Sonny Vaccaro = the definition of disingenuous

[Piotr Rasputin]

This blowhard was just on local radio (where he is a frequent guest) bemoaning the fact that high school basketball is a business, and how schools exploit kids. He then said it was "racism" that caused Bill Walker to be declared ineligible for the upcoming season.

This is like an arsonist starting a fire, then bemoaning how hot it is. This is the bottom feeder who brought the shoe companies into the colleges, which eventually led to them being in the high schools.

As for the racism allegations . . . Mr. Vaccaro has an agenda to get his kid eligible. He'll say whatever it takes. Which makes him like anyone else who stands to profit from these kids.

Rant over.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Somebody posted a link on the Journalism board to a series the Boston Globe did on the AAU/Traveling Team/Shoe Company culture that really brought out what a slimy piece of **** this guy is.

The series was full of plenty of quotes that were unintentionally hilarious and mind-bogglingly slimy at the same time. I felt like I needed to take a shower after I read it.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Question: Could you see the sleaze oozing from your radio speakers while he was on air?

Read Wetzel's "Sole Influence" and you'll be so disgusted with the shoe companies you'll want to avoid their products.

 

[slappy4428]

Question: Could you see the sleaze oozing from your radio speakers while he was on air?

Read Wetzel's "Sole Influence" and you'll be so disgusted with the shoe companies you'll want to avoid their products.

It's why Moddy wears Birks... no one with a bit of athletic ability ever wears them ;D ;D ;D

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

(For the outsiders, Bill Walker was declared ineligible because he's already played four years of high school ball. Ohio isn't Kentucky.)

EDIT: OK, maybe Vaccaro's not an argument for blowing up the entire high-school sports system. But if there's no way to keep people like him from corrupting it for their own purposes ...

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Question: Could you see the sleaze oozing from your radio speakers while he was on air?

Read Wetzel's "Sole Influence" and you'll be so disgusted with the shoe companies you'll want to avoid their products.

It's why Moddy wears Birks... no one with a bit of athletic ability ever wears them  ;D ;D ;D

That's not true. I wear Birks and am a pretty good frolf and Ultimate Frisbee player.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Sonny Vaccaro is a very strong argument for blowing up high school sports entirely.

(For the outsiders, Bill Walker was declared ineligible because he's already played four years of high school ball. Ohio isn't Kentucky.)

High school sports or AAU sports?

Basketball's problems stem more from summer leagues/camps/tournaments than from high school programs.

In most states the HS coach usually has an education background and in many cases is still teaching. Summer league coaches are, for the most part, pimps.

 

[OkayPlayer]

Sonny has his own sleazy reasons for all of this, no doubt. And the sneaker companies are sleazy, no doubt.

But as bad as they are and as bad as Sonny perhaps is, the truth is Sonny and the environment he created has helped a lot of kids during the past two decades. There's a lot of kids who got college scholarships because of the camps Sonny organizes. These kids otherwise would be stuck in obscurity in tiny towns across the country. Sonny's no angel. But he's also not some villian like people think he is.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Sonny Vaccaro is a very strong argument for blowing up high school sports entirely.

(For the outsiders, Bill Walker was declared ineligible because he's already played four years of high school ball. Ohio isn't Kentucky.)

High school sports or AAU sports?

Basketball's problems stem more from summer leagues/camps/tournaments than from high school programs.

In most states the HS coach usually has an education background and in many cases is still teaching. Summer league coaches are, for the most part, pimps.

I did rethink that.

But considering how many people think of high schools as sports factories first and academic institutions a very small second, maybe it's not such a bad idea after all.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Sonny has his own sleazy reasons for all of this, no doubt. And the sneaker companies are sleazy, no doubt.

But as bad as they are and as bad as Sonny perhaps is, the truth is Sonny and the environment he created has helped a lot of kids during the past two decades. There's a lot of kids who got college scholarships because of the camps Sonny organizes. These kids otherwise would be stuck in obscurity in tiny towns across the country. Sonny's no angel. But he's also not some villian like people think he is.

Bull****. If you can play coaches will find you.

 

[slappy4428]

Question: Could you see the sleaze oozing from your radio speakers while he was on air?

Read Wetzel's "Sole Influence" and you'll be so disgusted with the shoe companies you'll want to avoid their products.

It's why Moddy wears Birks... no one with a bit of athletic ability ever wears them ;D ;D ;D

That's not true. I wear Birks and am a pretty good frolf and Ultimate Frisbee player.

Sincere apologies dude... I forgot the importance of frolf (whatever TF that is) and ultimate Frisbee.
You may, as soon as you appear in an ad endorsing either, point me in the direction of a store carrying Birks so I can buy my first pair...

 

[Armchair_QB]

Question: Could you see the sleaze oozing from your radio speakers while he was on air?

Read Wetzel's "Sole Influence" and you'll be so disgusted with the shoe companies you'll want to avoid their products.

It's why Moddy wears Birks... no one with a bit of athletic ability ever wears them  ;D ;D ;D

That's not true. I wear Birks and am a pretty good frolf and Ultimate Frisbee player.

Sincere apologies dude... I forgot the importance of frolf (whatever TF that is) and ultimate Frisbee.
You may, as soon as you appear in an ad endorsing either, point me in the direction of a store carrying Birks so I can buy my first pair...

frolf = frisbee golf

 

[OkayPlayer]

Sonny has his own sleazy reasons for all of this, no doubt. And the sneaker companies are sleazy, no doubt.

But as bad as they are and as bad as Sonny perhaps is, the truth is Sonny and the environment he created has helped a lot of kids during the past two decades. There's a lot of kids who got college scholarships because of the camps Sonny organizes. These kids otherwise would be stuck in obscurity in tiny towns across the country. Sonny's no angel. But he's also not some villian like people think he is.

Bull****. If you can play coaches will find you.

Not necessarly. If you're a marginal D-I player in Idaho, I sincerly doubt many college coaches will be making trips to see you during the season. AAU tourneys and camps give these kids chancs.
Sonny's disengenous, no doubt. But these camps help a lot of kids.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Question: Could you see the sleaze oozing from your radio speakers while he was on air?

Read Wetzel's "Sole Influence" and you'll be so disgusted with the shoe companies you'll want to avoid their products.

It's why Moddy wears Birks... no one with a bit of athletic ability ever wears them  ;D ;D ;D

That's not true. I wear Birks and am a pretty good frolf and Ultimate Frisbee player.

Sincere apologies dude... I forgot the importance of frolf (whatever TF that is) and ultimate Frisbee.
You may, as soon as you appear in an ad endorsing either, point me in the direction of a store carrying Birks so I can buy my first pair...

I can't appear in any ads. I'd lose my amateur status.

 

[Piotr Rasputin]

Sonny has his own sleazy reasons for all of this, no doubt. And the sneaker companies are sleazy, no doubt.

But as bad as they are and as bad as Sonny perhaps is, the truth is Sonny and the environment he created has helped a lot of kids during the past two decades. There's a lot of kids who got college scholarships because of the camps Sonny organizes. These kids otherwise would be stuck in obscurity in tiny towns across the country. Sonny's no angel. But he's also not some villian like people think he is.

He's more villain than angel, to be sure. And what are these kids "helped" to? The college hoops environment with dropping graduation rates, kids used up and spit out by these universities, kids used by their high schools to make money on traveling tours and TV games, and the corruption of big money?

Mr. Vaccaro helped create this environment. And he has helped keep the cycle going. Sure, some kids get oportunties that are not wasted. In fact, many do. But Mr. Vaccaro is a large reason the system is broken.