I don’t like the idea that pro athletes in some sports are required to attend college for a certain number of years to compete in a professional sports league. I started thinking about this recently because the McDonald’s All American game is coming up soon, and there is lots of controversy over agents recruiting high school kids even though they have to go to college for a year before entering the NBA. The requirement that pro athletes attend college before participating in a professional sport is silly and paternalistic.

The argument generally made in favor of this requirement is pro sports leagues have to protect the pro athletes from themselves in case their sports career doesn’t pan out. I don’t buy it. First, these “kids” are 18 when they graduate high school (or will be soon). Hence, they are adults, and they deserve respect, so we should treat them like adults. If they want to bet it all on a sports career: so be it. That’s no different from a high-school graduate trying to become an entrepreneur: we don’t require a college education before starting a business, even though starting a business is inherently riskier than playing in the NBA for a year because if you fail, you’re generally going to be in big-time debt.

Secondly, although many future pro athletes enjoy going to college, there are some that just go because it is a prerequisite to playing in the pro leagues. Those athletes get little out of the classroom experience, and merely go through the motions so they can graduate. Why subject them to this? If a future pro athlete doesn’t care about college, why force him to sit in study halls and go to classes he doesn’t want to go to so he can receive a diploma that he doesn’t care about? Why not let someone who genuinely wants to go to college take his place, and let the future pro athlete do what he wants?

I don’t think my suggestion will result in the destruction of college sports programs. Many future pro athletes really do want to go to college, and voluntarily stay four or five years. I understand the value of college sports programs, and how they bring much needed revenue to many schools, and I don’t think that will change with my suggestion.

I think we should recommend that everyone try to attend college, but to have sports leagues that require future pro athletes do it is just paternalistic and unfair. It’s treating future pro athletes like babies, and it’s keeping people who could take their place who want to get a college education out of the classroom.

athletes, basketball, college, football, nba, ncaa, nfl, pro athletes, professional, Sports

This morning I read an interesting article in the Washington Post entitled “When the Rules Run Up Against Faith.”  Essentially, the article was about an excellent female high school cross country and track runner, who was a practicing Muslim and was thus forbidden from showing skin except for her hands and face.  Thus, at track meets, she was wearing a unitard that covered her arms and legs, and was equipped with hood to cover everything but her face, which she wore under her team’s uniform.

Everything was fine for the past three years, in which she raced in that uniform at many track meets.  However, at a recent meet, and one that was very important to her, a meet director told her that her uniform was unacceptable and she was disqualified.   Essentially, his argument was that technically, her uniform violated the rules (his argument is wishy-washy to begin with), so she has to be disqualified.

Assuming that the meet director was entirely correct when he said that her uniform violated the rules, he is still wrong in disqualifying her, because he is ignoring the entire purpose behind the rules.  As far as I can see, there are three purposes behind the rules: (1) to prevent an unfair advantage; (2) to make team uniforms the same to differentiate one team from another; and (3) to prevent athletes from wearing something obscene.

First off, wearing a full body-covering unitard under a uniform is not an unfair advantage.  When I run races, I do so in the lightest and coolest clothing possible.  I don’t want to sweat more than I have to, or carry around extra weight.  She was disqualified at an indoor track meet, where heat is a huge factor – it is very stuffy on an indoor track – so if anything her uniform was a disadvantage.

Secondly, her unitard UNDER her school’s uniform did not make it impossible to differentiate one school from another.  If you want to tell what school she went to – just look at her uniform!  Additionally, many sprinters wear speedsuits at track meets, which essentially look identical to her uniform except without a hood.  Why aren’t they disqualified?

Thirdly, her unitard is far from obscene.  In fact, it’s the opposite – she’s covering up.  The super-PC attitude in high schools today should love this.

The meet director that suspended this young track athlete was following the letter, but not the spirit of the rules.  Sometimes we have to realize that the rules are there for a purpose, not merely to be followed blindly.

muslim, Religion, running, uniform

I’m naming this past Sunday, the 12th, through this Thursday, the 16th, the “Week of Pain.” I have decided to give myself a challenging week of athletic endeavors just for the heck of it.

On Sunday I raced a 10k. The 10k (6.2 miles) distance itself is not incredibly challenging, as I run regularly throughout the year, but a race always makes me sore. Especially when it’s my first race in about five months, and I’ve just really started training well again after an IT band injury.

Tomorrow (Tuesday), I’m going on a 100 mile bike ride with my college roommate, Steve. I haven’t been on a bike since early June. Hello sore back!

On Thursday, I’m going on a 17-19 mile long run.

All of these days have required or will require waking up well before 6am.

I’m still looking forward to it, though. I know it will hurt on Thursday night, but I just love setting weird goals like this an accomplishing them. I suppose that’s why I’m starting law school this Friday as well.

Anyways, just wanted to write this on here for some reason. Hope everyone else is having an exciting week.

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I found this video on the internet this morning and thought gimme-five’s readers would enjoy it.  The video is of two high school football teams: Plano East and John Tyler.  With three minutes to go, Plano East was down 41-17.  The game is incredible… and so is the commentary.

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Well you can read his entire biography over at the website Jockbio.com.  For all of the crap that T.O. puts his teams through, and the awful sportsmanship he displays, he really had a rough life growing up.  Also, his middle name is Eldorado.

Terrell often stayed with his grandmother Alice. She was as hard on him as she was on Marilyn. Alice gave him a bike but he could only ride it in the yard. Terrell was permitted no spare time with his friends and couldn’t watch TV. He was also whipped regularly. For all the abuse, however, Terrell loved Alice, viewing her as a second mother…

… When Terrell turned 12, he befriended a girl across the street. Her father noticed and confronted him, warning Terrell that the girl was actually his half-sister. Thus the youngster learned who his father was.

This is definitely a good read… check it out!

- George

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