Posted 12:56 PM by Gene

I see the high-school hoops phenom LeBron James (I love these names) can play after all (it took a judge). The NCAA and its ilk can't see the forest of corruption but they sure can make out the saplings of gifts. Professional college (and high-school) basketball is rotten to its empty air-inflated core (and you know that every time Dickie V screams out one of his registered-trademark slogans or his Woody Woodpecker tones). Will a couple of jerseys, bequeathed in all innocence, really corrupt a young man who knows he'll be worth zillions next year because he can run and dribble? Better to concentrate on those eight-percent graduation rates. I wonder what sort of courses LeBron is taking.

UPDATE: I wasn't aware of the Hummer, or the entourage, or the two cell phones, or the $1,000 suit. The sports hacks have come down hard on LeBron, but while the kid may have shown poor judgment, he won't be paid millions for his judgment, and the fault lies less with the young Mr. James than with the leeches who created the whole problem with professional college (and high-school) sports in the first place.