A Black Eye for College Basketball

You know I am pretty much sick and tired of this story involving NFL Players, the national anthem and Donald Trump and it seems many of you are as well.

It’s safe to assume it won’t end any time soon, tweets will come daily, some fans will indeed boycott pro football and the divide on this issue and in our country will likely widen.

Nobody knows what the end result will be although it’s safe to assume that along the way Odell Beckham Jr. will say and do a half-dozen stupid things because frankly he’s a nut-job who continues to be an embarrassment to any Giants fan who cares about dignity and class.  Of course many only care that he keeps making highlight reel catches which he will also do.

So let’s put all that beside us for now and celebrate the innocence and purity of college athletics a day after federal prosecutors in New York announced fraud and corruption charges that cast a black eye on college basketball.  Four assistant coaches at Auburn, Arizona, USC and Oklahoma State were among ten people charged in a case where the coaches took cash bribes to push players and their families to do business with certain sports agents and financial advisors.

At the same time a high-ranking marketing official at Adidas was charged with funneling as much as $150,000 to three top high school basketball players to attend Louisville and the University of Miami.  The collateral damage from all of this has cost embattled Louisville coach Rick Pitino his job and you have to expect more dominoes will fall.

More than any other sport there is a dark side to basketball whereby talented teenagers are gobbled up by prominent AAU coaches who do more than just teach them how to run a fast break or play defense.  These coaches are more like representatives who at times use 15 and 16 year olds to further their careers and even line their pockets.

And you thought taking a knee while the national anthem was being played was a big deal.