On occasion I like to rant and vent, it’s nothing I’m looking to proof read or highlight too much, even the ideas are all over the place. It’s just a stream of consciousness rant with no clear direction so I don’t care if you don’t like it.
<beginrant>
Obviously nowadays kids are ranked and put on draft boards earlier and earlier. I still cringe at this. How can we, in the same breath feed kids this constant bombardment about where they are ranked and where they should be drafted then complain about kids that leave early even crucify them if the decision turns out badly.
We plaster their names all over – NBA this and mock draft that. I’m not anti early entry at all and I think kids should be able to make up their own minds to do what they think is best for them. I would hope that they have enough people around them that have their best interest at heart to help them to make the correct decision. While I don’t see a problem with talking about talented players even some comparisons to pro players with the same skill-set but I also think we all bear a modicum of responsibility to kids to watch what is said and how we say it.
I get sick of is the hypocrisy of the process – mostly the media. The same media that will hype any half decent high school kid up then criticize his fall from grace when he doesn’t live up the expectation, this fictitious expectation that they (the media) have created. If a kid doesn’t live up to the hype then who bears the brunt of the criticism? The kid – not the creators of the unrealistic expectations heaped on them.
I’ve heard people call a kid dumb for staying in school and I’ve heard people call a kid dumb for leaving early to chase his dream. It’s maddening and mind-boggling and no wonder kids have issues.
It also says a lot about our society as a whole that all we expect kids to care about is the money, not life experience, not the enjoyment of shared goals and journeys. If that is your sole motivation in life that’s fine but don’t place that on everyone else – especially a child. I would hope that we raise our kids a little bit better than that. Money is important, its necessary but its a sad life if that is your raison d’être.
It’s ok to let a kid be a kid if he wants to be, maybe we don’t throw them to the wolves so early?
<endrant>
