The Michael Vick problem reminds me why professional sports — at least football, baseball and basketball — are ruled with iron hands by commissioners.

Those sports are certainly entertainment, but that entertainment is dependant on an audience that expects to see actual competition. The intense desire to win exists in most professional athletes. That desire can boil over occasionally and lead to illegal acts, often — before the current era — resulting in fights.

With the exceptions of hockey and baseball, the rules makers in professional sports have made fighting punishable by such severe penalties and sanctions that most coaches will not tolerate fighting, and most will no longer recruit the “hot tempered” player. Fighting (even if only the attempt to fight) in high school football results in disqualification, and in many states also results in disqualification for at least part of the following game as well.

College rules leave no leeway. A player who participants in a fight is disqualified for the next half of that game, or the first half of the next game if his foul occurred in the second half of the current game. That is in addition to whatever yardage penalty is assessed.

In spite of the extreme heat, football games are starting earlier and earlier. There was a telecast of a high school football game on CSS the other night. I only saw the very end of the game, and one of the teams was Easley High School.

The other team was PHS, and I never heard what the “P” was for. Anyway, it was as hot there as it is here. I am surprised that some other overreaching judge did not rule the game could not be played because it was too hot.

A number of high school teams in the Jackson area have let their players go through a conditioning, weight and running school this summer. The school — or camp, or whatever it might be called — is owned and run by Paul Lacoste. Lacoste was an over-achieving line backer at Mississippi State who played some NFL and Canadian football professionally. Of course, all football teams, middle school on up, do a lot of summer conditioning and running.

Those who don’t will quickly fall behind. Lacoste seems to have developed a sound program which a number of coaches are taking advantage of. I have even seen an ad in the paper recently for another, seemingly similar, program. Those conditioning programs, along with plenty of water and rest periods make the current heat a little more tolerable.

I don’t like to beat a dead horse, but game-time fighting is a current issue. Most fans saw the tape of the minor-league baseball player who went after the opposing pitcher and catcher with his bat. He had apparently been hit on the calf by a pitch. The pitch seemed to be a slow curve — it was spun into a 98 mph fastball by the media. Those in charge in that league — and minor league baseball — quickly acted and suspended the player indefinitely. That is what needs to happen in incidents like that.

The only way to really get the attention of professional players is through their wallets.

Friday night marks the opening of the MPSA football season. In my time, long ago and far away, practice did not start until then. It was hot then, it is hot now.

And, that’s official.

Al Graning writes a weekly column for The Democrat. He can be reached at AlanWard39157@aol.com.