Why youth sports and $$$$ don't mix

[FileNotFound]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081306dnspotitans.2137e55.html

I must say, I'm disturbed by the phrase "one of the country's most highly regarded 11-year-olds." Perhaps it's just me.

 

[Upper Tupper]

Don't forget ESPN and its annual Little League WS coverage. I'd say that is kind of bizarre.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081306dnspotitans.2137e55.html

I must say, I'm disturbed by the phrase "one of the country's most highly regarded 11-year-olds." Perhaps it's just me.

This guy is hardly the first, just the latest.
Snopp Dogg and Master P do the same thing, though not on that grand of a scale.

 

[RAMBO]

Wow.

 

[BigDog]

Holy crap. Compelling read, certain to shortly become an Outside the Lines.

 

[Flash]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081306dnspotitans.2137e55.html

I must say, I'm disturbed by the phrase "one of the country's most highly regarded 11-year-olds." Perhaps it's just me.

This guy is hardly the first, just the latest.
Snopp Dogg and Master P do the same thing, though not on that grand of a scale.

You're right. Two major youth hockey clubs in Detroit are sponsored by millionaires ...

 

[The Big Ragu]

You know, at the end of the day you can't buy talent or good genetics. So what is the end game here? What percentage of 12 year old kids will grow up to be pro athletes? What percentage will go on to college athletic scholarships? This is a billionaire showing off to the world that he is a billionaire. It's all about him, not about the kids. How telling is the quote from the 12-year-old kid: "Only God could give something like this to someone." You'd think someone seemingly as succesful as this idiot would feel good about himself without having to be God to a bunch of 12-year-olds. It blows my mind that someone could actually have that sort of need. How can't an ADULT see how this is a formula for some screwed up kids? We are screwed, societally.

 

[Huggy]

You're right. Two major youth hockey clubs in Detroit are sponsored by millionaires ...

My boy Fly can speak to this with far more authority than me but I don't know if you can compare the Compuware and Little Caesar's hockey programs (which I think are the ones you are talking about here) to this....

 

[Flash]

What if ... and **** me if I'm being naive and/or overly idealistic but bear with me here ... said billionaire just wants to give back to the community and make sure these kids get to play the best they can? Are we really so black-hearted and cynical that we have to assume the worst?

 

[Flash]

You're right. Two major youth hockey clubs in Detroit are sponsored by millionaires ...

My boy Fly can speak to this with far more authority than me but I don't know if you can compare the Compuware and Little Caesar's hockey programs (which I think are the ones you are talking about here) to this....

I am referring to those programs. Most of their costs are financed by the sponsors. I remember the boys from Compuware walking around the rink all dolled up in their matching suits and leather jackets. Looked sharp.

 

[broadway joe]

What if ... and **** me if I'm being naive and/or overly idealistic but bear with me here ... said billionaire just wants to give back to the community and make sure these kids get to play the best they can? Are we really so black-hearted and cynical that we have to assume the worst?

The billionaire's motives may be pure, Flash, but he's going about it in the wrong way with charter flights all over the country, luxury hotels and people attending to these kids' every need as if money is no object. If he wants to get them first-rate coaching and snazzy uniforms, fine. But he's completely spoiling them, in addition to sending the message at 8-10 years old that they can have whatever they want just because they're good basketball players. There's no way I'd let my kid be a part of that program, no matter how good a player he was.

 

[DyePack]

Are we really so black-hearted and cynical that we have to assume the worst?

What happens if/when I say yes?

 

[Googlaw]

I don't see what the problem is. It's not like he's benefitting financially from this venture. He's just helping some kids out. I agree with what he said about the money and parents. If I was a parent on this team, it'd be hard for me to gripe about playing time when I'm flying a custom jet and staying at Caesars.

 

[DyePack]

You're right. Two major youth hockey clubs in Detroit are sponsored by millionaires ...

My boy Fly can speak to this with far more authority than me but I don't know if you can compare the Compuware and Little Caesar's hockey programs (which I think are the ones you are talking about here) to this....

I am referring to those programs. Most of their costs are financed by the sponsors. I remember the boys from Compuware walking around the rink all dolled up in their matching suits and leather jackets. Looked sharp.

Are you sure that wasn't 98 Degrees?

 

[Chuck~Taylor]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/081306dnspotitans.2137e55.html

I must say, I'm disturbed by the phrase "one of the country's most highly regarded 11-year-olds." Perhaps it's just me.

This guy is hardly the first, just the latest.
Snopp Dogg and Master P do the same thing, though not on that grand of a scale.

Yeah but their kids are actually pretty talented. Snoop Dogg's son is said to be a very good quarterback. And Master P's son, Lil Romeo, is a great AAU basketball player.

 

[Beef03]

This guys moives seem pure enough. I actually have no problem with this. If he was just taking already privlidge suburbanite kids on an all-expense paid trip around the country, I'd be raising an eyebrow. But he is also taking underprivlidged kids on the team as well and giving them the best coaching money can buy, something likely unattainable otherwise. Beyond that, I don't see what's wrong with spoiling the kids to some extent on a sports team like this. It is obvious that they are not receiving this treatment back home, that they're not having grades bought for them, that many of them do go back to underprivlidged situations. This is also not a life time team, as he mentioned when they graduate to Jr. High they willbe travelling in yellow buses and wearing second hand uniforms, so why not give them a little bit of the high life now?

 

[Flash]

Are we really so black-hearted and cynical that we have to assume the worst?

What happens if/when I say yes?

I would expect nothing less of you, my sweet.

 

[Flash]

Philanthropy!! That's the word I was looking for earlier!! It just came to me ...

 

[broadway joe]

We talk all the time about arrogant athletes with their awful sense of entitlement that comes from years of being coddled and pampered just because they're good at sports. Hello? This is the ultimate in pampering. This isn't high school kids getting free sneakers and gear from their AAU program, this is third and fifth-graders getting treated like NBA royalty. Good luck to the HS coaches who get these kids in a few years, when they've been spoiled beyond belief. I'm not saying they're all going to be arrogant pricks, but this kind of thing certainly increases the chances.

And by the way, I understand that some of these families are quite poor, but no parent with any self-respect would free-load to that extent, accepting thousands of dollars in trips and lodging on the backs of their 8 or 9 year old kids. This guy may think he's doing the right thing, but he's gone way overboard. The whole thing is more than a little creepy.

 

[Smallpotatoes]

I like that he makes the parents sign a contract requiring that they don't meddle or yell at officials or anything like that. I wonder how true it is that they won't cut kids because of their ability.
But I wonder what it will be like when these kids get to junior high or high school and they're not starters or even if they're cut.