Wednesday, January 15, 1997
At the end of a convention in Nashville, where college officials
from all across the nation met, it appears as if the NCAA will
finally allow student athletes at Division I schools to hold
part-time jobs during the school year, if they the jobs pay under
$2,500 a year. I say it is about time.
The popular myth surrounding athletes on full scholarship is
that they have it made financially, because they don’t have to
worry about paying the dreaded $1,336.50 every quarter. But the
fact of the matter is, most scholarship athletes who come from
modest family backgrounds don’t have the luxury to live a life of
enjoyment.
The stubborn NCAA rules committee, which permitted athletes to
work only during summer has to take part of the blame for the empty
pockets of those students.
Sure, the registration fees and the housing costs are paid for,
but what about other things that most students find essential for a
social life on campus? A movie on a Friday night with friends?
Dinner with your girlfriend? How about money to buy some
Levi’s?
In my conversations with athletes in many different sports at
UCLA, I’ve learned that they get a lot of free merchandise from
their sponsors (i.e., Reebok). Lockers are filled with free
sneakers and their closets are full of UCLA warm-ups, jackets and
sweat shirts.
However, as a couple of USC football players learned the hard
way this past season (they were reprimanded for selling their shoes
to a local Footlocker), the free stuff aren’t exactly liquid
assets. Cash from part-time jobs certainly are.
* * *
The UCLA athletic department spent large sums of money
repeatedly advertising last Friday’s game between the UCLA women’s
basketball team and nationally-ranked Stanford in the Los Angeles
Times.
Despite those marketing efforts, there were only 3,343 people
that attended the game at Pauley Pavilion to witness UCLA lose,
74-62. That modest crowd is still considered pretty large for UCLA
women’s basketball standards. Imagine if the invariably large
Stanford faithfuls didn’t make it down for the game.
* * *
Looking at the NBA Western Conference standings going into this
week, one team’s record stands out. The Golden State Warriors, who
still insist on representing the entire state of California with
their presumptuous name, are sitting eight games below .500
(13-21). That’s half a game behind the Clippers, for Pete’s sake.
That’s when you know you’ve hit rock bottom.
Back when Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin and Mitch Richmond were
running everyone off the court in their "Run T-M-C" routine, many
agreed that the Warriors were one of the most exciting teams in the
league. Even after they traded Richmond to Sacramento, Golden State
still looked like it was on track for a championship  with
Latrell Sprewell filling in nicely as a two-guard, Hardaway still
blowing past defenders with his patented crossover and a rookie
named Chris Webber throwing down monster dunks.
But, all we ex-Warrior fans can do now is reminisce. Reminisce
about all those good players Golden State had in the last few
years. To make the pain worse, the long list of those players is
pretty darn close to the All-Star team that will likely assemble
next month: Sacramento’s Richmond, Orlando’s Rony Seikaly, Dallas’
Chris Gatling, Miami’s Hardaway, Washington’s Webber, Minnesota’s
Tom Gugliotta, Indiana’s Vincent Askew, Houston’s Mario Elie,
Cleveland’s Tyrone Hill, Sacramento’s Billy Owens, and last but not
least, the link between the Grateful Dead and Lithuania, Sarunas
Marciulionis of Denver.
What could have been! What would have been! What should have
been!
What it is: 13-21.
Go Lakers.
Hye Kwon