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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