Newsflash: Vanilla Ice Wishes It Was 1991 Again

On Yahoo's front page there's an article link that reads:

Ex-George Mason Stars Miss Limelight of Cinderella Run

Oh, you think? Click through and you find an article on the travails of the three top George Mason players, who of course are not good enough right now to make it to the NBA and are playing abroad, in war-torn areas and/or with shady teams that play hide n' seek with paychecks.

In truth, the article is engrossing, and does seem to make an oblique point about the plight of student-athletes, who--especially in football and basketball--see their schools rake in millions of dollars from ticket sales, bowl participation, and in many cases, off the student-athletes themselves. Reggie Bush gets dinged for arranging free rent for his family while a USC student, but how much money do you think he made from sales of his college jersey? The answer, of course, is $0.00.

I believe student athletes in the big money sports should be reimbursed for their efforts, not just through a stipend, but also some sort of deferred savings that equitably shares revenues and which could be awarded upon, say, I don't know, graduation. If Reggie Bush USC jerseys are selling like hotcakes, then Reggie Bush NFL jerseys probably will too. So maybe the money from his USC jerseys can be equitably distributed among his teammates. It's not free market, but it's better than what we got.

At the same time, however, articles like this miss the point entirely. You have a 1 in 16,000 chance of becoming a pro athlete. If you, like George Mason, make a magical run, that should be a HUGE highlight of your life. It shouldn't be the starting point for talking about how victimized you are for not making it further. Dude, the reason you aren't in the NBA is because nobody expected you to make it to the 2nd round of the Tournament, much less the Final Four. Be glad you made it, be proud of your accomplishments, but also be real. Prepare yourself for a non-professional athlete career, because there's a 99.99375% chance that's what's going to happen anyways.

I don't fault the athletes so much as the journalist for writing it, because his standpoint seems to be "It's not fair." He quotes an assistant coach for GMU, who says to one of the players, Lamar Butler, after the tournament: "You know how much money you made yourself?" And Butler's answer now, despite making $48,000 in the Czech Republic for six months work playing the game he loves, seems to be "not enough."

The answer that comes from me, however, is "$48,000 more than you would have if you lost to Michigan State in the first round."

For once, can we accentuate the positive? It's not fair that Lamar Butler is not the next LeBron James, but how is it fair then that I'm not the second coming of Jack Lambert?