We as a sports nation are in love with the bad boy.

The sports world used to serve as an escape hatch from the real world, a chance to root for the good guys in home whites for a couple of hours.

No more.

We want the bad stuff.

We almost crave it.

The LeBron James sideshow drove that point home.

Nearly everyone insisted the mere idea of having an hour-long special on ESPN simply to announce where a free agent NBA player was heading next was ridiculous.

Yet many of us watched.

We cringed when James, through a mere few words, devastated the city of Cleveland.

It was more sickening the next day when James and his Miami Heat cohorts pranced down a smoke-filled ramp, slapping five with Miami fans.

How happy Spain was when it won the World Cup for the first time ever.

The heck with that.

The more despicable it is, the more we like it.

Mike Tyson was despised as a human being, but he was the most popular boxer of the past 25 years because no one knew what the guy was going to do next.

Bite off Evander Holyfield's ear? Great theater.

It's not hard to figure out why there's a media horde around Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco every time they open their mouths. Pro football writers want to sell their dirt because we'll buy it.

The Ben Roethlisberger saga is upsetting to hard-core Steeler fans, but it's scintillating to the average sports fan. The man has become a walking soap opera.

From Pete Rose, Albert Belle and John Rocker to feuding NASCAR drivers, we love to see star athletes dragged through the mud, especially if we're doing the dragging.

It's just who we are.

Barry Bonds denying steroids use, Roger Clemens' constant denials, Lawrence Taylor being accused of having sex with a minor — how the mighty have fallen.

And we as a sports nation can't wait to see how all of this stuff turns out.

Sports fans are no different from anybody else. Who doesn't slow down and strain to see the aftermath of a bad wreck on a highway?

Who doesn't look out the window when we notice the reflection of a police car across the street?

Curiosity gets the better of us all. And if what we're witnessing turns out to be not so bad, we're almost disappointed.

Why else does the evening news almost always lead with something horrible?

It's what we want to see.

When George Steinbrenner died the other day, I learned things about him I never knew, about how he gave millions to charity and has a Florida high school named after him.

I always thought he was a crude, obnoxious spoiled jerk of an owner.

How disappointing.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle.