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It is no coincidence that two current bad boys of sports agree on what constitutes the essence of sports. Unfortunately it is a philosophy that is getting them, and sports in general, into all sorts of trouble.

Terrell Owens is not a genuine article "bad boy," just a boy with bad manners, someone who represents the garish side of modern sports. He loves to delight the crowds with his antics, on and off the field. In his recent ego-biography, Catch This!, he recognizes that many people think he is "shameless, selfish, egotistical," but he justifies his outrageous behavior with this: "They forget that football is entertainment." Unfortunately, many say his idea of entertainment is like the junior-high kid who thinks burping at the dinner table is funny.

Jose Canseco, on the other hand, is a genuine article bad boy. He's not only self-centered, he's a cheat—something Owens is not. In his just-published best selling tell-all, Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big, he acknowledges that he took steroids all through his baseball career. And he did so primarily to give the fans a good show: "I always saw myself as more of an entertainer than a ballplayer," he writes.

On top of that, he argues, the more steroids the better. With a syllogism worthy of Aristotle, he writes, "People want to be entertained at the ballpark. They want baseball to be fun and exciting. Home runs are fun and exciting. … Steroid-enhanced athletes hit more home runs."

And like a logician, he takes his philosophy to its inevitable conclusion. Baseball is not a contest or competition between two teams—the traditional understanding. Instead, "[Baseball] needs to remember that this is a game about individual athletes … . It needs to encourage players to turn themselves into entertainers, and look for new players who are born that way. And the teams have to learn how to market their players that way—the same way pro wrestling does" [ital added].

I have to hand Canseco one thing: His idea is absurd, but his logic is flawless. When sport becomes primarily about entertainment, every sport becomes a version of pro wrestling.

It's also clear that owners collude in this whole business, by offering bonuses to players for individual achievements, thus encouraging them to think of their sport primarily in individualistic and entertainment terms. And Canseco and others are surely being a little disingenuous when they claim to be interested in nothing but the good of the game—in fact, steroids had no small impact on his annual salary.

Still, there is no question that sports are entertaining, and that lots of people buy tickets to see tape-measure homeruns or graceful touchdown catches or artistic slam-dunks. And many superstars have as many groupies as do rock stars. But at its core, are sports entertainment? The answer makes all the difference.

As Hall of Fame pitching ace Sandy Koufax put it: "I don't think ballplayers are really entertainers. An entertainer works directly with his audience, adjusting his performance to its reactions. The audience is the second party. We are in a contest—every one guaranteed to be a bit different—and we adjust ourselves not to the reactions of the spectators but to the actions and reactions of the opposing team."

And though spectators have a minimal impact on the game, as "fans" they have an irrational but powerful emotional bond with the athletes on the field. Their team's championship season can become a warm lifetime memory—I still recall the anxiety and thrill of watching Joe Montana march the 49ers 92 yards in an exquisite 11-play drive in the last three minutes of Super Bowl XXIII to beat the Cincinnati Bengals.

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February (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49