Attending college doesn’t mean
what it used to mean, when ancestors were denied the opportunity but considered
higher education the ultimate goal for future generations.
Get off the farm, don’t ply the
trade, quit working with your hands. Turn in those dusty clothes for a white-collar
shirt after crossing the stage with your bachelor’s degree. That’s the path to expand
your mind and achieve upward mobility, economically and socially.
Now, the entire world is a click
away for anyone inclined to expand their horizons. If desired, you can become
enlightened while skipping
college and avoiding student loans, instead opting for skilled labor or
other jobs that pay OK but don’t require a bachelor’s.
But the romance of college remains
strong as ever around sports programs, especially the big-banking, money-making
duo of basketball and football.
Alums love to root for their alma maters in primetime battles on national TV. But overall, degrees don’t hit for recent teens like they used to hit for us. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the decline in college attendance since 2018 is the steepest on record, with help from the pandemic.
There’s no drama surrounding who’ll go No. 1 in the NBA draft Thursday when San Antonio will select French teenager Victor Wembanyama. He’ll instantly become a leading figure in the league, joining international fixtures Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic.
For real intrigue, consider the plight of two American-born stars, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
Each is a potential “face of the league” who right now risks ridicule and derision when they step out in public. We never imagined such a shameful turn of events when Williamson and Morant went 1-2 in the 2019 draft. In the blink of four years, they’ve become All-Star ballers at unexpected crossroads.
You might see their recent indiscretions as youthful mistakes, but being young isn’t necessarily followed by being dumb. There are levels of stupid behavior at every stage of life. But certain individuals tend to max out, be they anonymous Joes or well-known celebrities.
We wouldn’t have to talk about who stands during the national
anthem and who sits/kneels/stays away during the national anthem if it weren’t
played to death.
Blame sporting events. Between youth games, college games and
pro games, we’re deluged with the Star Spangled Banner every day of every year.
If not, can folks stop giving a damn about individuals’
posture during the song?
WNBA superstar Brittney Griner is back on the court after 10
months as a prisoner in Russia. And what she did prior to tip-off earned equal
billing with her exploits during the Phoenix Mercury’s season-opener May 19.
She stood for the national anthem. Previously she stayed in the locker room – like many WNBA players – to show solidarity with social justice activists declaring that Black Lives Matter. Just like that, she re-ignited the debate on proper protocol when Francis Scott Key’s biggest hit is played.
“I take full responsibility for my actions. I’m sorry to my family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies’ organization for letting you down. I’m going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being.”
That’s a perfect statement Ja Morant released after flashing a gun on social media. Whoever wrote it, the message hits all the right notes: accountability, remorse, reflection and a commitment to improve. For the talented and troubled 23-year-old NBA star, the words sound genuine, heartfelt and sincere. Well done.
There’s only one problem; the statement was released two months ago.
Now, Morant can dust it off for reuse because history has repeated itself. He flashed a gun during another Instagram Live session on Saturday, leading to yet another suspension.
I’ve been a Deion Sanders fan for a long time, well before we sat together in first class in 1997. He had played football that day – against the Pittsburgh Steelers – and was flying to play baseball the next day – for the Cincinnati Reds. I was tagging along as a national baseball writer.
Later, our paths crossed multiple times when I became a syndicated sports columnist in his hometown, Fort Myers, Florida. Having spent nearly a decade there, I developed a good sense of the community that produced “Neon Deion” and “Prime Time.” They’re my peeps, too, just like Sanders; warts and all, they’re family.
Whether you consider him a shameless self-promoter or a fearless truth-teller, we can agree on one thing: He’s a master at commanding attention and polarizing the viewers. He started as a blinged-out Atlanta Falcons rookie from Florida State and hasn’t slowed down as head coach at University of Colorado Boulder.
Now, Sanders is making waves with an unprecedented approach to modern college football, where players essentially can pick a new school at will. Fifty-two Colorado players have entered the transfer portal, most involuntarily, since he arrived from Jackson State. Other Power Five programs have half as many players set to exit. Forty-three Buffaloes entered the portal after Colorado’s spring game on April 22.
“You all know that we’re gonna move on from some of the team members, and we’re gonna reload and get some kids that we really identify with,” Sanders said after the spring game. He has followed through on introductory remarks to the team in December: “I’m bringing my own luggage with me, and it’s Louis,” as in Vuitton.
Just like that, NFL players Jameson Williams and Stanley Berryhill have absorbed a valuable lesson on progress — so-called and otherwise. They’ve learned that the societal norms on what’s acceptable and what’s punishable can shift, yet remain unchanged. They learned how constant friction can create innocent victims and confused observers, in the flash of an eye.
Previously anonymous wide receivers for the Detroit Lions, Williams and Berryhill found themselves in undesirable news coverage last week, forever linking them to NFL gambling suspensions. Say hello to the Wall of Shame, where inclusion doesn’t have to be warranted.
They didn’t do anything close to what the three other suspended players did, but the general public isn’t great at reading past the headlines. Williams and Berryhill can count on folks to ignore the fine print and miss key distinctions. For that matter, media outlets can be just as careless and sloppy, splattering unrelated individuals with a broad brush of guilt.
We know this because Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks told us. It wasn’t exactly a news flash, especially when you compare the two men. Brooks has been in 20 playoff games; James surpassed that total when Brooks was 11 years old, in 2007.
But sometimes, age ain’t nothing but a number, and grown folks gotta put mouthy youngsters in their place.
The Los Angeles Lakers took a commanding 3-1 series lead against Memphis because James refuses to go gently into the night. Father Time is undefeated, but James is going the distance. On Tuesday he became the oldest player in NBA history with at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.
When a lotta folks think of “Stomp” in an R&B sense, the first tune that pops up might be Kirk Franklin’s gospel banger, especially the remix version with Salt from Salt-N-Pepa.
That’s definitely an all-time jam, kinda automatically though because it samples “One Nation Under a Groove.” But Franklin’s song didn’t come to mind Monday night when I saw what Golden State’s Draymond Green did to Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis in the NBA playoffs. (Technically I saw it Tuesday morning and the first time in slow-mo, because I can’t hang for West Coast games like before).
No, the song that instantly played in my head and kept looping through replays as Green intentionally and impactfully planted his right foot in Sabonis’ chest, was a No. 1 R&B hit by the Brothers Johnson.
We’re gonna stomp All night In the neighborhood Don’t it feel alright? Stomp, step down in it Put your foot where feel the fit Stomp, you don’t want to quit Put your heel where you’re feelin’ it
Daily soap operas were TV fixtures when I was growing up, and more than a few of us could sit with elders and dissect “All My Children” or cold-blooded Victor Newman on “The Young and the Restless.” Alas, production has ended on most of those dramas.
Our attention nowadays has shifted to “As the NFL Turns,” a reality show.
He isn’t the first heinous owner to become a detested villain among his team’s fans, but Daniel Snyder recast the mold in the district formerly known as Chocolate City. He purchased the highly regarded Washington franchise for $800 million in 1999 and has trashed it ever since — winning few games, losing many fans and sparking multiple scandals. Under intense pressure to sell, with at least four legal or civil investigations probing his hind parts, Snyder reportedly reached an agreement last week.
News flash: Regardless of how you perform as an NFL owner, a fat bag awaits at checkout. For Snyder, it contains $6 billion, crushing the record $4.65 billion that a Walmart heir paid last year for the Denver Broncos. Good for him as he exits the stage and D.C. celebrates an instant holiday.
The state of women’s basketball is similar to the dual
cities Charles Dickens wrote about: It’s the best and worst of times.
You couldn’t see the flip side Monday night if you
looked at Aliyah Boston. The All-America center from South Carolina was selected
first overall in the WNBA draft. You also couldn’t see cloudy skies later when four
of her former teammates were drafted, including first-round picks Laeticia
Amihere and Zia Cooke. Coach Dawn Staley and the bubbling mentees were all
smiles all evening long, rightfully so.
The joy is justified because they went 97-8 over the
last three seasons, reaching three straight Final Fours and winning a national
championship. South Carolina has become a familiar brand atop the rankings, drawing
heightened interest and new fans to the sport. The Gamecocks were riffraff
before Staley started cooking, but now they’re right comfy among bluebloods like
UConn and Tennessee.
Entering the Final Four a week ago, South Carolina was
undefeated and defending its national championship. Focus on the sport only intensified
from there, with ESPN reporting record-high ratings for LSU vs. Virginia Tech and Iowa vs. SC. Those games averaged 4.5
million viewers, up 66% from last season’s Final Four. The latter game, promoted
as Boston vs. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, had up to 5.5 million viewers, an increase
of 72% from 2022.
But the title match vaporized those numbers. ESPN deemed
it the most-watched women’s game on record, averaging 9.9. million viewers (103% increase)
and peaking at 12.6 million viewers. Sports Media Watch reported that more people watched LSU vs. Iowa than all the 2022 NBA playoff games besides the
Finals. The tournament also set an attendance record for the second straight season.
Nothing about that sounds like bad times. But neither does the quiet before a storm.
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