Perhaps Plaxico Burress and Sean Avery have renewed your bitter belief that athletes are mostly bad boys and crybaby millionaires.

Some are. There's no getting around that.

Burress, the former Steelers receiver who is being shunned by the Giants and faces possible prison time after he illegally took a gun to a club and shot himself in the leg, might make you think pro sports are full of thugs.

Avery, the NHL agitator extraordinaire whose future with the Dallas Stars is in jeopardy after he gathered some reporters around him and made disparaging remarks about famous former girlfriends now dating other hockey players, might make you think pro sports are full of pigs.

Take it from someone who has seen and approached athletes in their deepest funks and highest levels of elation -- the vast majority of them are dedicated and thoughtful.

In fact, athletes, teams and leagues do a good job of self-policing, often weeding out headaches like Burress and Avery.

The system isn't perfect. Forgiveness seems to get stretched a little far in some cases, like repeat offender Adam Jones, who keeps getting more chances in the NFL.

But it works well enough to keep sports stocked with athletes you can feel good about rooting for.

From the bright smiles of Pitt running back LeSean McCoy and Steelers receiver Hines Ward to the down-to-earth personalities of Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson and Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh has athletes who are high-grade and easy to like.

Every city with pro and major college sports does.

Bad boys are the exception, and they are nothing new. Do you think Ty Cobb was a sweetheart?

There are always going to be big egos. Those don't always have to be turn-offs, as Muhammad Ali proved.

There are always going to be the eccentrics, but really, have the Dennis Rodmans and Terrell Owenses done so much damage compared with their entertainment value?

There are always going to be the athletes we don't like. Barry Bonds and Pete Rose jump to mind.

When certain boundaries are pushed, though, it's good to see those on the inside push back.

With Avery, even his Dallas teammates and Stars coach Dave Tippett said it would be difficult to welcome him back -- and Avery is in his first season there after wearing out his welcome with the Rangers, so they haven't had to closely watch his antics over the years.

Here's a little example of the kind of thing that makes Avery a chump:

When the New York Rangers came to town Nov. 17, 2007, to play the Penguins, Avery agreed after his team's morning skate to an interview about his moonlighting jobs such as acting.

We talked for maybe five minutes in the Rangers locker room. He was accommodating -- after all, he got to talk about himself -- but hardly warm and fuzzy. Not that any athlete is expected to be warm and fuzzy with reporters.

That night, Avery set up a short-handed goal in New York's comeback, 4-3 overtime victory. After interviewing one Rangers player postgame, I approached Avery, who was sitting at his locker in his hockey long underwear.

If you were to listen to the now-deleted digital recording, it would sound like a straightforward chat about the game. Basic stuff.

But in the middle of answering a question, without missing a beat and with no warning -- no "excuse me" for a female reporter, no blow-off answer to indicate he was tired of talking, not even one of his sneers -- he stood up, stripped from the waist down, changed into shorts and sat back down.

That was a first for me, but if he was looking for a reaction, he didn't get one. My eyes stayed firmly on his eyes, and neither of us mentioned his, uh, southern exposure. If he didn't care, I wasn't going to.

It wasn't enough to even describe as an incident, or to consider reporting to anyone with the Rangers or NHL, but it also wasn't necessary for Avery to behave that way.

Athletes aren't required to be nice or cooperative with the media, the fans or their employers.

They aren't required to consider the reaction of or consequences for their teammates as they go about their lives.

They aren't required to be good people or make smart choices.

But if they're going to make donkeys of themselves, especially in repeated or grandiose ways, they just might have to answer for it.

Perhaps retribution will come from the law, or in the form of a costly suspension.

Or perhaps it will come from where it most hurts -- their peers.