Some where in the distance past, coaches, educators and school officials looked the other way so that elite athletes could bring fame and fortune to their institutions. Exhibit A is Dexter Manley, former defensive end for the Washington Redskins, who was never able to read above a 4th grade level, yet teachers covered up this glaring weakness. On the field, he was a terror in college and in the NFL, yet every time Dexter opened a book, the fear of reading gripped him.
Meanwhile, if you wanted to play basketball at the University of North Carolina, apparently going to class was optional according to Rashad McCants, a member of the 2004-05 national title team. In their ivory tower in Indianapolis, Indiana, their national headquarters, the NCAA talks a good game, yet corruption, double standards and power has gone to their heads. Like participants in the Tour de France, its hard to know who is cheating and who is playing by the rules. If the media would forgo favoritism and begin to address this series issue, using athletes to make colleges millions of dollars annually, perhaps professional sports would not have as many problems as they do today.
Unfortunately, no one can escape the words of Galatians 6:7-8, “you reap what you sow!” If all students were treated equally, several of today’s star athletes would have never made it past high school. Nonetheless, like a good soap opera, the media plays along for a while until public pressure forces them to pull the plug, exposing players, teams and leagues for their cover up. However, its time for the media to do their job early on, to address these scandals quickly . If not, staying quiet due to powerful and wealthy boosters, cable news might as well drop their complaints since they too are part of the problem. Stop it or drop it!
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 