RT @Andy_Staples: Whoever handled Reggie Bush’s PR on this deserves a raise — especially for the implicit admission of wrongdoing that will serve as apology.
RT @Andy_Staples: Whoever handled Reggie Bush’s PR on this deserves a raise — especially for the implicit admission of wrongdoing that will serve as apology.
And this is the closest Reggie will ever get to straight-out apologizing and taking responsibility, because in essence, what he is really guilty of is being the stepson of a man without a few scruples, and that’s a hard thing to apologize for. We will never know exactly how the deals went down, but the parents reaped most (if not all) of the bennies, and it was all enabled by his stepdad’s relationship with an ex-con con-man — something white recruits from the suburbs do not have to deal with (their parents are already loaded).
I like how you basically invoked the worst victim-playing tendencies of a liberal to bend over backwards in defending Reggie Bush, AML.
Defending Reggie Bush against what? I absence of knowing the complete truth and how it went down, I refuse to come down hard on a 20-year old kid because his stepdad found a way to take advantage of his athletic ability and future earning potential.
I don’t believe in disproportionate impact as a valid legal rationale for discrimination lawsuits, but I absolutely agree that it is valid sociological data that should be considered when determining how to write and apply laws and regulations. That’s just plain common sense. The data clearly shows that much of the NCAA rule book disproportionately affects kids who come from poor, disadvantaged, minority backgrounds. You don’t have to be a bleeding heart liberal to see that as a strong impetus for reforming the rules and how they are applied.
This is no different than the discrepancy in campaign finance between regular candidates who must raise a ton of money a few hundred bucks at a time, and the self-funded millionaire candidate who doesn’t face the same rules and problems getting his message out to the voters. The conservative approach is to say, “Hey, maybe CFR is counterproductive and you should relax the rules”. Similarly, the NCAA rules should be relaxed and/or totally overhauled so they are more fair and realistic.
For additional level-headed perspective, see here and here.