Enough Tour de France riders are disqualified to form their own messenger business. An NBA referee is under investigation for betting on basketball games, some of which he officiated. And one of the National Football League's biggest stars is in court on charges of participating in a horrific dogfighting operation.
Unless you're a defense attorney or a talk-show host, it was a pretty awful week in sports. Today's induction of Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., offers a brief respite. Two ballplayers of accomplishment but without a long arrest record or some other history of irresponsible behavior.
We have extolled their baseball skills before. Both men spent an entire career with one club - Mr. Ripken with the Orioles, Mr. Gwynn with the Padres - rather than sell themselves as free agents and in the process thumb their noses at their fans.
They were hard-working, everyday players who racked up more than 3,000 hits. Mr. Gwynn was the more reliable hitter (his career batting average is the 17th all-time highest) but Mr. Ripken bows to no one in overall reliability: Unless pro baseball enlists robots or clones, his record 2,632 consecutive games played is likely to stand for decades. Maybe even forever.
Professional athletes often fail to be good role models, and baseball is no more immune to this phenomenon than football or basketball. Barry Bonds may soon surpass Hank Aaron as the sport's all-time home run hitter, but the cloud of allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs has clearly dampened the public's ardor for the event.
No doubt San Diegans love Mr. Gwynn. But Orioles fans feel connected to Mr. Ripken in the way ordinarily reserved for family. While they appreciate and respect what he's done on the field, they care even more deeply that he is an honorable man.
Some people like to think that Mr. Ripken "saved" baseball back in 1995 when he surpassed Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 games played on the heels of a players strike. His legacy may be something far more noteworthy: In both professional and personal conduct, he set the gold standard. Today's celebration recognizes not only his virtuosity but his virtue, as well.