Re: Harrington story

[bocelts@scsn.net (R. Bentz Kirby)]

But Mishra, aren't most of these tennis stars pushed by their parents as well?  What
about those who aren't ready but are pushed into the game, such as Jermaine O'Neal?
And, agents are already so involved in running the game, so now they are in the high
schools picking their prey.  Many of these kids are great talent but need to be more
mature to play a physical game against men.  It is not the same as tennis.

What about gymnastics, skating and swimming?  These are sports where it seems that
adolescents with adult bodies excell.  But they don't have to go through the middle
with Shaq.  And they aren't in 7 month seasons, away from their families as part of
a team.

I think you are comparing apples to oranges.  But, that doesn't mean that I condone
what goes on in tennis, or these other sports.  Still, this is not a good thing.
And what if he isn't drafted high and doesn't mature as a player and ends up broke.
Or what if the shoe company cancels his contract after convincing him to come out?

BTW, was it just me, but did the Lakers seem to play better without Kobe?

Shailendra K. Mishra wrote:

> Why aren't the same kind of story's being written about tennis stars when they
> start even younger. Al Harrington has atleast graduated from high school, there
> are many tennis stars who haven't even accomplished that. Boris Becker won
> Wimbledon at the age of 18 and everybody who follows tennis is aware of Tracy
> Austin story whose career was over at 18. My take is that this is not an unusual
> phenomenon, it has been happening all along, if not in Basketball then in other
> sports. It depends on what kind of spin the media puts on it. The media feels
> that highschoolers going to pro's is a signal of demise of college basketball..I
> don't. - Mishra
>
>



--

Peace,

Bentz
bocelts@scsn.net
http://www.scsn.net/users/sclaw