Kentucky Basketball

Good Evening Sports Fans:

Well its that time again, the Kentucky Derby has been run and a new crop of Kentucky Basketball players have shown that a mind is an o.k. thing to waste.

I am speaking of the habit of Kentucky Basketball Coach and dumbass Emeritus Calipari, who has encouraged many of his players to play just one year on their almost new, barely used scholarship, and submit their names to the "Pro" draft.

Folks, am I the only person who thinks that not only this policy, but this clown of a Coach is busily raping a fine University?

Innocent naif though I may be, I always thought that the main purpose of an Institution of Higher Learning was for...for...well, learning, and as far as I can see the only thing these kids learn in this program is that the Coach will help you get rich if you will play one year of B'ball for him.

To me this is simply disgraceful. Perhaps its because I had to fight and claw for whatever I have that passes for an Education (worked straight Midnight Shift and went to College in the Daytime, on the G.I. Bill) and therefore place a high price on an Education and feel strongly that a person should never stop trying to further their Education, or I'm realistic and enquiring enough to check the stats and see the United States slowly but surely sliding toward the bottom of the level of Education possessed by Nations throughout the World.

I don't know the answer to my own question, but I DO know one thing. If the trend continues of degrading the importance of an Education, and to continue to encourage kids to spend all their free time practicing some sport or another, instead of doing their homework, and striving to learn, the United States is headed for even more trouble.I also believe that a valid component of today's poor economy is due to lowering educational standings and the result thereof of having a steady decline of the population of well Educated or well trained young people ready for the workforce.

I will never forget how one chap I worked with years ago, relating that when he was a College undergraduate, doing student-teaching he witnessed one day an occurrence with illustrates perhaps well the state of Education in the United States.
Now, this friend of mine, as I say, was teaching a Class, I think in English, and was giving the class a short pop quiz. As was his habit, while the student were bent over their tests, he was circulating throughout the room, observing the students and making himself available should a student raise his or her hand and ask for clarification of something on the test, when he noticed one kid take a slip of paper out of his pocket and look at it while He wrote something on his test paper.

Upon getting close behind the kid, my friend found the kid laboriously copying something on his test that was boldly printed on the secreted piece of paper he had taken from his pocket. What was he copying ?.........His Name. It is illustrative to mention that the kid was attending the University (free) on a Basketball Scholarship., and didn't even know how to spell his name! Now, I have nothing against Basketball, I enjoyed playing the game myself when I was in High School, but I never had the Talent, desire or time to play the game instead of going to school or working after school.

I hope I am as wrong as I can be, but I cannot see that the U.S. is going to maintain its status in the civilizations of the World if we, as a nation, continue to give Education a low priority...I wish that those of you who are interested would either forward this piece or your own feelings to the Presidents of Universities in your States. And if you doubt that our young people are not getting as good an Education as College Graduates once did, just start noticing the mistakes you see in your local newspaper, as often as not in an article written by an Associated Press Writer. I read an article in todays newspaper, written by a syndicated writer, who was writing about a certain political candidate being a "Shoe-In" for office. This person, I would imagine gets paid pretty well as a syndicated columnist, yet he didn't even know the correct phrase is "Shoo-in".

Now, I would imagine that most of you have noticed that I am far from a good writer, and that I frequently make mistakes in punctuation and etc, My only excuse is that I am still learning, my Education continues.

Peace

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