Seriously, can you think of a more pathetic figure than the supremely gifted athlete who engineers his own self-destruction on the world's stage?
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Maurice Clarett was charged with carrying a concealed weapon after a highway chase early Wednesday that ended with police using Mace on the former Ohio State running back and finding four loaded guns in his sport utility vehicle, police said.
Officers used Mace to subdue Clarett after a stun gun was ineffective because the former Fiesta Bowl star was wearing a bullet-resistant vest, Sgt. Michael Woods said.
“It took several officers to get him handcuffed,” Woods said. “Even after he was placed in the paddy wagon, he was still kicking at the doors and being a problem for the officers.”
I'm not a fatalist or anything. I believe our paths in life are self-determined, but even I have to recognize that there are just some people who seem pathologically bent on their own destruction and failure, and there is absolutely nothing anybody can do to prevent it. I can't think of another athlete who had so much potential and for whom success beyond his wildest dreams lay for the taking, who made so many bad decisions, and who fell so far so fast as Maurice Clarett.
At least O.J. managed to finish his career before slashing his way to ignominy.
7 comments:
Maurice Clarett is an embarrassment to this country. A young man who had the world by the tail, who gives up his handhold on the riches of the NFL (at a later Date), then sarts a freefall into the black abyss he now occupies. Caught with 4 guns only 2 blocks from a known gang member, who he was seen disagreeing with previously, and we are to assume that he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and that he has no idea how these awful weapons got in his car.
Had he stayed in school longer, he might have learned enough to avoid this predicament. I feel very sorry for this young man, I hate that the educational system somehow failed him and left him with the completely vague misconceptions he operates under. He feels that everything should be served on a platter to him. It soon will be, however, he will have forfieted many freedoms and priveleges to eat from the jail house platter.
Nice wrap-up Reid.
The American education system by and large is indeed ghastly, especially at the college level for athletes for whom coaches hire nerds to take tests, and repeated failures are overlooked in exchange for on-the-field performance.
Ed: Auburn has been acquitted of all charges leveled at them, and the last time I checked whats-her-name ain't at UGA anymore. No one allows athletes to have tests taken for them. These guys have those free grade classes so they can spend quality time gang-raping coeds or female athletes; arming themselves with ink artwork to use their bodies as billboards; or prostituting themselves to unscrupulous agents for a quick buck, just prior to suing said agent for mismanagement.
Later they get to hang out with the orange jump suit crowd learning how men satisfy each other.
All too true Reid.
While Auburn may have been found not to have done anything wrong (the operative word here is "found", they're doing it, they just haven't been caught) I will not delude myself into believing that it does not happen...even at Georgia.
Every time Georgia loses, my favorite line is, "We don't pay our athletes at Georgia to lose, our betting alums expect returns on their "investments" in the athletic department".
Ed: We live in a cynical world where once publicly accused one is guilty until proven innocent beyond a shadow of a doubt. Do I believe, like you that athletes receive special treatment - Yes I do; the problem here is thatn they probably deserve this treatment. These student athletes bring millions of dollars to their universities and university towns. These dollars are used to upgrade campus buildings that deal with economics, math, engineering, etc. While all major universities have big donors, this "athletic" cash flow is constant. It is staggering to see how much money is distributed to its member institutes by the SEC each year. My concern is if and when these athletes are reduced to being treated like normal students, when do they opt to go and do their thing elsewhere and then where does the cash come from to continue these upgrades. My guess is that it comes out my pocket as I struggle to send 3 kids to college. Regardless Clarett is a beacon of the trap to avoid and of the pitfalls from self-hype and meglamania.
I agree Reid, these institutions use these kids up and make huge amounts of money off of their efforts.
I am in favor of some sort of program of paying college athletes so they are not tempted to cheat in order to make money, and let's not pretend they're here to get educated.
The problem is what to do with the women's field-hockey team? Do we pay them too? From what funds? They don't generate any income at all.
As much as I've thought about it, there seems to be no solution that is fair for all institutions and all programs.
What are your ideas?
Ed; I think that the only way to solve this issue is as follows:
The NCAA allows each school to state a value for a scholarship (ex: $40,000 for a four year ride at Alabama). Then each scholaship athlete is given an account at the university credit union. These students write checks for tuition, housing, etc. They can purchase new or used books at the U book store, this gives each student some spending freedom. Each week or twice a month, the athletic department issues a paycheck to these athletes at some $/hour rate. Hours "worked" are based off of practice time, game time, off season workouts, and most importantly study hall time. This allows an institution the flexibiliy to spend funds " in season" and decrease expenses in the off season. It also allows the student to learn budgeting, how to balance a checkbook, financial decision making, etc. The football program still funds all minor sports, but this system eliminates all the neglecting of minor sports. Partial scholarship people are reduced by the percentage of scholarship. Simple, easy to manage by the member institutions, and good for the athletes.
Tell me why this will not work?
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