LeBron James reinstated.

[Adam]

Danref:
If James had spent 6 yrs at Harvard, gaining a law degree and a 6 figure offer from a Wall Street law firm he could have gotten that $50K loan 6 months before he graduated
(and he wouldn't need to put it in his mother's name).

In 2 months James will have an 8 figure sneaker contract, whether or not he ever plays 1 minute in the NBA. A $50K loan is no big deal for someone with that kind of earning potential. Let's all get over it, shall we

Snaqwells:
Thank you. You just made my case. I understand how he could get the loan. But don't try to tell me his Mom secured the loan without the benefit of her son's basketball talent.

snaqwells

[BktBallRef]

Originally posted by Snaqwells
Snaqwells:
Thank you. You just made my case. I understand how he could get the loan. But don't try to tell me his Mom secured the loan without the benefit of her son's basketball talent.

Ah! Therein lies the problem. He didn't get the loan, she did. Therefore, it's not illegal. There's nothing that says she can't benefit from his basketball talent. And gifts from a parent can't be considered reaping benefits from his talent.

Twisted, eh?

[Adam]

I agree, it's twisted. Which is probably how they got by with the Hummer. The jerseys, however, were a direct violation and reason enough to drop his status. But hey, it ain't my call; I'm just a ref.

[JRutledge]

I have know a few kids in the past 5 years in our state get suspended for a lot less than Lebron James was suspended for. He knew the rules, but a bulleye on his back and complains what everyone else thinks of his situation. We just had a coach get suspended the entire year for recruiting. He just was reinstated by the IHSA, but the first ruling was that he had to sit out an entire year back in December. The Judge did this for public relations, not because there is justice in the ruling.

Peace

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Snaqwells


Snaqwells:
Thank you. You just made my case. I understand how he could get the loan. But don't try to tell me his Mom secured the loan without the benefit of her son's basketball talent.

snaqwells

I guess I don't get your case, unless it's that somehow an 18 year old kid with an 8 figure earning potential does not deserve a $50K loan because he plays basketball. Of course, I could go to the bank tomorrow & get a $50K loan
for my kid's car and no one would bat an eye. And LeBron and his Mom will make more money next year than I'll make next decade. (And I never said this is not about *his* basketball talent.)

Now I'll jump up on the soapbox. LeBron James is an extraordinarily talented young man with an incredible earning potential who can also manage to maintain a 3.5 gpa at a good school. He could have skipped his sr year of HS basketball, taken the money from Adidas & not had a single problem. In this day when the likes of Rasheed & Iverson are giving sports a bad name by "keeping it real" we should all be praising LeBron for bringing some wholesomeness to sports. And we should all hope that it lasts.

[Nevadaref]

This whole senario parallels the US government nailing Al Capone for tax evasion because they couldn't get him for his real crimes.

[mikesears]

Originally posted by JRutledge
. . . . We just had a coach get suspended the entire year for recruiting. He just was reinstated by the IHSA, but the first ruling was that he had to sit out an entire year back in December. . . .

I believe you are refering to Pontiac High School's head football coach. The player who was "recruited" was permanently banned from playing any sports for Pontiac High School.

-------------------------

If Ohio operates like Illinois, the by-laws are made by the member schools of the assocation. The State Association is only responsbible for enforcing the by-laws created by member schools. Schools in that area must have wanted to prevent players from benefiting monatarily from their athletic fame. It may have been harsh, but is also may have been a "by-the-book" penalty. I'm on the fence on this one.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

My wife and I have two sons and we have done our parental duty to teach them right from wrong, when judges pervert the system like this one has done in Summit County, it makes it more difficult for parents of children all across this country to try to explain the craziness in our world to our children.

With regard to LB's mom getting the loan to buy the Hummer for him. My wife spent 16 years working in consumer lending, specifically automobile loans, for a large regional bank. There is no way LB's mother would have received a loan from her bank or anyother bank if she were not LB's mother. LB's mother has never held a job and has been on public assistance for his entire life. In other words she is unemployed, owns no property that could be used for collateral, and yet she was able to get a loan for a $50,000 automobile, and not have to make any payments until 2004. My wife could not have gotten that type of deal and she was the head of the department's executive assistant. Let's get real about this case.

[mick]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
My wife and I have two sons and we have done our parental duty to teach them right from wrong, when judges pervert the system like this one has done in Summit County, it makes it more difficult for parents of children all across this country to try to explain the craziness in our world to our children.

With regard to LB's mom getting the loan to buy the Hummer for him. My wife spent 16 years working in consumer lending, specifically automobile loans, for a large regional bank. There is no way LB's mother would have received a loan from her bank or anyother bank if she were not LB's mother. LB's mother has never held a job and has been on public assistance for his entire life. In other words she is unemployed, owns no property that could be used for collateral, and yet she was able to get a loan for a $50,000 automobile, and not have to make any payments until 2004. My wife could not have gotten that type of deal and she was the head of the department's executive assistant. Let's get real about this case.

I wouldn't talk about Ms. James that way, because I have never met her. If I had met her and knew all that (you say) to be true, I still wouldn't talk that way.
mick

[MN BB Ref]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
My wife and I have two sons and we have done our parental duty to teach them right from wrong, when judges pervert the system like this one has done in Summit County, it makes it more difficult for parents of children all across this country to try to explain the craziness in our world to our children.

Mark, I agree with the conundrum we seem to face as parents. How do you teach your children the right values in life when everywhere around them they are bombarded by cases where a lack of good values is rewarded or ignored.

As for Mrs. James, what she did was legal although LeBron is benefitting from it in a backhanded way. None the less it is legal. The jerseys on the other hand are another story as far as I'm concerned. I guess if other students, including those that aren't athletes, were to come forward and testify that they also received jerseys/merchandise from this store because they too had good grades, then we could easily elieve LeBron's story. Until that happens I firmly believe he was capitalizing on his athletic fame.

Lastly, bringing software prodigies into this has nothing to do with this case. There aren't rules that apply to them, and if there were, then I would expect them to follow them as well. I personally am sick and tired of the way our society idolizes athletes and has a different set of rules that apply to them because they can jump high, run fast, catch balls, hit balls, skate backwards...what have you. Study history and you'll see that ancient Rome had the same set of values not too long before that civilization crumbled.

Our society needs to "get real"! Of course thats just my opinion.

Dave

[Dan_ref]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.


With regard to LB's mom getting the loan to buy the Hummer for him. My wife spent 16 years working in consumer lending, specifically automobile loans, for a large regional bank. There is no way LB's mother would have received a loan from her bank or anyother bank if she were not LB's mother. LB's mother has never held a job and has been on public assistance for his entire life. In other words she is unemployed, owns no property that could be used for collateral, and yet she was able to get a loan for a $50,000 automobile, and not have to make any payments until 2004. My wife could not have gotten that type of deal and she was the head of the department's executive assistant. Let's get real about this case.

Mark, when a bank makes a loan it does not care about past earnings except as a predictor of ability & willingness to pay off the loan. Obviously Mrs. James will have no trouble paying off a $50k loan, and in any event the car is collateral.

[LarryS]

Just my opinion...

For those who say the punishment does not fit the crime, sho gives a rats arse if it fits the crime. LB knew, or should have know, the rules. The punishment from breaking the rules is clearly defined. Too bad...so sad, he should be ineligible.

Last year a girl in a nearby town was kicked off the cheerleading squad for smoking a cigarette on school grounds. She was old enough to legally purchase tobacco in the state so no law was broken. However, the code of conduct for extracirricular activity in that district strictly prohibits the use of tobacco and alcohol with the punishment for violation set at expulsion from the team. Because she chose to violate the rules and became ineligible, the full ride cheerleading scholarship being offered was pulled off the table. Nobody bailed her south-side out, though the parents tried.

There are three things EVERYONE should do related to rules;
1) Know the rules.
2) Follow the rules.
3) While complying with 1 & 2 above, work within the system to change the rules you feel are unjust.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

[MN 3 Sport Ref]

Originally posted by LarryS
Just my opinion...

For those who say the punishment does not fit the crime, sho gives a rats arse if it fits the crime. LB knew, or should have know, the rules. The punishment from breaking the rules is clearly defined. Too bad...so sad, he should be ineligible.

Last year a girl in a nearby town was kicked off the cheerleading squad for smoking a cigarette on school grounds. She was old enough to legally purchase tobacco in the state so no law was broken. However, the code of conduct for extracirricular activity in that district strictly prohibits the use of tobacco and alcohol with the punishment for violation set at expulsion from the team. Because she chose to violate the rules and became ineligible, the full ride cheerleading scholarship being offered was pulled off the table. Nobody bailed her south-side out, though the parents tried.

There are three things EVERYONE should do related to rules;
1) Know the rules.
2) Follow the rules.
3) While complying with 1 & 2 above, work within the system to change the rules you feel are unjust.

I'll get off my soapbox now.

Great thoughts LArryS!!

IMO Labron should not be afforded any more leiniency than anyother athelete just because he is an NBA star. Blame him and the people around him for allowing him to make this stupid decision, don't blame the system, they are just enforcing the rules as they are written. (the tower philosophy doesn't apply here does it )As far as the hummer goes, it may have been a stupid decision by LB and his mother as it drew much undue negative attention when he would have had enough money in six months to buy 10 hummers. Another poor decision. As far as the bank goes, however, they would be stupid not to enter into this loan agreement. Car as collateral and $$$ on the way... sounds like good business On their part to me. Again are we blaming the bank for giving the loan or LB for making a poor decision??? Yes, everybody including me wants to see him play basketball, however just because he is the most talented prep in the nation does not YET allow him to circumvent any rules the rest of the millions of atheletes have to follow. It is these rules and the few people w/ the highest integrity that enforce these rules that keep the high school game as pure and unadultered as it remains to be. If you want a circus act watch the NBA.

[JRutledge]

Originally posted by mikesears


I believe you are refering to Pontiac High School's head football coach. The player who was "recruited" was permanently banned from playing any sports for Pontiac High School.

-------------------------

If Ohio operates like Illinois, the by-laws are made by the member schools of the assocation. The State Association is only responsbible for enforcing the by-laws created by member schools. Schools in that area must have wanted to prevent players from benefiting monatarily from their athletic fame. It may have been harsh, but is also may have been a "by-the-book" penalty. I'm on the fence on this one.

No Mike, I am refering to the Quincy High Basketball Coach, that got busted for recruiting a Pittsfield player. Not exactly the same issue as Lebron had in Ohio, but there are many cases were the rules were clear and the IHSA suspended coaches and players for their actions. The IHSA this year has even suspended players for violations and they were not reinstated by the courts. As I stated, this Judge did this to make everyone happy, not to adhere to the rules of Ohio.

Peace

[mikesears]

Originally posted by JRutledge

No Mike, I am refering to the Quincy High Basketball Coach, that got busted for recruiting a Pittsfield player. Not exactly the same issue as Lebron had in Ohio, but there are many cases were the rules were clear and the IHSA suspended coaches and players for their actions. The IHSA this year has even suspended players for violations and they were not reinstated by the courts. As I stated, this Judge did this to make everyone happy, not to adhere to the rules of Ohio.

Peace

I forgot about the Quincy coach. The Pontiac coach suspension really stirred the waters around here.