Creating a monster: The glorification of teen athletes
National signing day for NCAA football scholarships just came and went. It was covered by several flavors of ESPN: multiple cable versions, magazine, the ever present web site and live streaming video. Also the local network news sportscasters were not to be out done.
If a local kid was a prospect, a 'big-time' university is close by or you just live in a generally football 'crazy' region, the local news truck was posted up outside some high school gym.
The 'story'... some big kid from some small place was about to put a ball cap on his head and make everyone's dreams come true...and I do mean everyone: mama, grand mama, recruiters both legitimate and illegitimate, agents, boosters, fans, coaches, girlfriends (past, present and future) and family members (including his second cousin's cousin).
But truly it is nothing new...just now on a much grander scale.
Everyone has told this latest 17 year old 'phenom' that he's 'the man' since grade school. Youth league coaches angled for him. High school coaches convinced the family to let him move in with an 'aunt' in a 'better' school district. Certainly not better for academic reasons...just better. Or maybe he was granted a scholarship to a private school that his family could never afford.
Question...why is a free athletic ride called a 'scholarship', when everyone knows that it has nothing to do with anything remotely related to academics or other scholarly pursuits?
Everyone attended the Friday night games. His mother was there wearing his jersey number screaming 'that's my baby"!! In Black communities, grown men stood by the fence and bet on his performance. In affluent white communities he dominated the undersized, under skilled sons of doctors and lawyers, while his family sat in the bleachers sticking out like sore thumbs.
Now the 'can't miss' kid is announcing to the world, as if the world cares, which campus or more accurately which stadium he will grace with his talents.
And just like that...another misdirected, potential monster has been born.
Poor kid.
If a local kid was a prospect, a 'big-time' university is close by or you just live in a generally football 'crazy' region, the local news truck was posted up outside some high school gym.
The 'story'... some big kid from some small place was about to put a ball cap on his head and make everyone's dreams come true...and I do mean everyone: mama, grand mama, recruiters both legitimate and illegitimate, agents, boosters, fans, coaches, girlfriends (past, present and future) and family members (including his second cousin's cousin).
But truly it is nothing new...just now on a much grander scale.
Everyone has told this latest 17 year old 'phenom' that he's 'the man' since grade school. Youth league coaches angled for him. High school coaches convinced the family to let him move in with an 'aunt' in a 'better' school district. Certainly not better for academic reasons...just better. Or maybe he was granted a scholarship to a private school that his family could never afford.
Question...why is a free athletic ride called a 'scholarship', when everyone knows that it has nothing to do with anything remotely related to academics or other scholarly pursuits?
Everyone attended the Friday night games. His mother was there wearing his jersey number screaming 'that's my baby"!! In Black communities, grown men stood by the fence and bet on his performance. In affluent white communities he dominated the undersized, under skilled sons of doctors and lawyers, while his family sat in the bleachers sticking out like sore thumbs.
Now the 'can't miss' kid is announcing to the world, as if the world cares, which campus or more accurately which stadium he will grace with his talents.
And just like that...another misdirected, potential monster has been born.
Poor kid.
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