lol @ the hate Derrick Rose gets from the media

Derrick Rose is no role model

By Mark Yost

December 29, 2011

The Beatification of Derrick Rose was completed last week at Northbrook Court. The 23-year-old NBA MVP, who just signed a five-year, $94.8 million contract extension with his hometown Bulls, was mobbed by an estimated 8,000 fans who showed up at the mall to see him and his teammates. Extra police were called in for crowd control. Northbrook firefighters on scene were propositioned by frantic girls who said they would do unmentionable things if they could just touch the hem of Rose's jacket. And, of course, the local news media have added to the Cult of Rose, who has yet to lead his team to an NBA title, by comparing him to Michael Jordan, who won six.

But if you look beyond the incessant media hype and the sold-out United Center, the truth is that Rose should not be a role model for Chicago kids, especially those in the economically challenged neighborhoods from whence he came. The reasons are many.

First is the false promise that many of these kids can grow up to be just like Rose. It is simply a fairy tale. Of all the kids in America who play high school basketball, about 3 percent end up getting college scholarships. Of that sliver, about 2 percent ever have a meaningful NBA career. Those are the facts — for baseball, basketball and football. But every day, parents, coaches and recruiters tell kids that if they work hard at their sport, they, too, can be Derrick Rose. For the vast majority of them, that's simply never going to happen.

Furthermore, these kids are often told to sacrifice academics for the sake of athletics. Think about that: They're told to give up on the one thing that can get them out of the inner city or off the farm and instead told to focus on a million-to-one long shot. It makes for a great Hollywood script, but in real life these stories often end tragically. Most of the kids who make it to a major college or university to play football or basketball end up after four years with about 60 credit hours in cake courses taught by departments sympathetic to the mission of the athletic department, which is to win games, sell tickets and T-shirts, but not graduate kids.

Of course, Rose probably never worried about graduating. That's because he was one of the so-called one-and-done kids. They're the athletes that nearly every big-time college basketball program knows will be there for only one year to work on their jump shot, hone their interviewing skills and qualify for the NBA draft.

And let's not gloss over the one year that Rose spent at the University of Memphis. According to the NCAA, he cheated on his college entrance exams. The theory is that he had someone else take them for him. The NCAA could never prove it, but there was enough evidence for the NCAA to demand that Memphis vacate the entire season that Rose was there.

And what was Rose's punishment for allegedly falsifying records and cheating his teammates? He landed an initial $5 million contract with the Bulls and became the toast of his hometown, thanks in large part to a sports-media culture that continues to celebrate his ascent, barely acknowledging the Memphis scandal and instead hyping the false legend of Derrick Rose.

Chicago is a great town with a lot of talented people. Among them is a president of the United States who is a huge basketball fan and knows the challenges faced by kids who grow up in poor homes. It would be great if he went to these disadvantaged neighborhoods and told kids to aspire to be professors at the University of Chicago, lawyers or community organizers. But President Barack Obama — and anyone else who cares about children — should not be telling them to be like Derrick Rose. They can do better.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-perspec-1229-rose-20111229,0,5657899.story