http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-07-morrisseynov07,0,2925099.column
Over the last few days, black athletes and coaches have lined up to say that Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential election proves to young African-Americans that anything is possible.
They should have taken it a step further.
What they should have said, in so many words, was:
To the kids who are dreaming of fame and fortune in sports: You have almost no chance of making it to the pros, and your odds of getting a college athletic scholarship are incredibly slim. Don’t delude yourself. You’re not the exception. You’re most likely the rule.
“Play sports for the lessons they teach you about teamwork and effort and life. All those things are transferable to the real world. But there’s only one LeBron James, and you’re not him. Put down the ball once in a while and pick up a book, the way Obama did. You’ll go far.”
Deflating? Probably. Unfair? Maybe a little.
But absolutely real.
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