I'll argue it. I don't think there is anything wrong with using mar1juana in moderation. I find the criminalization of mar1juana in this country to be unbelievable considering worse drugs like tobacco and alcohol are legal.
True, if you can line a cops wallet with good ole cold cash, you can get away with almost anything. And I have no doubt in my mind that OJ, if not the actual murderer, had at least something to do with those murders. I'm waiting for the day that justice will finally prevail for OJ.
Heck, it's not even a responsibility. It's the way of life. Our every action is teaching someone whether we know it or not (the observer does not have to be known to us). The observer then chooses whether to immulate or disregard our actions. If you want to use responsibility, then we need to take the responsibility to act like decent human beings and the observer takes the responsibility to use good judgement in what he sees. In the case of kids being the observer, let's hope the parents are teaching them responsibility and good judgement. RR ps. These are my thoughts only...but...I LIKE IT!
Amen. Then again, if you don't know what good is from the beginning, than it is hard to teach what is right from wrong to begin with. But, as you get older you learn what is right from wrong. Hell a few times in the back of a squad car would seem to teach you that what you are doing is obviously wrong. Too bad that some apples are so rotten that they will never learn.
"If he didn't want to be a role model, than he should have never put on that NBA uni." He put it on to make millions of dollars. About 90% of these athletes don't give a **** about being a role model. They don't care about the example they set. Blaming a child's actions because of what Allen Iverson did, Rae Carruth did, etc. is just as lame and as easy as saying "my son shot up everyone in the school because he plays video games". It's the parents fault, not the athletes.
Freak...yeah, you don't need to fix up welfare when one guy in a million can make it out through sports.
Good post Juan. Much of what you say is true. I just hate it when people label guys like that "pieces of ****" etc. Facts are, a lot of people are products of their environment. And yes...I do think cleaning up your welfare system would help. Look at Europe and Australia, where we have much more fair minded welfare systems. Getting way off topic...but I don't know how you guys can live in an environment where you cut off the lowest group from benefits...but allow people to own guns. That's an insane combination...
Basically, the point im making is this: Most of you are saying that athletes are role models. 90% of athletes are horrible role models. Iverson is one of 800 athletes that arent good role models. Get off his nuts.
With power and wealth come great responsibility. If Iverson is going to sell out for the big bucks and the fame, he has to accept what comes with it: the scrutiny of one so marvelously talented and living out the dream-life of so many who are untalented. If he won't do this, he can go back to Hampton, VA and sell Reeboks at the mall. Oh, I forgot about the jail option-- proof of the importance of the choices he has made thus far. <b>NYKRule</b>: I don't think anyone is placing the majority of the blame on Iverson, but he (and all pro athelets) are in a position of making things much easier or much harder for all parents out there. To act as if it doesn't matter is naive, self-serving or both. <b>Can the NBA serve two masters? The kids who buy the shoes and the jerseys OR the folks who buy the tickets? </b>
Do you really think that guys with about a 5th grade education, the contradiction of a life where they often have much handed to them (respect, grades, power, etc) while little or no accountability, etc...to think about whether they are making the lives of parents hard or easy? I think you expect too much. I don't think that most players are thugs...I think they are probably mostly good people, they just are going to be much more limited, often more self-centered and 97% of their lives will be centered around feeding their ego (I have seen this firsthand with lower athletes I have known, and have heard Shaq's girlfriend through channels complain about this) and nothing else. I do think there is an attempt by the white fans and industry to "domesticate" the inner-city athletes that are making their millions. Blinebury unwittingly reinforced that attitude with some of his writings promoting European players.
As a 5th grader, I was respectful and lawful. How about you? I understand the place from which they come, but I'll bet that they understand it, too, and just keep pushing the envelope because they can. How hard is it to be decent and not pull guns on people? I have found it to be very easy. If I had their money, I would find it even easier. I think these guys probably do think about it because there is much criticism of it here and elsewhere... maybe going back 20 years to Micheal Ray Richardson. How could you not be aware of the issue? I don't think I was the one who introduced the concept of "thugs," I was more hitting on the sense of responsibility. Is every inner-city resident like this? I don't think so. It is a cultivated image of hostility that should not be rewarded.
You have no idea what its like. Dont act like you would be the same person had you grown up in the "hood". Did you have to have a gun on you at all times "just in case"? Were a few of your friends murdered because of drive-by shootings? Were you left being a father to your sister at the age of 8? If you cant understand why some people are the way they are then it is naive in your part. I have worked with a psychiatrist for 8 years now and it is quite evident that the environment in which you were raised has a profound impact on your life. Its not something you can "fix". Iverson has made a big change in his life. By all means he is not perfect, but if you look at where he came from, he has made huge strides.
Rich, You missed and oversimplified my point, and I was not saying you were calling them thugs, btw. They do not care. They were never taught to care - they are uneducated, often products of poor environments, and - almost always - coming from a background where, because they can ball, can get away with just about anything, break the rules, get respect, etc. This starts at an extrememly early age now because of scouting. All this will make for a very strange product and will not be conducive to inward-looking, role-model pondering people. Again, it becomes a business of self - whether honest or fabricated, that must continually be fed respect and homage. Again, this even goes for lower level players. To answer your question...as a 5th grader I was a bit of a contradiction. I did, at least, have a wonderful home environment. I was surrounded by friends who were much different...they would be the more typical "ghetto" children.
<b>rezdawg</b>: Allen Iverson is from Hampton, VA -- not The Hood. This is his most serious crime. Is that moving forward? Of course environment is hugely important, but we are not slaves to it. I grew up in an alcoholic household, but I learned A LONG TIME AGO to avoid those pitfalls. <b>rimbaud</b>: Gotta go change my daughter's diaper. I'll be back....okay, I'm back. I did and do tend to simplify things. In principle, things are usually pretty simple and I find that complexities are all-too-often used as a myriad of excuses which the guilty hide behind. People, instinctively -- except for the true psychopath-- know right from wrong. They do develop habits in the directions in which they are allowed or encouraged to go whether good or bad. Those directions and destinations can be changed. People do it all the time. All your (and rezdawg's) arguments have merit, but for me they are not conclusive. In the end people still largely do what they want to do-- be it right or wrong. We have tended as a society to accept too much nonsense which is anit-social and the persistence and emergence of it is eating away at the fabric of our society, IMHO.
