Breezing Through School

A blog entry by Greg Oden prior to the NBA Draft:

People of YardBarker Nation im going to tell you all first. The number im going to where is 52. Its a mix of my high school and college number. So wherever i go i hope to get 52. I know its a ugly number but to me its just a number and if i do good i think one person may where it. I know the number 20 wasnt that attractive but as the year went on it grew on me, this one will too. One last thing thanks LZ, ESPN, and Racheal for putting me one the cover of the magazine, making me look good, and giving me a lifetime memory of me being able to say that i was cool at one point in my life. Thank You

Do you enjoy the agony of reading the articulatory skills of a high school basketball phenomenon? Like most athletes who relied solely on sports most of their lives, there is a 98% chance that points to Greg Oden having the grammatical literacy of a 2nd grader; especially given the fact that English is supposed to be his first language. Although that claim may stand corrected for Greg Oden's built and athletic skills are that of a baboon, so his primary language then would be chimp-anese. Greg Oden is 19 years old, and he does not know the difference between spelling 'where' from 'wear'. It seems like he spent all his years in school hanging out in the basketball courts and not in the classroom. It's a wonder how his so-called educators gave him the green light to even make it as far as college. An honest mistake? Highly unlikely, especially after he committed the mistake twice. A very dumb and shallow issue that not even a rat's ass should give a care about? Indeed, absolutely a very moronic thing to be brought up by any mature individual. A foreboding to an even deeper issue that needs to be tackled? Most definitely.

Will Greg Oden stand as an example for the new generation of youth worldwide, making it look like it's fine to neglect even the basic skills that education is trying to levy on the kids nowadays and cling to the hope of making it big one day, like Oden did, without considering the fact that there are only around 400 NBA players in total, with only a handful of new faces each season, and over a billion other hopefuls desiring to walk the same path? Houston, we have a problem: the 'Read to Achieve' program has just plummeted into the soil and died. Letting Oden host a 'Read to Achieve' program anywhere in the world is a spit to its grave. Greg Oden is an image of Junior Battle, although credit must be given to Greg Oden for being a million times more intellectually superior than Battle. It makes one appreciate the movie 'Coach Carter' and what Samuel L. Jackson was trying to do for the kids in the movie a whole lot more; and the same goes for true student-athletes such as Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon. Think of the kids.

I come from a culture where college-hoops obsession spells disaster for one's future in the long run. Players usually decide to exchange decent education for cheap-ass courses to devote their time and energy in the college team; some go on to play in the pro-league while most of which get stuck in the developmental leagues. Here's the thing: the salary of a pro-player here is relatively high, but not enough to set one for life the same way NBA does for its players, much less for the players stuck in the developmental leagues. Without a half-ass of education, most of the retired players have already proven my point by spending the millions of their life's earnings away without a damn clue about financial management, nor a damn clue about making a living after their aging bodies started to give up on them and basketball. It's a sad fact awaiting many more that are currently following their footsteps, all of which don't seem to realize it yet. It's a phenomenon happening around the world. Is this the message we want to send to our kids?

Semi-kidding aside, Greg Oden is one extremely-gifted human being. I just wanted to point this issue out, nothing more. I am by no means insulting his essence of humanity, for he is one hell of a basketball player. I'll support him on the court, and I'll laugh at him off it when the opportunity leers its ugly head. I think it's what they call entertainment. One more thing, judging from reading his blog posts, Greg Oden seems like a beautiful and humble human being, and that is definitely one thing I can commend him on aside from his basketball skills. No, Greg Oden is not dumb; and it could have been an honest mistake, but it served as an opportunity to tackle an issue regarding the neglect of education even though Oden is only a semi-perfect example for the argument. Besides, he's the one in of national television dunking basketballs with a billion fans while I'm just "a kid in the basement" writing about him. One thing is for sure though, Joakim Noah is a prick; ...and a moron ...and a prick. Once again, congratulations to Greg Oden for being selected as the first overall pick of this year's draft, no matter how expected the outcome was.

Go Blazers!