Tag Archives: money

African-American Athletes Are Investing Too Much Into Sports

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African-American males look to professional sports superstars for their role models

The African-American athletes’ entire future rests upon a professional contract and nothing else matters.

Sports in the African-American community has always been viewed as a way out of the inner city and on to financial freedom.

 

Education doesn’t matter, world events doesn’t matter, the only thing that counts is that professional contract.

You can drive around any inner city in the country and you’ll see African-American young men throwing a football around on the city streets or playing basketball with some make-shift basketball hoop.

In the mornings, when young African Americans are on their way to school, instead of carrying their books and book bags they’re bringing footballs and basketballs to school because that’s their role model; books are just a requirement to get through the day.

There are very few role models in the inner cities. 

You don’t grow up in the African-American community where you’re living next to lawyers or doctors or even business owners; those people just do not exist in most inner city African-American communities.

African-American males look to professional sports superstars for their role models, believing that if they work really hard playing football or basketball that they can have millions of dollars and all the fame and success that comes from being a professional athlete.  Becoming a doctor or lawyer does not appeal to them or the so-called hip-hop generation of black males.

Everyone knows about Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant because those are the role models for African Americans.  These athletic superstars are on TV all the time, they have big-time major endorsement deals and this lifestyle is so fascinating and appealing to a lot of African Americans who believe that with hard work playing their sport, they can also live the lifestyle of the rich and famous black athlete.

Education does not seem as important if you play sports but without it, what kind of future are you going to have if you don’t beat the odds of being the one in a million who makes it to the pros?  African-American athletes are putting every ounce of the strength they have into sports without the thought that they may not make it to the pros. Even if they are a success in college many of them still leave a four year institution without a college degree.

The barber shop is an African-American gathering place in the inner city and the conversation is often about politics, community events and sports.  Young black kids are going into the barber shops getting haircuts and are being asked questions about what they want to be when you grow up?

Before the young black man can answer the question the members of the barbershop will already know the answer,  “you’re going to be a football player or you’re going to be a basketball superstar, right?”

It’s never about you’re going to grow up and get a law degree or medical degree or go off to a fancy college and get a high powered education to be whatever you want to be.  The conversation is about sports and what the local teams are doing.

There is a huge cultural difference between blacks and whites when it comes to sports. Whites grow up with the mindset of going to college to get an education and to one day have a career, maybe as a lawyer or a doctor.

It is not the same conversation with blacks in their community.  The conversation is all about music and fashion and becoming a sports star as their ticket out of the inner city.  The conversation is rarely about using education as a means to success.

Being a superstar in sports and music is a one in a million shot at the big time but what happens to the millions who never make it, who didn’t do enough in school to have something to fall back on if they didn’t win first place on American Idol or were the number one draft pick for the Chicago Bulls, now that is the question.

It seems to me that too much time and energy is spent on sports and only viewing that as their ticket on the yellow brick road to a better life.

These young African-American ballplayers are focused on going to a major college program because it can help them in their belief of going pro.  It’s all about going pro; getting that scholarship only gets them one step closer to becoming a professional athlete, it doesn’t bring them one step closer to getting a college degree.

I love sports but it’s a one in a million shot for African-American young men that need to focus on education to first, be able to become a businessman and to then become a leader and a role model in the African-American community.

Money Can’t Buy The College Recruiting Process

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Do you think money can buy the college recruiting process for high school student athletes?

If money could buy the college recruiting process then all the rich kids in this country would end up receiving most of the attention from college coaches because they have the money to get the attention.

Money, in my opinion, does play a role because the college recruiting process is not free.  You’re going to have to spend money to play AAU basketball and to be on a very good travel team regardless of the sport.  Money is a factor throughout the college recruiting process because without it you may have a hard time gaining the attention of college coaches.

Talent and good grades are the key factors for any student athlete to stand out throughout the college recruiting process.  No amount of money in the world can make an athlete superior over all other athletes, it’s just impossible.  Either you have the talent to play at the college level or you don’t and money has nothing to do with it.

In my many years as a college recruiter, I have seen first-hand parents spending thousands of dollars on their kids to make them better athletes.  These parents will get their kids specialized coaching and training to improve athletic ability and performance.  Not a bad idea to get private coaching if you can afford it but just because you have that private coaching is no guarantee you’re going to get a scholarship.  I’ve seen parents spend thousands of dollars to create recruiting portfolios and spend thousands of dollars more to mail stuff to college coaches who will only treat this stuff as junk mail.

Now don’t get me wrong, of course you’re going to have to spend money to gain the attention of college coaches but you should not have to take out a second mortgage on your house to do that.  You should not have to forgo your summer vacation so you can get your son or daughter a professionally made Hollywood-type recruiting DVD made.

Because parents have the money and student athletes don’t, sometimes parents get a little bit crazy thinking that if they put a lot of money into this they will get results throughout the college recruiting process.  On the flip side of this scenario there are many families throughout this country who have very little money but somehow their sons and daughters end up with a full scholarship.

I believe the best way to gain the attention of college coaches is to be seen by college coaches.  Recruiting is like buying a car; you’re not going to buy a car because I told you about it over the phone or because I sent you some really nice pictures on what the car looks like.  No, you’re going to want to see what the car looks like for yourself, you’re going to want to test-drive the car and find out how much this car costs and whether it’s worth the investment. Don’t you think recruiting is the same way in the eyes of college coaches?  College coaches need to see players play and they need to see that player play a whole lot before they even think about wanting to give that kid a scholarship.

But hold on a minute. Your kid is not the only kid who can actually play, so now a whole new set of problems has presented itself. Student athlete vs. student athlete: which one will actually gain the attention of the coach over another student athlete in this never ending battle of recruiting?

So this is the part where some parents believe that if they can put some extra money into helping their kid get more exposure, this will give them the edge they need in the college recruiting process.  Outside of trying to bribe a coach into giving your son or daughter a full athletic scholarship this will have very little impact in getting them that scholarship.

Money cannot buy the college recruiting process just like whatever part of the country you’re from makes no difference on who gets a college scholarship.

The bottom line in all of this comes down to talent. There are a lot of student athletes out there who don’t have talent so college athletics will not be a wise choice for them.  There are some student athletes who are very good athletically and there is a place for these athletes to play at the next level.

Parents need to remember that to spend your money wisely throughout the college recruiting process but don’t ever make the mistake into thinking you can buy your way in.

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Should College Programs Provide a Money-back Guarantee?

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College programs are recruiting very talented high school student athletes all the time and in order to recruit these athletes maybe sometimes coaches might have to stretch the truth.  Sometimes college coaches will guarantee playing time to certain players or include some type of extra benefits.

You might wonder how some of the top college programs in the country always stay on top?  The answer I believe is because they have to do something extra to get these players.

Sometimes college programs make huge promises to the student athletes and parents just to make sure their college programs has a better chance of landing that big-time recruit.

The rules basically say you can only give a full athletic scholarship and that’s about it but we all know that most of these college programs break the rules so they can recruit players.

Now when these talented student athletes are signed up to play ball at a particular college, what if that college coach forgets about the promises that were made?  My answer to that question is never believe anything that sounds too unrealistic from a college coach because it can’t all be true.

Many years ago I was recruited to play college basketball at West Virginia State College and our head coach made all of these ridiculous promises all in an effort to recruit the best talent.  There were so many promises made by the head coach that it was almost like you needed to have your own account to keep track of it all.

When the head coach at West Virginia State College could not deliver on all the huge and ridiculous promises, that coach quickly lost all credibility.  Never promise anyone anything no matter what it is and then change your mind.

Final thoughts: every year there’s a long list of college student athletes who can’t cut it athletically or academically at the college level.  Those players generally disappear never to be heard from again or they just transfer to a different school.  Because of all the promises that are made to get players, should they receive a money-back guarantee?

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The NCAA needs to pay the players

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This is so ridiculous that big time college programs can generate billions of dollars in revenue with football bowl games and college basketball tournament games but pay the players nothing.

What’s wrong with sharing some of that money with the players?  If it wasn’t for the players no one would tune in to watch college athletics.  It is an absolute must that the players be paid for their contributions to college athletics.  There’s enough money to incorporate some kind of payment structure for these college ball players.  These athletes are giving up so much and getting so little in return it is not fair and it’s criminal in my opinion.

A college program can practice these players up to 20 hours per week, that’s the equivalent of a part time job but in this situation these kids are not being paid for their services.

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Antonio Cromartie’s Eight Baby-Mamas

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The NFL football player, Antonio Cromartie, has eight children with six different women.  How can a man be a real father to that many children from that many different women?  How much money in child support is this stupid man paying every month to support these eight children?

Any woman who would look in the direction of Antonio Cromartie is asking to be the next baby mama.  The San Diego Chargers got rid of this guy because of all the drama he was creating by having all of these children with all of these different women.  They sent him packing to the New York Jets. He may be a good football player and I hope he has a long career because child support is not cheap.

Antonio Cromartie is not the only professional athlete who has a lot of baby mamas. Many big money professional athletes have a lot of children with many different women and they act like it’s no big deal.

Professional athletes and, more importantly, African American athletes, seem to be the ones who are pumping out these children from many different women while on road trips all over the country.

I often wonder how so many African American professional athletes end up with no money and in jail when their careers are over.  It seems to me that someone somewhere should be talking to these ball players about their responsibility to be men and a being a father to all these children.

There is no way that Antonio Cromartie and many other idiots like him can be good fathers to these children that they have had by multiple women.

The thing about professional athletes is they feel invincible because of their superior athletic skills, their power and their strength along with the multimillion dollar contracts but that doesn’t give them the right to mess up somebody’s life by getting them pregnant, kicking them to the curb and not owning up to their responsibilities.

These professional athletes who have the spotlight on them all the time because of their outstanding athletic ability, are now having the spotlight on them shine even brighter because they have become baby-making machines.

The women who get mixed up with these men have eyes but they cannot see what they’re getting involved with.

Many of these women get caught up because it’s a professional athlete and they have a lot of money.  I think some of these women are at fault because they do go after these athletes like a shark in the water who can smell the blood. In these cases, the women smell the money.

We all know that professional athletes are targets for these unscrupulous women; that’s a known fact. Women have tracked these men into having babies so they can collect large child support payments every month.  Some of these child support payments can be as much as $50 – $60,000 per month.  Maybe it pays to be a baby mama.

If the women know that this athlete has babies by other women, why would they even get involved with these worthless men in the first place?

The bottom line is that’s a lot of children for one man to support. The impact on all of these children will more than likely be felt for years to come and that’s really sad.

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Parents, Recruiting and $1,000

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The college recruiting process is not free. There are so many things that will cost parents a lot of money and sometimes the amount of money that parents have to spend can be ridiculous just to get their kids exposure to college programs. Parents if you had $1,000 today, invest that in your high school athlete’s future.

I have some suggestions on how parents can best utilize $1,000 towards college recruiting.  Keep in mind, in some situations you may need a little more money because every high school athlete is different and may require just a little extra cash.

Seeing is believing when it comes to college recruiting. I would invest in a small hand-held digital camera.  Regardless of the sport, college coaches need to see a student athlete play and you can get a good video camera for around $300. This will be a powerful in gaining exposure to college programs.

The videos you create can be uploaded to websites like Youtube or turned into DVD’s.  Sometimes, if college coaches can see a high school athlete early enough this could get that high school athlete a huge advantage over many other high school athletes who may not be able to afford to purchase a good digital video camera.

All high school student athletes need to participate in some kind of exposure event where college coaches will be in attendance.  It is a critical must for athletes to participate in summer travel events because college coaches need to see you play.  This type of exposure could be extremely expensive depending on the number of tournaments or camps in the summer months.

College recruiting athletic resume: this is a profile of a high school athlete’s athletic and academic abilities.  This information, along with the DVD, must be emailed to college coaches.  The parents and student athletes must come up with a strong list of college programs, somewhere between 75 to 100 college programs and then mail this information along with the athletic resume.

By now, you’re probably broke; $1,000 just doesn’t go as far as it use to.  In my opinion, the information I just provided would probably be the best way to go if you have $1,000 to spend on the college recruiting process.

In most situations, I believe it will probably cost much more money than $1,000 to get a student athlete from high school to college. There are still so many more things that you would need to spend money on in trying to gain exposure to these college programs.

The college recruiting process for many student athletes could begin at different grade levels during their athletic career which could mean that parents may have to spend even more money.  The ultimate goal is to get the high school athlete in college where they can receive an all expense paid college education. That’s why parents will be investing their money.

Should high school coaches be paid full time to coach their sport?

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The high school coaching profession is extremely challenging; the hours are long and the pay is low.  Many high school coaches do outstanding and unbelievable work every year for the student athletes that they coach.  Should high school coaches be paid full time to only coach their sport?

This question will spark a huge debate because many people do not believe that high school coaches bring any value to their sport or to their schools.  I believe high school coaches are a critical aspect to the success of high school athletes.

School coaches, in my opinion, bring a lot of value to the schools they coach for and for the players that they teach and coach.  If they did not matter what high school teams were doing then no one would show up for the games.

I know every school district would not be able to afford to pay a coach a full time salary to only coach.  Maybe high school coaches in revenue-producing sports such as football and basketball should be paid full time.

What are your thoughts?

I know that it may not be a great idea to hire someone to just coach their sport and do nothing else, but it’s done at the college level. I do understand that colleges and universities have the money and the resources to pay a coach full time to only coach. I’ve heard stories of how the head coaches would use their coaching salaries to pay assistant coaches and to put money back into their program.

There can be creative ways to possibly raise money to pay a high school coach’s salary to coach full time.  At the college level, I do know that they have basketball camps to help fund their athletic programs and pay for a coach or two.

Maybe this process can work at the high school level where there could be some sort of fundraising for basketball camps or host an event where money could be raised to pay a coach a full time salary or give them a larger piece of the pie.

I’m sure there are many parents and fans of high school sports who do not understand the amount of hours that it takes to coach high school players and to develop that program in which they coach. In my opinion, and maybe I’m wrong but it is my opinion and I believe high school sports is a critical part of a school’s curriculum.

I understand that education is extremely important but I also believe that playing sports is also important.

In many school districts throughout this country high school sports is everything to a high school kid that play sports. Many of these young men and women look to high school coaches as father-figures or role models and I believe there is a huge value to having a full time high school coach.

The world is changing; the things we use to do 15 or 20 years ago do not apply to young people today. Everything is different and I believe having strong mentors as head coaches can do a lot for the young people who play a sport and uplift a community or even a high school.

There is a crisis in this country when it comes to the many school districts that are having financial problems.  Enrollment is dropping at many school districts and that affects money but I believe more creative thinking can create a better future for the overall success of high school coaching, athletics, school districts and, of course, the students.