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.
3 comments:
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.
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".
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?
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