CHAOS REIGNS!
From LLWS divas to RU DoorDash scandal, sports are in disarray
READER Bill Maroney figures if it’s confusing to him, it can’t be easier for a kid. The Little League World Series on ABC/ESPN is again coated in mixed messages.
One moment, Maroney writes, Tim Kurkjian and Jessica Mendoza “talk about Little League in fairytale terms and sportsmanship. The next minute, Todd Frazier and his booth mates are wild [with delight] over a [Nicaraguan team] Little Leaguer’s home run stare, bat flip and ‘me’ antics while jogging the bases. Disgusting.”
Ah, but that kid may have been adhering to shallow pandering of Rob Manfred and the MLB Network’s “image” campaign to attract kids to baseball by championing MLB players for acts of excessive unsportsmanlike immodesty. Sure, who doesn’t want to emulate a braggart?
As Gilbert, on “Leave It Beaver” said, “Gee, Beav, if I did that my dad would clobber me!”
Yet that’s why Fernando Tatis Jr., now suspended for his claim that he mistakenly treated a topical case of ringworm (too many Ring Dings?) with an anabolic steroid that entered his bloodstream, was chosen for and paid to front MLB’s video game. Tatis had frequently demonstrated that he enjoyed shoving his talent down opponents’ better senses.
And now the LLWS, to best emphasize MLB’s all-or-nothing diminishment, includes a home run derby.
But what doesn’t leave us dazed and confused?
At Rutgers, 20 percent funded by N.J. taxpayers, Big Ten fever continues as a financial calamity, badly afflicting everything the prestigious university once reflected — from academic salaries to custodial services. Had to be. Just last year the Athletic Department’s mostly football deficit grew to $73 million.
Interestingly, Rutgers solicits public donations to fund its Food Pantry for regular students who can’t afford to both attend the university and eat.
No matter, RU recently was revealed to have spent $450,000 over 14 months to provide DoorDash food and amenities to its football players, many on full scholarship and aided by Pell Grants — cash grants, not loans.
Further revealed was that while DoorDash expenses ostensibly were designed to serve the football team in and near Rutgers during the pandemic, recipients used DoorDash from their homes, many miles away — including Florida, where Rutgers heavily recruits.
And they were used to deliver eats not just from sub and salad shops, but from steakhouses and seafood restaurants.
Rutgers explained: “Many of our student-athletes come from economically challenged backgrounds and in addition to how difficult it was to meet their nutritional needs with COVID, this was the best way to look out for our student-athletes’ welfare.” OK, so two questions: 1) What about students who aren’t athletes but are from “economically challenged backgrounds”? Should they panhandle? No DoorDash steak dinners for them?
2) Why does RU recruit “economically challenged” football recruits from all over the country,
plus Canada, if RU knows “many” are too poor to eat? How do they travel to and from RU from their homes? No local college would have a Big Ten recruit?
Confusing times. Last week, President Biden announced he’s forgiving college loans, up to $20,000 for some students, thus another burden on taxpayers.
At the risk of being an old grump — I used to be a middleage grump — the first lesson I learned about financial responsibility came just after I graduated college, when I had to begin paying off my college loan — $51.95 a month for 10 years. Doesn’t sound like much, now, but I was taking home 80 bucks a week as a Post copy boy. Had to pay for the stamps, too.
Never missed a payment. Ten books, all with 12 remittance slips. It was a good, sustaining lesson to learn. I borrowed money then paid it back. Imagine that. And no DoorDash, no bat-flips.