Consequences?

Did any of you follow the Kenny Rogers fiasco the last week or so? To refresh your memory, Kenny Rogers is an all star pitcher for the Texas Rangers who decided he did not want a TV cameraman to do his job so he threw an angry fit, smashing the camera, sending the cameraman to the hospital. I watched the film several times and Rogers was not provoked in any way, just having a bad day I guess.
For his antics, the baseball commissioner fined him $50,000 and suspended him for 20 games. Of course, he appealed through the union which meant he was still eligible to play the all-star game last Tuesday. The decision to play was now up to Rogers.
I thought to myself that this would be a good opportunity for Rogers to ask for forgiveness and out of respect for the cameraman, his family, and the game, graciously bow out. However, he chose to play the game because he "deserved" to be there. According to his thinking, his off the field antics did not have any bearing on his on-field performance therefore he should play.
Now I'm 100% for forgiveness when a person repents. That's the Christian way. Yet, there are still consequences when one is forgiven. If I were to run a stop sign because I was in a hurry and seriously injured somebody, even if I asked for forgiveness and promised to never run a stop sign again, I still would have to pay the price for injuring another person - probably jail time, a finanacial payout, etc.
Personally, I lost a lot of respect for Rogers. His integrity took a hit in my opinion. Yes, he did apologize but he would have made a much greater impression upon people, especially kids, if he would have repented and stayed home from the all star game and if would have just owned up to the penalty by the commissioner.
Interestingly enough, I find it ironic that he gave up a homerun to the National League - poetic justice maybe? We'll see what comes of the appeal. Consequences? Stay tuned.