July IO, 2013
$3ortlanò (Observer
Page 15
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Suffering Fates of their own Making
A big season for
falling stars
D onald K aul
R e v e rs a ls o f
f o rtu n e c a n be
breathtaking. One
minute, people are
riding high, surf­
ing the w ave o f
life. The next, they tip over like
capsized canoes.
T ake Paula D een. T his T y­
phoid M ary o f the obesity epi­
demic m ade untold fortunes in
becom ing the unchallenged cham ­
pion o f southern cooking.
H er television show s, books,
and restaurants were dedicated to
the proposition that the only food
groups that m attered were salt,
sugar, and whipped cream . And
if you could figure out a way to
com bine them with som ething
deep-fried, so m uch the better.
I once turned on one o f her
shows and gained three pounds,
ju st watching. But she’s a lively,
by
cheerful sort, and her dow n-hom e prom pted Random House to can­
T here’s another fallen star who
charm won her hundreds o f thou­ cel a m ulti-m illion-dollar book
recen tly p lu m m eted to E arth:
sands, if not m illions, o f follow ­ contract with her.
A aron H ernandez. T his h an d ­
ers.
D een apologized. Then she some, extravagantly talented foot­
Until it was revealed, as part of apologized some more, desper­
ball player signed a m ulti-year
a discrimination lawsuit filed against ately trying to stem the damage,
$40 m illion contract with the New
her, that she had used racist lan­ but to no avail. The more she
England Patriots only last year.
guage in the past — the “N” word apologized, the more damage there
He was 23, ju st approaching
in particular— and allowed racist, was to stem.
his prime, and had recently be­
sexist, hom ophobic, and anti-
Perhaps the c ru d e st blow fell com e a father. He survived a
Semitic jokes to be part o f the when the pharm aceutical com ­
rough childhood and was set up
kitchen talk in at least one o f her pany, N ovo Nordisk, fired her as
to live happily ever after.
restaurants. Then there was that its spokesperson for a diabetes
Until last month — when police
cringe-worthy concept o f a “plan­ drug. Thus ended the suprem e
arrested him and charged him with
tation-style wedding” with an all­ hypocrisy o f D een, a T ype 2
being involved in the murder o f one
black wait staff she suggested for Diabetic whose recipes are vir­
o f his own friends. That was shock­
her brother’s nuptials.
tual prescriptions for acquiring ing, but pro football is no stranger
The Food N etw ork im m edi­ the disease, getting paid to flog its
to off-the-field incidents o f a simi­
ately cancelled one o f her shows rem ed y . (It tu rn ed o u t s h e ’d
lar sort, often involving gunfire.
and announced plans to sever ties known she had the disease for
Usually it turns out that the player
w ith h e r. S m ith fie ld F o o d s, several years but d id n ’t adm it it
was simply in the wrong place at
W alm art, Target, C aesar’s E n­ until the drug com pany hired her.)
the wrong time.
tertainm ent, and QVC, all huge
H er fans still love her. S h e’s
But as this dram a unfolded, it
s o u rc e s o f D e e n ’s in c o m e , still hugely popular with the huge
becam e obvious that the victim
quickly follow ed suit.
people who keep lining up at her hadn’t m erely been shot, but ex­
S h o rtly th e r e a f te r , S e a rs , restaurants. But her days as a
ecuted gangland style and that
Kmart, and J.C. Penney said they national figure are over.
policed believed that Hernandez
w o u ld sto p s e llin g p ro d u c ts
W ho says there’s no good news m ight have been personally in­
branded with her name, which anym ore?
volved.
What
Getting college
athletes
prepared for
victory in life
B enjamin T odd J ealous
In 2011,17,500
college basketball
players were reg­
iste re d w ith the
National Collegiate
Athletic A ssocia­
tion. T hat year, 48
c o lle g e p la y e rs
were drafted by NBA teams.
W hat happens to the undrafted?
Som e bounce around the interna­
tional leagues for a few years, and
a few even m ake it to the NBA.
M any m ore go on to office jobs.
But far too m any college basket­
ball players, especially players o f
color, leave college w ithout an
N BA contract and w ithout an­
other crucial ingredient for suc­
cess: a college degree. As we
reflect on last m onth’s N BA draft,
we should consider the fate o f
those m any undrafted.
In the student-athlete equation,
being a student m ust com e first.
by
Then, as the story spun out,
police tied H ernandez to the re­
cent drive-by shooting o f tw o
other acquaintances after th ey ’d
had an altercation with him. It
w as p o s s ib le h e ’d b e e n th e
trig g erm an , p o lice said. T hat
m o v e d th e sto ry fro m O J
S im p s o n v ille
in to
Tony
Sopranoland.
He was jailed without bond and
the Patriots voided his contract.
In a blink, H ernandez went
from a life o f fame and fortune to
facing a future in a m axim um -
security prison. And from what
we know, it w asn’t even for a
com prehensible reason. The kill­
ings grew out o f tw o garden-
variety barroom dust-ups.
I d o n ’t know w hether these
stories have a moral, but I do
know this:
W hen y o u ’re on top o f the
world, there’s only one direction
for you to go — down.
So watch your step.
OtherWords columnist Donald
Kaul lives in Ann Arbor, Mich.
the Undrafted?
In order to m ake that happen, stitute, the NAACP, and U.S. Sec­
year's tournam ent suffered racial top o f their academic game. One
colleges need to start rew arding retary o f Education Arne Duncan,
gaps o f 30 percent or more.
example o f how to do this comes
coaches for en couraging their the NCAA's governing body voted
One solution is to change the from Xavier, which employs a nun
players' grow th in the classroom to raise the m inim um four-year
in c e n tiv e sy ste m fo r c o lle g e as academic adviser to make sure
as m uch as their success on the Academ ic Progress Rate, effec­
coaches. According to a recent that students attend class and study
field.
tively setting a m inim um gradua­ study, the average bonuses for
hard. Xavier has graduated ever
The student-athlete relationship tion rate for team s involved in the
athletic achievements are 11 times men's basketball player, black and
in this country has alw ays been m en's M arch M adness tourna­
greater than bonuses for academ ­ w hite, since S ister R ose Ann
out o f balance. C olleges grow ment. A ccording to the new rules, ics. In recent weeks, USA Today's
Fleming began advising in 1985.
rich o ff o f ticket sales, television any team that fails to graduates
editorial board and former M ary­
Colleges and universities clearly
rights and m erchandise w hile h alf their players for three years
land Congressman Tom McMillen benefit from their students' ath­
m any athletes struggle academ i­ in a row is banned from postseason both suggested that coaches' bo­
letic perform ance. They should
cally and ultim ately fail to gradu­ play. They also lose access to
nuses should be tied more strongly also push their student-athletes to
ate. This crisis regained national scholarship m oney.
to players' academic performance. perform at peak academ ic capac­
attention in 2011, when the Insti­
This higher standard has helped
Coaches' contracts should re­ ity. That is the only way we can
tute for Diversity and Ethics in bring the student-athlete relation­
flect the spirit o f teamwork and ensure that college athletes are
Sport released an expose o f black ship back into balance somewhat.
mutual responsibility that makes prepared for victory in life as well
and w hite graduation rates on This year, 10 schools were banned
the NCAA the premiere institution as victory on the court.
m en's Division I basketball teams. from the March Madness tourna­ for young athletes. Coaches should
Ben Jealous is president and
The report found a gaping ra­ ment for poor grades, including
be rewarded for effective strate­ ch ief executive officer o f the
cial gap. Overall, white players perennial power house University
gies that keep their students at the NAACP.
graduated at a 32 percent higher o f Connecticut. The graduation
rate than their black team m ates. rate for black players in this year's
M any large colleges and universi­ tournament increased from 59 per­
ties failed to graduate even half cent to 65 percent, and the overall
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m en's team had a 33 p ercen t
H ow ever, the race gap still is I N ame :
graduation rate - and a 33 per­ stubbornly persistent. The 65 per­
cent white team. The graduation cent graduation rate for black
I T elephone :
rate for black students? Zero.
players this year is still 25 per­ I A ddress : _
In the wake o f the report, the centage points low er than the rate
NCA A Board o f D irectors finally for white students. Nearly h alf o f
took action. Urged on by the In- the team s that participated in this I or email subscriptions@portlandobserver.com
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