Double-standard train arrives at Reid's station

It's not often that broadcaster Al Michaels, as skilled as they come, triggers my gag reflex. But he did during the Philadelphia-Dallas broadcast on Sunday.

There are few people who don't feel for Eagles coach Andy Reid on some level. He is the parent of two delinquent and dangerous sons, one of which is an alleged drug dealer. You remember what drug dealers do, right? They destroy neighborhoods, families and the very fabric of society.

Andy Reid faces no discipline from the NFL for his sons' criminal troubles. (Getty Images)

Michaels expressed such syrupy sympathy for Reid it was unclear if Michaels was talking about Reid or Martin Luther King. He spoke of how unfortunate it is that Reid is in the public eye and if it were the children of a Fortune 500 CEO getting into trouble with the law, it would not be headlines.

Ah, Mr. Michaels. Can I call you Mr. Michaels? Reid decided to get -- and stay -- in a profession that requires 20-hour days and he enjoys the multimillion dollar salary that accompanies it. Reid didn't join the Peace Corps.

While there is sympathy for Reid and his family, you cannot be anything but floored by the double standard the Reid case demonstrates.

Imagine if quarterback Donovan McNabb had two kids who were such dangers to society. They were driving while high on heroin. They were drug dealers. McNabb's home was described as a "drug emporium" by an unbiased judge who also stated there was no structure in the home. What would the reaction be?

There would be great outrage. There would be a national debate on whether McNabb should leave the game and take care of his family. The league can deny this but they would have agents (read: spies) monitoring every move McNabb and his family made. They would want to drug test him. The commissioner would say, as he has before, that what happens in a player's home is his responsibility.

Most of all, there would be very little sympathy for McNabb.

Indeed, the double-standard train is on quite a tremendous roll this month. Imagine if an NBA or NFL player the caliber of Martina Hingis -- one of the great, historic players in tennis history -- allegedly tested positive for cocaine use and then retired while claiming her innocence. Retiring while in the prime of their career, by the way. Testing positive after Wimbledon, the tennis Mecca, the tennis equivalent of the Super Bowl, by the way. What would happen?

It is true that tennis is a sport largely ignored by Americans, but her case was so stunning it should have merited far more attention than it received. If Allen Iverson had tested positive for cocaine after a playoff game, there would be congressional investigations and ESPN half-hour specials dedicated to the NBA drug culture.

You would chuckle and launch into mock mode if an NBA player suggested, as the Hingis camp is, that a spiked drink might have caused a failed drug test.

I have always felt that there are as many coke heads, juicers and punks in the lesser sports as there are in the major ones –- the "sport" of Mixed Martial Arts comes to mind -- it's just that we don't care as much. There is also the fact that many media members who cover those sports don't look for dirt in them the way the media does in sports like football and basketball.

In other words, there tend to be more advocates covering the lesser sports and journalists covering the big ones.