Onepart that was most memorable was at the Nike All-American camp when famousdirector Spike Lee gave a speech to the young men about the harsh reality ofcollege recruiting.
He explained how the system really worked only for theinstitutions financial reasons and to not help these All-Americans achievetheir life-long dream of becoming a professional basketball player. He notedthat the only reason the schools recruit certain players is because they willwin games and those players will make the school the greatest amount of moneypossible. I agree with him, and I think Itmust be hard for Spike Lee, to stand in front of the players with lifelongdreams and explain the harsh reality of the system they are a part of.
The sad part of so many kids having thesedreams is that only few can play professionally. With these tiny percentages to get to thehigher levels the rest are left to regret and fall back into the life that theygrew up with. Crime, poverty, gangs,drugs and teen pregnancy are the opportunities which are more common in thestreets. We see both Arthur andWilliam have their young lives affected by becoming fathers at such a veryyoung age.
Surprisingly William becomesa father first and he does appear to be a great dad and looks like he will be amuch better dad than he had. To sum up, I don’t agree with Harris, and I thinkthat sports do not have a negative impact on African Americans. I think there are many kids out therewho may never get the opportunity to achieve greatness unless they are given ahelping hand. Theydo not neglect their studies because they must do well in school to obtainathletic scholarships, so they use sports as a way for them to obtain a highereducation. Withthe right amount of education about possibilities for success in the realworld, black youth can forget their hoop dreams and strive for more realisticlife.
