Photo Gaffe or Major Porn Humiliation?

I really don't follow sports so I don't know who Felipe Baloy is but I read about him on Yahoo! Apparently, he's a soccer player and I know enough about sports to know that soccer is a big deal in a lot of countries outside the US. Pro soccer players there are viewed much the same way as pro basketball players are viewed here. Frankly, I've always thought the hero worship of sports figures went a little too far but it is what it is.

Anyway, Baloy is one such sports figure who has a lot of fans. According to the Yahoo! article, Baloy seems like a nice enough guy who is usually happy to take a moment and pose for a picture with his fans. Recently, he posed with a young fan who looked about 3-4 years old and was decked out in his team's colors. Using popular, internet terminology, the photo turned out to be a “fail.” In a semi-transparent shopping bag that Baloy happened to be holding right in front of the kid, we can clearly see the cover of the Playboy magazine Baloy had just purchased.

Yahoo!, being the liberal organization that it is, made light of the incident:

“Of course, there was no harm done and it was very nice of Baloy to make a young fan's day by stopping and smiling for the shot, but the child will probably appreciate this picture even more when he's a little older.”

Yahoo! obviously doesn't see a problem with a photo like this. There's “no harm done,” they say.  Never mind that this little boy might grow up thinking it's OK to read pornography because his hero reads it too. He will probably even learn to “appreciate” this moment! Is Yahoo! serious?

This is still another reason why idolizing sports celebrities is a bad idea. Simply being a good athlete does not equate with being worthy of emulation. Being physically exceptional is not the same as having a good character. Just ask Tiger Woods.

It's been a few years but I'll be honest – when I was younger, I sometimes purchased Playboy magazines. Whenever I bought one, I suspected I was doing something wrong (of course, not strongly enough to not do it) and I felt a little embarrassed about it. What if the cashier was a female? What would she think about me? And heaven forbid that she might know me!! If a picture like this came out of me (though I know that none exist), I would feel humiliated. I guess the times have changed.

Bill Bennett once coined the term, “the death of outrage.” We now “tolerate” things that were once taboo. Pornography is no longer an embarrassment. Out of wedlock sex is now the punchline in TV sitcoms. Hugh Hefner got his own “reality” series where a 70 year old man got to show off his three hot girlfriends. Of course, illegitimacy rates are also sky rocketing and the children of these single parents will likely face a life of poverty. True reality isn't quite as glamorous as the Playboy Mansion.

Pictures like this are sad. The parents of this young boy should be outraged. Baloy should be apologizing. Instead, it's all a big joke. Playboy is out of the brown bag. I don't think it's funny.