Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMBB | Few regrets
Abstract:
PHILADELPHIA - The 20-year-old millionaire says he isn't a college kid anymore, but he still loves talking about that one year of college. He sits here, in the visitor's locker room at the Wachovia Center, intermittently watching game film of tonight's opponent, the 76ers, on the big screen TV 15 feet in front of him....
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Marc LeVine
posted 11/12/08 @ 10:52 AM EST
This is a nice article. It helps redeem Greene's persona a little bit and sends the right message to talented kids comtemplating leaving school for the pros.
The fact that Greene realizes that pro sports is a business that requires one to compete at the highest levels in athletics and maturity. When you decide to head to the NBA, you give up your youth and normal maturation process for a big paycheck. It doesn't sound like a bad tradeoff, but it can be a real life changer. Not necessarily a positive one.
Professional sports are filled with unrestrained big egos turned lose on a world filled with drugs, alcohol, unsafe sex and, in some cases, violence. It's a world that offers "things" to many of those who would benefit much more from discipline and real world values. These are things you cannot buy, no matter how well you play the game.
Greene is realizing that the flashes of talent he showed in high school and college are no match for the polished game of the more talented and better prepared. He must now ride the bench and make the most of his garbage minutes, while trying to compete not only with other team mates, but also with future draft choices.
Missing SU and considering further coursework at the University are steps in the right direction for Greene. He seems to understand the value of a college education to an athlete with no guarantees to become a star or even a veteran journeyman. And, even former pro players need to fall back on their college education for life after the pros. Not all of them get to be sports analysts on ESPN or lucrative jobs in the front office.
I wish Donte Greene luck. Perhaps, his real fame can come from reminding other college underclassman to think hard about what they are giving up when they leave school early for a very uncertain future in pro sports.
The fact that Greene realizes that pro sports is a business that requires one to compete at the highest levels in athletics and maturity. When you decide to head to the NBA, you give up your youth and normal maturation process for a big paycheck. It doesn't sound like a bad tradeoff, but it can be a real life changer. Not necessarily a positive one.
Professional sports are filled with unrestrained big egos turned lose on a world filled with drugs, alcohol, unsafe sex and, in some cases, violence. It's a world that offers "things" to many of those who would benefit much more from discipline and real world values. These are things you cannot buy, no matter how well you play the game.
Greene is realizing that the flashes of talent he showed in high school and college are no match for the polished game of the more talented and better prepared. He must now ride the bench and make the most of his garbage minutes, while trying to compete not only with other team mates, but also with future draft choices.
Missing SU and considering further coursework at the University are steps in the right direction for Greene. He seems to understand the value of a college education to an athlete with no guarantees to become a star or even a veteran journeyman. And, even former pro players need to fall back on their college education for life after the pros. Not all of them get to be sports analysts on ESPN or lucrative jobs in the front office.
I wish Donte Greene luck. Perhaps, his real fame can come from reminding other college underclassman to think hard about what they are giving up when they leave school early for a very uncertain future in pro sports.
- Displaying 1 - 2 of 2
ryan
posted 11/12/08 @ 10:31 AM EST