. . . OPPOSED TO MILLIONAIRES ?

        "I am opposed to millionaires but it would be dangerous to offer me the position."  So Mark Twain allegedly confessed.
Me, too, Mark.

         It's the season for jumping . . . no longer for  college basketball brackets . . . but for the BIG bucks.  Living near National Championship Duke Blue Devils, as well as a couple of other schools with high profile athletic programs, I have seen  much in area newspapers and other media about the 'One and Done' phenomenon of freshmen declaring themselves for the NBA draft.  At least among the Division I schools, the basketball programs seem to have become the 'farm system' for the professional teams.  

     What would you do as a 19 year old if a million + bucks were waved at you?  But in some way, that rather begs the question.  So much for the euphemism 'student athletes'.  Increasingly, money (and lots of it), drives athletic programs.  And, the likelihood of that changing, well . . .   Rare, I suspect, are the Tyler Hansbrough's, the talented collegiate who will stick around for his senior season to pursue a National Championship. He did that a few years back in the face of much second guessing by pundits.  In his case, UNC did win the Big prize in his last year and he subsequently turned pro.

    All this likely reflects the values of the larger society.  One of my history professors once noted that 'Bread and Circuses' were all that remained in the last days of the Roman Republic.  Most folks like being entertained more than being a participant.  Intramural athletics will hardly replace intercollegiate competitions nor will many teaching faculty draw the compensation package of coaches.

    Nor will very many 'small school' players get a shot at the pro's.  
I attended a small liberal arts college and later taught at another in the area.  Saw some of the worst and best games ever at those places.  One of my fraternity brothers was a unanimous 'Little All America'.  To my knowledge, no subsequent contract was offered. However, at our class's Fiftieth reunion a few years back, he told us that he was still playing in a league composed of Seventy-plus year olds.  And during my teaching career, that school's team was usually mediocre.  Then, a few years ago, their team pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind upset over a perennial powerhouse for a National Championship.  While one of those men (I think) later played with the Harlem Globetrotters, most of them went into 'athletic oblivion'.

     In my 'career', I never faced the 'wealth decision'.  When our family moved to a new town prior to my Junior year in high school, I made the varsity.  Never having played on an organized team, I spent most of my time sitting on the bench, getting into already- won or already- lost games.  Did not score all season long . . . until the final game when we trounced a cross-county school 77-27 . (Such matters seem to have lodged in my memory . . . along with my 18 points in that game.)  As an undergrad, I played without distinction on our fraternity intramural team.  Well, there was that one game against the Pika's that I hit three consecutive what-would-now-be three-pointers.  They immediately put a strong man- to-man coverage on me and that was the end of the glory.

     Mr. Twain was a somewhat wealthy man for his time.  Wonder what he would say about all the money being paid today to guys who run around in their skivvies and throw a small sphere at hole ten feet above the floor .

      Satchel

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