‘Student’-athlete? Maybe, eventually, down the road
THE NOTION that Duke is different from other win-at-any-costs Division I basketball programs is absurd. Duke is another otherwise academically prestigious university that serves as a false front for a basketball team, a form of well-financed racketeering, a charge that D-I schools probably would have trouble successfully defending in a court of law.
Last week, Duke landed one of the top national prospects, 7-foot-1 Dereck Lively, who said this about Jon Scheyer, coach Mike Krzyzewski’s replacement-in-waiting:
“We developed a real good connection. [Their plan is to] help me develop to become an NBA player. To help me master my game on the perimeter and inside-out.”
Lively also said he hopes to one day return to Duke to earn his degree.
Thus even before he enrolled — even before he arrived — he made it clear that he’ll soon be on his way out.
As Groucho Marx sang, “Hello, I must be going.” And it’s not just John Calipari’s oneand-done Kentucky, not anymore. That’s the plan for many. Student-athletics.
➤ As are many cities and towns throughout the country, the Albany area is experiencing a shortage in high school game officials. The reason? Same as the rest of the country: The rotten, often threatening and vulgar conduct of parents, coaches and kids.
What role does TV play? Well, consider that replays of good football plays are still being sacrificed to the slow-motion replays of players showboating, while MLB commissioner Rob Manfred advocates bat-flipping and home plate-posing as the way to kids’ hearts and minds.
The cumulative effect of such messages is enormous. And the systemically diminished presence of sport in our sports has been years in the making. And now here we are.
➤ See that incredible viewing aid? See how it works? Now, stop watching it or you’ll go insane.
Friday from the Ryder Cup, Justin Thomas hit a shot on the par-3 third hole. NBC’s computerized, colorized shot-tracker showed the ball headed left, toward big, big trouble, perhaps even into Lake Michigan. The ball, however, landed in the center of the green.
The same thing occurred when Sergio Garcia hit toward the same green. It was computer-tracking far left, but landed in the center of the green. All day, the ball didn’t land close to where it was shown to be headed.
➤ With all this Us versus Them hype, wouldn’t it be worth NBC noting how many European Ryder Cup players have their homes in the United States? How many are married to Americans?
The world’s No. 1, Spain’s Jon Rahm , is married to an American. They live in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Brit Paul Casey also lives in Arizona. Garcia, a Spaniard, has a home in Florida, as does Brit Ian Poulter. Norway’s Viktor Hovland lives in Stillwater, Okla. European vice captain Luke Donald, a former U.S. Tour regular from England, lives in Illinois and Florida. His wife is from Chicago.