Apr
07
We spent the day in Jackson Saturday, the boys played golf and I shopped with Stacy. Afterwards we ordered pizza and watched Memphis in their basketball game! Someone commented about one of the players and how he’d probably be going pro soon, after this season is over maybe; and he’s a freshman. So I commented that “aww, he should finish school first before going pro!” Then we had quite the lively discussion for a while about that! I persisted a bit with saying that players should finish college before playing pro ball of any sort and the whole room was pretty much on the other side. 😆 Stacy and I were the only girls but she sort of agreed with them. They all said that athletes have a short time frame to play sports and if they’re really talented and have a chance at a contract for millions of dollars they should take it, they’ll be set for life. I persisted mostly because sometimes taking the opposing view is the only way to engage my group and get any interaction out of them at all! (plus it can be rather fun for me!) I understand totally what they said and I think it’s just the way things are now with sports that of course if any 18-20 year old sees dollar signs he or she is going to go pro and take the money. I have often said in the past that college isn’t for everybody, although I still like to see kids further their education that way. I believe there are also probably lots of people that get a college education and don’t necessarily work in the field they got their degree in. It might be more fun to do what you really enjoy doing instead of going to school!
I had fun going at with my group for a while! But it did make me wonder (since I’m out of other ideas!)……..what would you do if you had a child/young adult with a remarkable talent for something big, sports or anything else. Would you encourage them in that and in getting signed to a big contract for lots of money? Or encourage them to go to college first and then pursue the other? Kinda hard to decide hypothetically I suppose but just for fun, what do you think?
College or go pro with the Money! (I would hope my children would buy me a nice new house or something with their big money!)
April 7th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I personally think they should make kids on the “pro athlete track” be business or marketing majors & get their degree. Lord knows it would serve them well as a professional athlete in managing their career. And it would give them something else to fall back on later or just in case.
April 7th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I used to think that the kids should finish college first, but have changed my mind. If they have the chance for the pros, go for it. What if they stayed in college and got hurt and could never play pro ball? Even if they got hurt in the pros, they could go back to school then and get their degree.
My brother played college football and then played pro ball for 2 years, until he blew out his knee. But at least he got 2 years. What if he had gotten hurt in college – he would never have had the chance.
Though I really like to see kids graduate!
April 7th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I think Lynne’s comment is a lot of what everyone was saying Saturday, and that does sort of make sense that they could easily get hurt in college and never have the opportunity. Then you’d have wanted them to have gone pro to get that chance, I would just hope they’d go back to school after that! Who knows, they might find the next big thing later though.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Well I certainly thing the wise thing to do is to stay in school. An injury the first season can wipe out a promising career. But I guess school is always there to go back to if you choose.
I say the same thing about that little David A on American Idol. I wish he were a little older. He is so good but part of me does not want him to win because he needs not only his education, but some experience in life. I think tossed into that world a person’s head can get turned around pretty easily without some good grounding from life experience.
Interesting topic.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Okay, I really hate saying this, but I say they go pro if they can. As my darling husband was just telling my parents this past weekend, so many of these athletes aren’t getting anything out of school anyway. He says the worst students he’s ever had were the male basketball and the football players when he was teaching at Memphis while getting his PhD. (Actually, he said the female basketball players were among his best.) Anyway, it seems partly due to the system, partly to the attitudes, a great many of these athletes aren’t really getting an education anyway. So the few that are lucky enough to go pro, just ought to go for it. Like Lynne said above, if they ever leave the game and get serious about an education, they can always go back.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
I used to think I would say get your degree first, but I don’t know about that now. If you had the opportunity to make all that money young, you could go back later if you wanted to. Also, the primary reason for a degree would be to make a living. If you stayed in school and got hurt, you would make much less than if you went pro early.
Truly, I would rather my kids make MUCH less and not be involved in pro sports. According to my son, he plans to play in the NBA, NFL, and MLB. 🙂 I would rather my child not be in any of those environments and just be a regular guy! (Just don’t tell him I said so).
April 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I can see both sides…
April 7th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
First – we were glad you guys got to come visit on Saturday – we had fun! You’ll have to try to come again soon, after weddings and babies and things 🙂
Now, about the “pro sports vs college thing” 🙂 This was a discussion about two separate things, really, as I saw it. And yes, I sided with the guys. First, we started off by talking about Derrick Rose. He’s a freshman and will more than likely go into the NBA after this year. We also talked about Monta Ellis, who is from here, who entered the NBA right after high school. These caliber of players, especially in basketball, I think should go to the NBA if they have the chance to make millions of dollars. They can always go back to college later, and get a degree. These guys will make more money in a short time than most of us will in a lifetime. But — their window is short. They can get hurt in college, blow out their knee, whatever and then it’s over for them. Most of them won’t get anything out of college anyway, they are just there to play and not study.
BUT – we were only talking about this caliber of player. And mostly in b-ball, since we were watching the Final Four games. This doesn’t necessarily apply to other sports. Football, for example, requires them to go to college. For their own safety they shouldn’t enter the NFL after high school, they’ll get creamed. Basketball is a different sport – low contact and not as physical as football. Baseball too. These guys have such a limited physical time in their life to perform in the top echelon of their sport, and if they are part of the 1% who are elite athletes, I think they should take advantage of this.
I think the other part of this discussion, that you were arguing, is also very valid. I personally agree that most people should go to college and get an education. The other 99% of the population, not these 1% top level athletes. Most student-athletes won’t turn pro and most won’t make the kind of money we were referring to. I think everyone else should be able to go to college if they want. A college education is a wonderful thing, and for 99% of the population, I think it’s great. But you’ll never convince me that a LeBron James or a Derrick Rose should stay in college, playing college ball, for four years before turning pro.
Oh, and I think your kids would buy you a house (not that you don’t already have a big one!) if they made millions of dollars 🙂
April 7th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I just read today that the NBA and NCAA are trying to come to an agreement that college athletes have to finish 2 years of college before going pro.
I agree.
There are not too many 18-19 yr olds who can handle thousands of dollars, much less millions. I think there needs to be a transition period from high school to the pros. If you’re good enough to go, you’ll go. And you could get hurt in either place, so that for me doesn’t really factor in the equation. This isn’t a question of if they can play in the pros; it’s a question of if they are mature enough to handle everything the pros will throw at them.
That’s my 2 cents.
April 8th, 2008 at 12:22 am
We have a free-market economy that promotes the idea that to the winner goes the spoils. In keeping with the idea that athletes are being paid absurdly for their talents, if they attain those talents then they should be able to profit from them at any age, once a legal adult.
If an 18 year old is responsible enough to defend our country, he is responsible enough to dribble a basketball and get paid 10 million a year to do it.
Personal note: I enjoy college basketball immensely more than pro basketball and feel that the NBA’s age restrictions are helpful to college basketball by keeping such talented players in college for at least one year. However, they are not “true student-athletes” and these 1 year wonders are not condusive to the educational goals of universities.
So in the words of the movie Bad News Bears…”Let them play!”
April 8th, 2008 at 8:45 am
This one is tough. You always want your kids to do well and if God gave them a talent…let them do it. I feel I would encourage the school…but tell them to go pro….getting their education slowly in the background…injuries happen and paychecks stop…..better to have an education in the background in case you have to go to work. The best of two worlds…..although it may take longer to get the education…but they do have on line classes now….
April 9th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
I used to would say “finish the degree.” But, someonme did point out to me that college is something you can probably do at any time. For most people, time is short for playing pro ball. I would always encourage finishing at degree at some point though.