I was walking the dog in the park Monday evening listening to WXYT‘s stream of the midday Karsch & Anderson show on my Nokia E71 using Internet Radio.
Some caller named Mike rang in to rip Matt Stafford as a B-U-S-T… yep the dude really spelled it out. Boy he didn’t hold back on his opinion that after a couple of quarters of pre-season ball he knew the guy was gonna be a bust. In fact I think he said he knew it before the draft.
Well the jury still is out on it as far as I can see. But he does have a point about the track record of number one pick QBs. Just today heard Alex Smith (49ers top pick in 2006/7?) is named behind Shaun Hill who will be the west coast starter. And he’s far from the only one in what is a hit and miss, high cost gamble.
It’s got to be a hell of a step up for the guys and on top of all the football pressure there’s the off field stuff to deal with. Then all the worries that suddenly being a 20-something single multi-millionaire must bring with it. You know: which car to drive to the training pitch, what gear to wear, which super model should I shake the socks off tonight and all that. It’s gotta be tough.
Course today is the day that news on Miichael Beasley broke, with the 20-year old NBA star issuing an apparent suicide threat via Twitter. A troubled soul even before becoming the Heat’s pick (#2 overall) last year he put up decent decent first year numbers but is dogged by a rumoured drug problem.
Pro sport really has to do a better job of acclimatising ‘kids’ to the lifestyle that’s opening up to them.
Ian Bridge
A professional writer and a member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists, Ian's communications services are for hire. See the Services page for how Ian can help you better communicate.
Act soon, after all ... "You cannot not communicate.