"Wise OR Stupid Decisions?"
Today I want to start a discussion concerning several things that have been very noticeable in the news over the past few years - particularly in the world of sports. It seems to have "exploded" over the past few months and been brought to "center stage".
It seems that there has been an "over abundance" of news concerning young men that have been making some really STUPID decisions with their lives!
Now, again, before I get started let me clarify a few things:
1. Yes, most of us -if not all of us - have made really bad and sometimes stupid decisions in and with our lives! Please don't take this as a person trying to sound like they have not seen the "stupidity monster" evident in his own life!
2. Yes, it IS possible to still live a very successful and productive life even after making a stupid decision! It does NOT have to mean that your life is ruined forever! (There is a KEY to making this happen that I will discuss in another podcast/blog entry on this topic still to come.)
3. But, at the same time, we MUST understand that there ARE some people that DO ruin their lives and NEVER live the successful and productive life that they could have lived if they had only made wiser decisions. Again, this usually happens because they failed to pay attention to the KEY that I mentioned in #2.
I didn't really get very far in my discussion of this in today's podcast so I won't go over or past that in this blog entry - but I will give you some of the same "background" situations that spurred my thoughts in this area. Again, I will not use names but you will still likely be very familiar with most - if not all - of these situations.
Example #1: First of all, I did a little extra research on this topic and found out a little extra information that actually starts before I realized it did with this one example. This actually began in 2003 when this college football player for a team in the Big 10 conference filed a false police report about some items he said was stolen from him. They weren't. It was all false. This resulted in him being suspended for the 2003 football season with this college team so he decided to sue the NFL to allow him to enter the draft for the 2004 season - the problem was that he was too young according to NFL rules. He initially won the suit but then it was later overturned. Another problem with this was the fact that he had hired an agent which then disqualified him for playing any further in college and, now, he had to wait until the 2005 NFL draft to have a chance to play football once again. When it came time for him to "show his stuff" to the scouts he was less than impressive. However, he was still signed by one NFL team but was cut in preseason.
Here's the really, really sad part - On January 1, 2006, the young man robbed two people with a .45 caliber handgun, the same night that his college team was playing in a bowl game - one in which he COULD HAVE been involved. In September 2006, he was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, but could apply for early release after three and a half years.
Example #2: In November of 2009, three college football players from an SEC school were arrested for an incident that stemmed from an attempted robbery outside a convenience store near campus. A powered pellet gun was recovered in the players' car after they were stopped by police. I couldn't find the actual results of what happened with this case, but I do know I heard talk of how at least one of these young men had a very promising career waiting for him in the NFL and that now all of that was likely gone. I DO know that there were charges filed and that there will be legal problems for these three young men for some time to come.
Example #3: Four basketball players from this same SEC school mentioned in #2 were pulled over for speeding and then arrested when guns and drugs were found in their vehicle and charged with gun possession and other counts on January 1, 2010. Obviously, there is still much to come with this situation but the impact to the basketball future of these young men is now definitely up in the air and uncertain - not to mention their personal lives.
Example #4: A prominent NFL player was sentenced to two years in prison in the summer of 2009 after carrying a gun into a night club and having it accidentally fire, wounding him in the leg. This player had been in a Super Bowl game in 2008 and now sits in prison.
Example #5: A prominent NBA player has been suspended without pay indefinitely and now faces legal issues after bringing and displaying several guns to his teams locker room on Christmas Eve, 2009.
Example #6: The most well-known golfer in the world at this time has seen his career collapse - at least temporarily - after news of marital infidelity with several women came out following an early morning automobile accident right outside of his home in late November, 2009.
I DO understand that the sixth example is different than the other five, but it is still BIG NEWS and still shows the major IMPACT of making stupid decisions.
I guess I feel the need for a couple of more clarifications before I close this blog entry for today (again, I don't' want to go further with my thoughts that I did in today's podcast) to make sure you don't misunderstand what I am doing here.
I am not "picking on" anyone or any particular university, etc. PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT! These are some of the MAJOR news stories that have come out in the world of sports over a very recent and short time span - THIS SHOULD GET OUR ATTENTION - shouldn't it?
I think we can all be in agreement that, in each of these situations, some very STUPID decisions were made. What will happen for each of the people involved in these situations? It depends.
It will all depend on what decisions and choices that make next.
Bottom line - LIFE IS A CHOICE. CHOOSE CAREFULLY!
Join me tomorrow as I continue this discussion and, as always...
"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"
Mike
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