News???

I saw something on ESPN's bottom line today that i found troubling. It had more to do with the state of our society than the state of sports. Actually, it was a great example of how the two realms affect one another, often in subtley negative ways. This bit of "news" wasn't anything shocking or tragic, it was just troubling. As I saw it scroll across the bottom of the screen, I just shook my head. Not in disbelief, but in disappointment that such an item is widely accepted as "news" these days.

It read: Raleigh News-Observer reports UNC G Wayne Ellington will return to school next year

So will about 4,000 other students in his class at UNC. How is that news? What is newsworthy about a student-athlete who enrolls in a four-year university deciding, "Hey, i'll come back for my sophomore year"?

Actually, I just caught myself contributing to the problem. In the above sentence, i originally typed "sophomore season." College athletes are a priveleged bunch who work hard in order to achieve their dreams of furthering their athletic careers. But they are still college students. At most schools, this means they have to go to class, socialize, manage a hectic schedule and maintain a respectable GPA. But to run a bottom line item on one player, a player that few expected to leave after one year anyway, only fosters the notion that big-time college athletes are anything but typical student-athletes. Howe many other Division I freshman basketball players will be returning for their sophomore year? How come they aren't each getting headlines?

It should be expected for each young man who accepts a four-year scholarship (a generous gift often taken for granted) to make the most of that scholarship. I understand the news when a player leaves school early. That is newsworthy because that is not the norm. At least fifteen years ago, it wasn't. Today, it is newsworthy when a talented 18 or 19-year old kid decides to try a second year of college.

And that is a problem. Coaches and schools should not hold press conferences for athletes to announce that they are returning for one more year. Local news stations should not run items about it. Certainly, national news outlets should not report on such events.

A sophomore year should be an expectation of a college student, not an exception.