It's said often that sports is the one thing that can bring Americans together.
But what, exactly, are we gathering around?
In the past several days, the toxicity of sports has been laid bare. It hasn't been the occasional drip-drip of bad behavior or reporting of scandals we usually see. Over the past week or so it has been a tsunami, day after day of headlines involving athletes, administrators and leagues, ranging from insulting to vile to dangerous.
Is this who we really are? Is this what we support and celebrate, devote our time to, spend our money on, invest our emotions in?