I am a VERY happily-married man.  That is the first thing you need to know.

The second thing you need to know is that I have family members who read this blog.

So, please know that the following entry comes with those two truths at the top of my mind.

I’ve been to a few strip clubs in my years, mostly surrounding bachelor parties.  Nothing obscene.  I’m a good boy.  I don’t have a frequent visitor card.  I’ve never put a young lady “through school.”  I’m not an expert, but I know what goes on at a club.

Here is what I’ve learned over the years:

A) Don’t touch the dancers.

B) You would be shocked at which dancers make the most money in a club.  Don’t ask how I know this.

C) Clubs are a happy place.  Drinks are flowing, laughs and high-fives are exchanged, everyone is having a good time.

Which is why I just don’t understand why athletes keep getting into incidents at strip clubs.

Titans QB Vince Young (pictured), who has solidified his image as an offbeat guy, earned himself an assault citation at a club over the weekend.  This is just the latest in a seemingly-endless list of superstar athletes (primarily NFL players) getting into trouble at such adult establishments.  Young’s former teammate Adam “Pacman” Jones became a household name for his penchant for “making it rain” at strip clubs.  That was, of course, outside of the numerous violent incidents that took place in said clubs that led to him being suspended for the entire 2007 NFL season…and into 2008, as well.  Classy guy, Pacman.

There are two things I don’t understand:

1) Why is there such a disconnect between the happy “guys night out” strip club experiences most people have and the video game “shoot-em-up” evenings pro athletes continue to have at them?

2) If trouble is right there, why in the world would athletes continue to hang out at strip clubs?  It seems like bad PR all around!

Sure, the clubs are legal, but when your every movement is scrutinized, like that of a millionaire athlete, do you REALLY need to go to a strip club?

Maybe someone can explain to me why people keep putting themselves in bad situations.  Look, not everyone is an Einstein or an Edison, but the blatant arrogance/stupidity of several athletes (remember when Plaxico Burress SHOT HIMSELF??) outside of their home is continually stunning.

I don’t care about the whole “role model for the kiddies” thing – that’s overrated.   These clubs are legal and the athletes are adults (at least under the laws of the nation). But from a PR perspective, it’s just asinine. Is seeing a naked woman on stage worth the risk when something is bound to go wrong?

What other examples of knowingly self-destructive behavior from professional athletes can you think of?

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