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One of the milestones of the last NBA season was the long awaited NBA debut of Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden. After sitting out the entirety of his initial season with knee problems, Oden, in his first NBA game, came out of the gates blazing and in less than thirteen minutes of play, left with a sprained foot and no points.
I am not a professional athlete, but neither am I a thief. It seems to me that the 'Blazers spent a ridiculous amount of money in order to have the privilege of taking care of Oden's medical bills and watching him average 8.9 points, .5, (yes, that is point five, as in half) assists, 1.1 blocks and 7 rebounds per game, (those were his totals for the season according to NBA.com). If Oden had any sense of personal honor, then he would refund his entire annual salary for his rookie season to the Trail Blazers organization. After all, he did not even suit up during his rookie year. He should at the very least be forced to give the money from his first year to a worthy charity, (or the AARP, which Oden looks like he is ready for membership in).
I am not a professional athlete, but neither am I a thief. It seems to me that the 'Blazers spent a ridiculous amount of money in order to have the privilege of taking care of Oden's medical bills and watching him average 8.9 points, .5, (yes, that is point five, as in half) assists, 1.1 blocks and 7 rebounds per game, (those were his totals for the season according to NBA.com). If Oden had any sense of personal honor, then he would refund his entire annual salary for his rookie season to the Trail Blazers organization. After all, he did not even suit up during his rookie year. He should at the very least be forced to give the money from his first year to a worthy charity, (or the AARP, which Oden looks like he is ready for membership in).
Is this the face of Accelerated Aging???
This man is twenty years old and he can't stay healthy for an entire season. Now, I will give it to you, Oden looks as if he suffers from Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome, (accelerated aging disease), and if this were true, then one could explain the injuries away and chalk this up to another episode that reminds us that this is the same team that took Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan, (Portland could have taken Kevin Durant out of Texas over Oden. Time will bear this out as another monumental gaffe). I however, don't think that Oden has Progeria or any other disease. I think that Oden is just simply ugly and unusually frail for someone who gets paid to be a dominant big man in the NBA.
Besides that, when you do see Oden in his rare appearances on the basketball court, he looks very lackadaisical. He is laid back on the floor. Being a laid back kind of person is fine if you are a drummer in a garage band, but it ain't the kind of person that you want in the middle during an NBA contest. You want Mr. Intensity. You want Bill Russell, you want Hakeem, you want Kareem, you want Wilt, you want Robert Parrish, (who might very well be Oden's father), in that place. Oden just doesn’t seem to have the competitive drive in his belly. In the first round of the 2009 play offs, Oden was completely dominated by Yao Ming. This is the first time in the history of the NBA that anyone has ever been dominated by Yao Ming. Yao Ming couldn’t dominate Spud Webb. Consequentially, the Rockets were able to take the series and move on, while Oden and the ‘Blazers went home.
Gerg Oden attempts to hold Yao Ming. It didn't work.
Is Oden's contract another ridiculous waste of money by a professional sports franchise??? At this juncture, I'd be inclined to think so. Oden made 3.385 million as a rookie, who never played a minute. As a second year guy, who has yet to prove that he can do more than get his uniform on, he made 4.176 million. That’s seven and a half million dollars in two years for a guy that puts up numbers like a reserve forward on the Louisiana Tech girls team.
I do not blame Oden for this. The pattern of being paid to fail in professional sports, (especially the NBA and the NFL), has to stop. Oden is just the latest poster child for this type of reckless spending by pro sports clubs. Past poster children are Ryan Leaf, Heath Shuler and Tim Couch. There are a number of twenty to thirty year old millionaires, who have never done a damned thing to earn their money. Off of the top of my head, I can mention Alex Smith, who although he did play, never lived up to his billing or played at a level that even approached his lofty contract. Joey Harrington is another fine example of this phenomenon. Michael Olowokandi and Bryant “Big Country” Reeves also come to mind. As does Akili Smith and just about every player that the Cincinnati Bengals ever drafted in the first round.
Ryan Leaf earning his money
There is a simple solution to this problem, (at least for the NBA). Quit letting kids come right out of high school and into the NBA…..and please, don’t talk to me about the NBA’s rule that a player has to be at least nineteen to enter their draft. All that that accomplishes is to make college coaches jobs harder due to the fact that they have to recruit constantly. That’s why they call it the “One and Done” rule. Essentially a player goes to maybe one and a half semesters of college and then enters the draft. They might as well be coming right out of high school. Make these kids stay in college for at least three years. College used to serve some sort of purpose after all. It taught kids to be on their own and how to think critically, (a talent that seems to be lost on most professional sports general managers).
If Oden had been forced to stay in college, his frailty might have become apparent and the Trail Blazers might have saved their selves the metric ton of money that they are shelling out to watch him fall apart.
The other part of the cure, (and this applies to every sport), is to limit the income of any player for the first two years of their career. There should be standard rookie and second year wages that all first and second year players are paid. Before a club has to pay the big dinero for a players services, the player should have to prove that he is capable of providing those services on the big stage.
I have absolutely no problem with the player that puts the butts in the seats every game being paid well. I have no problem with the veteran role player being paid well. I have no problem with the perennial all star or all pro being paid well. I do have a problem with athletes that have never proven themselves in the professional ranks being paid like they just caught the winning pass in the Super Bowl after a season of 114 catches, 16 touchdowns and 1500 yards. Enough is enough. Stop the madness.
If these clubs must spend this kind of money, then I truly wish that they would take that money and distribute it to our Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and don't make enough money to support their families back home. Those are people who have to prove their selves every day and deserve a better quality of life.
I have absolutely no problem with the player that puts the butts in the seats every game being paid well. I have no problem with the veteran role player being paid well. I have no problem with the perennial all star or all pro being paid well. I do have a problem with athletes that have never proven themselves in the professional ranks being paid like they just caught the winning pass in the Super Bowl after a season of 114 catches, 16 touchdowns and 1500 yards. Enough is enough. Stop the madness.
If these clubs must spend this kind of money, then I truly wish that they would take that money and distribute it to our Soldiers, Airmen and Sailors who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and don't make enough money to support their families back home. Those are people who have to prove their selves every day and deserve a better quality of life.
Let Oden do this to earn his money
Paying the Greg Oden's of this world NOT to play is ridiculous and it needs to stop, before the average fan can no longer afford to go to a game....what am I talking about??? We're already there. Now it's getting to the point that the average fan can't afford to watch his team on television, because Direct TV wants so much money for their "packages". The reason that those packages cost so much, is that Direct TV has to negotiate a contract with the respective leagues in order to broadcast every game. The leagues are run by team owners who have to recoup the money that they have shelled out for multi-million dollar busts like Greg Oden.
It's a vicious circle and we, the fans, end up paying for it in the form of increased ticket prices, increased package prices and reduced performance on the field or floor. Stop it; I beg you please, just stop it.
Paying the Greg Oden's of this world NOT to play is ridiculous and it needs to stop, before the average fan can no longer afford to go to a game....what am I talking about??? We're already there. Now it's getting to the point that the average fan can't afford to watch his team on television, because Direct TV wants so much money for their "packages". The reason that those packages cost so much, is that Direct TV has to negotiate a contract with the respective leagues in order to broadcast every game. The leagues are run by team owners who have to recoup the money that they have shelled out for multi-million dollar busts like Greg Oden.
It's a vicious circle and we, the fans, end up paying for it in the form of increased ticket prices, increased package prices and reduced performance on the field or floor. Stop it; I beg you please, just stop it.
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