May 15 2008
Always the Athlete’s Fault….
As more and more information starts to come out about the OJ Mayo saga at USC and while in high school, one thing becomes more and more clear: ESPN, CBS, Sports Illustrated, the NBA and the NCAA are all to blame. How can all of these entities stand around and blame OJ Mayo for this situation. All he and athletes like him see is these companies use his name and likeness to make million of dollars.
This conversation is about OJ Mayo receiving an estimated $30,000 while in high school and at USC. When you compare that to the way USC basically rebuilt its basketball program on the back of OJ Mayo does $30,000 sound like he made enough money. USC’s basketball program has been dormant for the last number of years. OJ Mayo signs with USC and season ticket sales increase. In the preseason the competition is hyped between he and Kevin Love for the battle of LA. So USC will say, “he can get a college degree.” That is one of the most disingenuous comments that the NCAA and these programs make. Players such as Mayo or Michael Beasley who wanted to go pro right out of high school are forced to go to college for one year by the rules of the NBA. But in order to qualify to play basketball for the entire season they only have to get qualifying grades in the first semester. So the NCAA which calls them “student athletes” basically says a player who is planning on leaving school after one year doesn’t really have to even go to class after Christmas and can play all the way through March Madness. How does this teach the “student athletes” that their education is also important? If the institution isn’t even making these athletes pretend to go to class how can they even pretend that payment for playing for the school is the scholarship?
ESPN, Sports Illustrated are now writing articles and have talking heads leading the crushing of OJ Mayo publicly. Yet these are the same people who put Lebron James on the cover of their magazines when he is in high school or hype the first round match up between OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley. I have no problem with them using these athletes to sell their product. But then don’t get indignant if these athletes see all the money being made and wonder where their cut of the pie is. ESPN in particular broadcasts high school games, which they in turn get advertisers to pay for. So Dickie V goes and calls a high school game and says this is the greatest player I’ve ever seen and hypes the kid to no end. Yet the kid who ESPN just used to make money off of may have a family situation that isn’t very good. So this kid whose name is all over ESPN and being used to market and advertise sees an opportunity to get some money and the kid is the bad guy. CBS recently paid 6 Billion dollars for exclusive broadcast rights to the NCAA tournament. So when you hear OJ Mayo may have taken $30,000 that sounds very small in comparison to 6 billion.
The first team all NBA this year: Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Lebron James and Chris Paul. That means 4/5ths of the first team went straight to the league. Doesn’t sound like everyone who doesn’t go to college doesn’t make it and ends up on the wrong path. And except for an incident in Colorado a couple of years ago these players are also good citizens and the face of the NBA. This just proves you can’t have a hard and fast rule either way. What other industry besides sports and the presidency won’t allow you to get a job that you have shown excellent at skill because of age. Now a day there are 19-year-old Mayors and people younger running companies making more money than most people can imagine.
This isn’t said to take all the blame off OJ Mayo for potentially breaking the rules. Or letting off the street agents and their people that try to buy these kids. But how can you realistically ask someone to know how much money is being generated in their name and not want a piece. These street agents wouldn’t get involved in trying to buy these players and get them under their wings if their wasn’t money to be made. You don’t see street agents around the Chess Club or the School newspaper. This system is such that money is generated in sports and we as a society allow that.
Any why are kids like OJ Mayo criticized for wanting to go pro. I’ve never ever heard the same anger and upset over Michelle Wie or Andy Roddick. And let’s not even take a look at entertainers such as Brittney Spears and Miley Cyrus. You never hear any outrage about them ‘turning pro” and becoming big time singers. The only time mention is made of them is when they’re drunk driving or getting pregnant. Sports, like music or acting is littered with a whole bunch of kids who tried to make it and didn’t. Yet much more outraged is screamed on talk radio and “Around the Horn” about the Korleone Young’s and Kwame Brown’s than the 25,000 people that audition for American Idol every year. In some circles it is reported as a racial issue. And it is hard to argue that fact when most of these players coming out early for the NBA are Black. And athletes in Golf, Tennis, and Soccer don’t generate the same amount of scrutiny.
Maybe $30,000 is enough to make you happy and ignore the Billions of dollars being generated in your name. If that’s the case that is only about .000003% of the billions of dollars being generated. As a huge sports fan I’m not advocating for stopping coverage of these events. Let’s just remember the reason most of the money generated by ESPN, CBS, Sports Illustrated, the NBA and the NCAA is done on the backs of players just like OJ Mayo.
