Karma?

By John McMullen

I’ve never been a big believer in karma since I rarely see it affect the true despots of the world.

I have friends who tried to sway me this week by pointing to the hanging of Saddam Hussein as the ultimate act of karma. But, I don’t buy it. The guy lived a lengthy life -- most of it in luxury, while he raped and pillaged an entire nation.

Nope -- it still doesn’t seem all that fair.

So, you can forget about me thinking there are any consequences for bad behavior in the sports world -- karma, I’m sorry to tell the Buddhists just doesn’t exist.

If you knowingly pump your body full of performance enhancers there will always be a Peter Magowan waiting to hand you a big fat check.

If you attempt to destroy two NFL franchises there will always be a Jerry Jones waiting with $25 million.

And, if you spit on an entire fan base with shameful, outrageous, egotistical behavior there will always be a George Karl waiting to call you “Superman.”

In the big picture, the Philadelphia 76ers’ handling of Allen Iverson’s Denver Nuggets Tuesday means little. The Sixers still stink and the juvenile Iverson still got what he wanted -- a spot with a playoff contender.

But, it was sure nice to see A.I. acting like an idiot on someone else’s watch.

It was classic Iverson -- blame everyone and everything to deflect from his own behavior.

There was the petulant one ripping the personification of class, Maurice Cheeks, before the game -- belittling the organization that mistakenly invested so much in a psychologically challenged individual. And then, to top it off, Iverson flashed his legendary lack of maturity by getting himself tossed and blaming the NBA’s best referee, Steve Javie.

In the end -- I knew it wasn’t karma but it sure was fun.

And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.