Maintain Your Cool

Bryce Harper, the baseball phenom from Las Vegas is headed down the road to riches and glory in the 2010 Major League Baseball draft, and forsaking his last 2 years of high school. While I applaud the plans being made by his father and agent, this plan would not work for many athletes, sine a GED will not enable students to be admitted to all colleges. His plans bring to light the double standards being applied in several professional sports in North America. For instance golfers(like Michelle Wie age 14), soccer players(Freddie Adu- age 14), tennis players (Tracy Austin age 14-15 ye4ars ago), gymnastic athletes (too many to mention…incl Mary Lou Retton age 14-15), ice hockey players (ages 16 and up)  have been becoming professionals and paid to perform for many years. Only 3 years ago the NBA passed a rule making the minimumage for players to be 18. What is fair, given that the families of some athletes could benefit from the income and there is always the possibility of an athlete sustaining a life threatening injury, and thus disallowing him/her from playing a sport for pay. Until professional team owners meet as a group and standardize the age limitations the decision to tear apart families and take the money will continue. The argument that a family can purchase an insurance policy from Lords of London to ensure future earnings compensation in the event of an injury sound good . The reality is that such policies are very expensive, and outside the financial reach of many families. A 16 year old athlete is not as disciplined and mature as a 18 to 20 year old athlete. Two years makes a world of difference in the emotional stability and mental development of a person. However, the counter point is that professional teams in the USA continue to seek out and sign young athletes in foreign countries for several of the aforementioned sports. Look at baseball as an example. Whay are we penalizing the athletes in the USA, and not allowing them to get paid to play in selective sports (including basketball and football). So I say congratulations to Bryce Harper and his family and good luck.