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Dec. 2, 2004 The recent brawl at the end of an Indiana Pacers/Detroit Pistons basketball game is yet another reminder that there are some in our society who feel entitled to do whatever they want, when they want to, and without consequence. Athletes are particularly guilty of this attitude, but, in part, we've brought it on ourselves. When we find a 6'7" kid in junior high school, he's coddled and pampered unbelievably from that point on--given special privileges and becomes exempt from normal expectations of any schoolboy and given special attention to develop his athletic skills. His grades no longer matter. Bad behavior is instantly forgiven, and he (or she, for that matter) is lionized for his athletic prowess by nearly everyone with whom he comes in contact-- other students, teachers and administrators included. It's small wonder that these kids develop an entitlement attitude. Their every wish is fulfilled in hopes that they'll be successful in college or in professional basketball or football where the pay is astronomical. Little attention is given to developing such a child's self-discipline or character because every high school coach in the country wants to be known as the "mentor" of another Michael Jordan or Shaqille O'Neal and nothing that might detract from that skills development can be tolerated. I've known football coaches who have actually threatened academic teachers who flunk the star running back with physical harm. Barry Switzer, the very successful former coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football team, was almost notorious for giving his athletes a second, third or even fourth chance when they screwed up. In fact, that attitude, which he no doubt viewed as "compassionate," is what did his coaching career at OU in after several athletes got involved in drugs, shooting a gun from the dorm balcony and even raping a coed--although he's still lionized in Oklahoma for producing three national football champions during his career there. I can't say that the bad behavior of those athletes (which all became public at about the same time) was Coach Switzer's fault by any means, but it could have been anticipated since coaches tend to concentrate on recruiting outstanding athletes instead of boys of good character AND athletic ability. Some coaches are willing to overlook even a criminal record in their high school recruits as long as the boy can run a 4.3 40-yard dash or throw a football 70 yards into a pickle barrel. Those kids are the Kobi Bryants and the Mercury Morris's of the future--almost BOUND to get into trouble with the law eventually. We've GOT to start demanding more from our athletic heroes than simply being able to play ball better than their contemporaries who are not so gifted athletically. For one thing, no child should be able to skate through school on his athletic ability alone...not EVER. There's a famous case wherein a gifted football player went all through high school, college and a 7- year pro career without ever learning how to read! I'm ashamed to say that young man played his college football right here in my home State of Oklahoma--for the Oklahoma State University Cowboys, in fact. Secondly, we've got to demand that our athletes are also men of character in addition to being able to dunk a basketball or catch a pass for a touchdown or hit a 450-foot home run. If they are not--if they somehow get the idea that they are exempt from the rules that govern any civilized society--we're in for more trouble like that we've seen in recent years with rampant drug abuse, rape accusations and even murders attributed to these "student- athletes." If we let them slide on their bad behavior, we have no reason to be puzzled when they commit assaults like those we saw in that Pacers-Pistons game. ------------ About the author: David A. Jared is a news junkie, semi-retired and an avid golfer who's been writing his first book, "4000 years of chopsticks" for the last 20 years. Email: Pappadave@sbcglobal.net ------------- All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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