My initial reaction was disgust. But as I read through this thread and thought about it, I realized that it isn't quite that simple.
Maybe it's the cult of celebrity in this country and I shouldn't be surprised, but why are these athletes being held to an higher standard than the rest of society on this one? Can I get a show of hands from everyone that has gone to one of the many VA hospitals and thanked our troops in person? I'd guess that the percentage of sat guys members who have done so as opposed to the percentage of Mets that attended this optional event is probably far far less. I'm not saying that to judge, just to illustrate a point (I haven't attempted to thank our vets myself).
Athletes and celebrities are just people, just because they're famous or they make a ton of money for what they do doesn't mean they won't have faults like anyone else. They get paid to play baseball. The event wasn't mandatory (and I know plenty of normal people that avoid optional work functions because they're unhappy with their companies). Other than these guys being high profile, how is this fundamentally any different? Sure, maybe we'd like to see them give more of themselves because of their status as athletes, but what right do we have to treat them different and expect more? Sure their salaries are ridiculous, but that speaks to the need to re-examine our values as a society (why do we pay athletes and artists so much when teachers get paid crap?).
As a society, I think we're too obsessed with these individuals and need to worry more about our own actions. Putting these people on pedestals and expecting them to be good role models is not always going to work. They're just people doing their jobs. To expect them to be more than that is foolish (unless we make certain additional behaviors part of their job description). Otherwise, what happened here will happen again (as it does in real life with everyday people), some will choose to volunteer their time and others will not. Singling these guys out just perpetuates the fundamental problem, and that is that society puts them on some sort of a pedestal when they shouldn't be.
On the plus side, this thread has me thinking that I should make it a point to do some sort of volunteer work at the local VA hospital, or at least see if there's some way I can properly honor and thank injured vets for their sacrifice.
