It's possible that this is slightly colored by my intense hatred of all things Notre Dame but this article really yanks my chain.
Abstract:
Kyle MacAlarney, a guard on the ND basketball team, was caught with a small amount of marijuana at a 1:30 AM traffic stop the night of a game during the 06-07 basketball season. Apparently, he never thought he'd get caught because he had a clean record, "only one detention throughout my high school career." [Editorial note, Kyle: most of us have zero]. Like most upper middle class white kids caught with pot, he was allowd to enter a pre-trial diversion program, but it was up to the school to decide his fate on the basketball team. They dragged their feet in handing down the punishment, but ended up taking the heavy-handed route and suspending him for the rest of the semester.
He left in a huff, didn't even say good bye to his teammates and went back home to Staten Island thinking he'd never set foot in South Bend again. Luckily, a visit from his coach and phone calls from a couple team dudes convinced him to come back to show that he was the "bigger person." So he worked out alone for like three months, then went back to campus. Author Adam Rittenberg says, "he has earned the right to be cast in a new light." Notre Dame coach Mike Brey adds, "he's been a role model for other kids...great story, great kid."
[really, read the article, there's even more of this, and I couldn't make this crap up if I tried]
Ugh, even rehashing it, I'm about ready to vomit. Want a scholarship to come play basketball at Notre Dame? This is a Jesuit school, so you're going to need to keep from breaking the law. This is someone who had everything handed to him basketball-wise and threw it away, then dragged his feet and hung his head when he had to face the consequences. And when he didn't like those consequences? He was ready to leave his team without a word. This is not a role model, this is a child.
People make mistakes, I get that. But he didn't handle it well and judging from this article (and another almost copy of it that was posted on ESPN a couple of weeks ago), he hasn't even taken any responsibility for it. I would be willing to bet quite a bit that he still smokes pot. Worst of all, the article treats it like it was 'adversity to overcome', comparable to someone's brother being seriously injured in a car accident or Hurricane Katrina destroying your house. This was a choice MacAlarney made, not an unfortunate occurence.
MacAlarney's ability to hit three-pointers (when it doesn't count...zing!) notwithstanding, please don't tell us what a wonderful kid he is. There are plenty of kids working their butts off to be at Notre Dame who *didn't* try to toss it in the garbage. I'd say they have a leg up in the role model category.
1 comment:
The thing that really irks me about the article is the sense of entitlement that reeks from a lot of the people involved in the article. Sure, major collegiate athletic programs generate way more revenue than is ever returned to student athletes (suspicious booster involvement or not), but I think the premise of an athletic scholarship is simple: a discretionary grant provided to a student to attend a university in order to play a sport.
I may be mistaken, but it is certainly not binding from either end. The team can elect to rescind the scholarship, much like a player can choose to transfer schools.
Optimistically, the school may have decided to drag its feet in order to ensure that it was going to make a fair decision. Pessimistically, either the school wanted to delay making a decision that could affect its internal or external PR image, or strategically had determined that delaying the season ending suspension would severely limit the chances of MacAlarney being able to transfer, which brings us back to the point of entitlement.
The reason why the MacAlarney family was upset and considering transferring to other schools was that they felt ND "betrayed" them by delaying the decision. Basically, it sounds like that despite the violation of their "at-will" situation (the scholarship), they would have been happier if his scholarship was immediately revoked or if his season long suspension was announced earlier. Why? It would have allowed him to maintain his eligibility by transferring.
The article gives this reason as his return:
But as Kyle McAlarney deliberated, one message stuck: Finish what you started.
I would have altered that, adding a line that appeared earlier:
But as Kyle McAlarney deliberated, one message stuck: If he took his time (enrolling to transfer), he wouldn't play for a year and a half.
ND and Coach Brey aren't off the hook either. Brey basically begs McAlarney to return to the program and eventually "forgive" ND. The school wasn't the one caught with an illegal substance, so why is it bending backward for a player? Can't stomach losing the amount of recruiting and development dollars you've spent on the McAlarney? Hey coach! I'm sure that if freshman guard Tom Kopko gets in a similar jam and subsequently suspended, you'll be driving over to his house too right? Right? Hello?
What a heartwarming moment between a student athlete and a major institution. McAlarney serves as an excellent role model for those who have been falsely idolized and spoiled into feeling entitled, and in his words "invincible", to the point that they should not be penalized for their mistakes.
March madness indeed.
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