is a disconnect between a man's heart and his sex organs. These men, in their strange way, want to do the right thing, but then find that doing the right thing is much harder than they anticipated.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is a faculty affiliate at the College Sport Research Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.