Speaking of Crimes and Sports . . .

A joint CBS/Sports Illustrated investigation that examined rosters of the top 25 NCAA football teams and found that 7% of the players (that’s one out of every 14) had been in trouble with the law either before entering college or while attending college and playing for their teams.  Here’s the funny part, if you count only scholarship players, the number goes up to 8.1%.  In other words, the schools are seeking out the hooligans.  Ah, but that’s football.  Well, a former assistant coach at the University of San Diego and two former players were indicted in April 2011 for being part of a plot/scheme/artifice to influence the outcome of games and profit therefrom.  The university president called the allegations “very serious.”  Depressing, until you realize that crime and sports are not a combination we must accept for winning.  Herewith two stories from sports to inspire.

The first is the tale of Marquis Barnett – a 6-foot-7 high school basketball player at Cardozo High School in Queens. Since his sophomore year in high school, he has saved his mother from a violent boyfriend, watched everything his family owned destroyed in a fire, and lived in a homeless shelter twice.  He has reported to practice hungry and then had to race home practice to meet the shelter’s curfew.  And he has turned down recruiters from Arkansas, Kentucky, and Florida because he feels he needs to stay close to home to help his family.  He is leaning toward Marist – in Poughkeepsie, NY.  And his family recently found a place in public housing.  No more shelter, and all without a single crime by a young man whose only food often came from a teacher at Cardozo.

Then there is Texas Christian University – a Rose Bowl Champion – that did not have a single player with a record, before, during, and, so far, after college. 

There is always a high road. It is possible to win without the felons.  Coaches, presidents, and the NCAA need to draw some lines.  There is a difference between using sports scholarships as a program of redemption for young men who have been dealt a bad hand and young men who are just bad.

About mmjdiary

Professor Marianne Jennings is an emeritus professor of legal and ethical studies from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University, retiring in 2011 after 35 years of teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ethics and the legal environment of business. During her tenure at ASU, she served as director of the Joan and David Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics from 1995-1999. In 2006, she was appointed faculty director for the W.P. Carey Executive MBA Program. She has done consulting work for businesses and professional groups including AICPA, Boeing, Dial Corporation, Edward Jones, Mattel, Motorola, CFA Institute, Southern California Edison, the Institute of Internal Auditors, AIMR, DuPont, AES, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Motorola, Hy-Vee Foods, IBM, Bell Helicopter, Amgen, Raytheon, and VIAD. The sixth edition of her textbook, Case Studies in Business Ethics, was published in February 2011. The ninth edition of her textbook, Business: lts Legal, Ethical and Global Environment was published in January 2011. The 23rd edition of her book, Business Law: Principles and Cases, will be published in January 2013. The tenth edition of her book, Real Estate Law, will also be published in January 2013. Her book, A Business Tale: A Story of Ethics, Choices, Success, and a Very Large Rabbit, a fable about business ethics, was chosen by Library Journal in 2004 as its business book of the year. A Business Tale was also a finalist for two other literary awards for 2004. In 2000 her book on corporate governance was published by the New York Times MBA Pocket Series. Her book on long-term success, Building a Business Through Good Times and Bad: Lessons from Fifteen Companies, Each With a Century of Dividends, was published in October 2002 and has been used by Booz, Allen, Hamilton for its work on business longevity. Her latest book, The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse was published by St. Martin’s Press in July 2006 and has been a finalist for two book awards. Her weekly columns are syndicated around the country, and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Reader's Digest. A collection of her essays, Nobody Fixes Real Carrot Sticks Anymore, first published in 1994 is still being published. She has been a commentator on business issues on All Things Considered for National Public Radio. She has served on four boards of directors, including Arizona Public Service (1987-2000), Zealous Capital Corporation, and the Center for Children with Chronic Illness and Disability at the University of Minnesota. She was appointed to the board of advisors for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operators in 2004 and served on the board of trustees for Think Arizona, a public policy think tank. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS This Morning, the Today Show, and CBS Evening News. In 2010 she was named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Business Ethics by Trust Across America. Her books have been translated into four different languages. She received the British Emerald award for authoring one of their top 50 articles in management publications, chosen from over 15,000 articles. Personal: Married since 1976 to Terry H. Jennings, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Deputy County Attorney; five children: Sarah, Sam, and John, and the late Claire and Hannah Jennings.
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