Monday, January 09, 2006

Just another example of the great college sports hypocrisy

Initially, I was going to write a piece here about this lovely little rain-soaked burg of Portland wanting to be in the running for the relocation of the Florida Marlins, but I will put that fishing expedition on hold. Why you may ask? This is due to another example that made the news of those wonderful student athletes.

DId I say STUDENT? How about Ex-Student and soon to be felon.Marcus Vick . Yep the brother of that other moral stalwart, Michael Vick who plays [when not injured or in an Atlanta Police Department lineup] for the Atlanta Falcons. When we last heard from Marcus, he was kicked off the Virginia Tech football team for violations of the conduct code and has now added
a robbery at a McDonald's to his resume. In all likelihood, he is going to end up being another Maurice Clarett or at worse, Lloyd Daniels [he of NY street basketball infamy] all of which points to a rather ugly situation as far as college athletics are concerned.

Yeah, I did talk about this before in a previous post, but this one really has me ticked because of all the accolades that are heaped on these thyroid cases due to the fact they seem to be able to throw a ball further or run faster than the next person. Yippie!! However, it would appear that most of these hotshots are helping to make a mockery of the term 'student athlete'. While there are some who do attend classes and major in items other than advanced basket weaving and Ballroom Dancing 201, it would appear to the average eye that the majority are there to play ball in this glorified minor league farm system for the NFL [as well as the NBA]. What makes this even stranger is that a lot of these kids claim to be going for technical classes.

Sure they are. Ask one of them about the benefits of running the triple option or the reason why a fullback is called an H-back and no problem, that can be rattled off like no one's business. Ask them about the tensile stregnth of the latest titanium alloy or what Avagadro's number is or even who was Robert Forward and why his solar sail theory is doable using current technology or even what an Artesian well is -- these folks would be lost. Completely lost like someone not knowing what a fork in the road is.

What is sad as well as reprehensible is that all will be or is forgiven if the team wins. This person could be the next Ted Bundy or Willie Sutton or Iceberg Slim and the school could not care less. If they win their games, get to a major bowl [BCS would be great] then the past is forgotten. Oh yes there is money involved, big money which makes keeping a thug who can help a team score all the more 'important'. Plus with the folks at Fox Sports getting involved next year with the BCS, this means there are even more chances to cheat and have punks and crooks on teams. After all, they are fronting the money for a final championship game for NCAA Division 1 football which will pay more than the current system does. Makes those of us who have cats or dogs as our families lucky they are not human and have this 'gift' for sports. If only because it would be used, missued and abused by those creeps who only see dollar signs, even if the kid is as crooked as Marcus Vick.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home