Sorry, had to throw this one in here as well after discussing the topic with a few friends of mine who are black.

While I am not in 100% agreement with the writers assessment of the racial reasoning behind the outcry for age restrictions, I will have to say that believing this assessment is pure ignorance is..well...a tad ignorant itself. :)

Racism exists everywhere, and by no means is limited to white people. During a contest where one team was completly white, and the other team was completly black...after calling a foul on a player on the team that was completely black, one of the players turned to me and said, " What, you don't like your own kind?" ( I ignored the comment, but would I have done the same if a white player had made a similar type of racist comment? I can NOW honestly say that I would have....but I was a bit younger and had a different view on life/racism back then, and believe my reaction would have been drastically different )

When you have the same " we don't want you to be equal or better than us " attitude presented towards you by others of a certain ethnic background in so many other life situations, you are going to be skeptical and assume that the same philosophy is being applied now that you are poised to possibly become a multi-millionaire. I don't believe that this is any type of excuse for anything, because there are going to be people your entire life that are going to hate you and want to bring you down for a million other reasons, and you have to ignore it continue to improve yourself and meet your personal goals.

So while I respectfully disagree that the race aspect is the reason behind this outcry, it certainly is there from some. ( But that is the way life is! How are you going to deal with it is the question!!) So I also have to respectfully disagree that the mention of it is ridiculous. The racism factor is there, but to the majority of American Blacks that I know including myself, believe it is a VERY small percentage of American Whites who think this way.....and bothers us very little if at all. ( As a side note, I think racial relations would be much better if some blacks began finding ways to continue life in a positive manner without using " White guy's racist " as an excuse for failure/failure to try......and if some white people were more open in admitting the fact that there is racism factored into decision making and the exclusion/attempted exclusion of others. Again, this is not limited to white people only.. but lets face it....when you are the MAJOR majority, it just happens more...and racism has a history of creating racism in reverse, unfortunately. And in both races it seems that the very few sometimes ruin it for the majority :( )

The person who wrote this article is obviously more upset and bothered by racism or perceived racism than the average person.

Savaahn Ty
**Please insert IMHO at any time when reading this post and feeling the need to argue my viewpoint :)**

IMHO, I THINK....
 

All kids that want to enter Professional sports should have to attend at least one year of college! This gives them a year to be on their own and adjust to life without their parents and other things. If at that time they can enter a draft and perform up the the level of professional athletes, more power to them......just my 2 cents :)

Why are professional sports different from other jobs? If you can defend your country at 18, you should be able to make a living too.

What about kids that don't qualify for college?

Sebastian Telfair lived in a project where 2 people were killed in his lobby. Why should he have to go to college to get out of the projects?

The NCAA's ridiculous rules make it difficult for the gifted athlete to resist professional careers. Colleges make all the money and give nothing back to athletes. Scholarships are only for one year at a time and can be rescinded. An athlete can get injured and end up out of school and penniless. Many athletes are steered into cupcake classes to maintain eligibility and never come close to earning a degree.

Sebastian Telfair can easily afford to go to college after his NBA career is over. Or start his own college.

I think this is probably the best point to make. There's no outcry when a kid gets A's in his body shop class at a vocational technical school and then goes right to work in a body shop after he graduates HS. He's become a productive profitable citizen doing something that he's good at.

Seems to me the same is true for athletes, especially if it is obvious that he will be drafted. (When it's borderline or speculative, that may be a different story.)

Could that be because the goal of vocational HS is to teach a kid something he can be good at so he can graduate & get a job?

Could be, I guess, but I don't think so. I think the lack of outcry is b/c the kid is working, being productive, and "making something out of himself". I don't think the lack of outcry is b/c of where he learned his skill, although I won't swear to that. If he went to a traditional HS, but worked in his dad's body shop since he was 13, I still think that his decision not to attend college would be regarded as a good one by most people.

(And yes, Juulie, I recognize all the gender-based assumptions in above paragraph. I'm just too lazy to fix them this morning :) )

You don't think the goal of vocational HS is to teach a vocation?

That's rather extreme.

Hardy-har-harrrrrr. You're soooooooooo funny, Junior Barnes. <font size = -4>You gunkie.</font>

:)

I thought it was pretty funny....LOL

I think where pro athletics and college athletics go wrong is in dealing with the player who is marginally gifted for pro sports. William Avery is a prime example. He left Duke after his freshman year for the lure of big bucks. He was drafted in the second round (no guaranteed contract), and, then, pretty much disappeared from the basketball radar. So, unless he saved his money wisely, returning to college has been made that much tougher. The NCAA should back off its rules a little, and not declare kids ineligible until they sign a contract. Maybe Avery would've changed his mind, and returned to school, after he discovered his worth in the NBA market.

In addition, David Stern has to worry about the league's image more when dealing with under-21 players. While LeBron James had no problems adjusting, Kwame Brown may never make it. What does an 18 year-old do after a game, when his teammates go to a bar? Hopefully, he doesn't hang out with Kobe.

if a player has the skillz, it should be his choice. but how about mandating "maturity classes". how to manage money (i'm not saying introducing to investors) just some common sense instruction. how about they are required to hire a baby sitter, for lack of a better word. not a home boy but someone the league has approved who can help them for a year or 2.

i've always thought the babysitter idea would have helped alot of players (Barkley, Rodman, Etc) who trouble kept finding. and of course they should be required to pay for it themself but the league should decide fees so nobody gets taken advantage of.

many people probably won't like this idea but if you want to come into our league and make millions, this is how it is. you represent the reputation of our league and we don't need anymore houlagins.

Umm, William Avery was drafted in the first round (14th) by the Timberwolves and played three years for them. He is currently on the 76ers roster.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/player...s?statsId=3337

Oops. Sorry about the misinformation. Didn't mean to.