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Congressman Cohen Should Stick To Politics
Published by MoonDog on June 5, 2009
As reported earlier this week, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) sent a letter to NBA commissioner David Stern and NBA Players Association executive director Billy Hunter that asks them to eliminate the league’s 19-year-old age minimum for U.S. players to enter the draft.
Cohen, a life-long Memphian and veteran politician of over 30 years, couldn’t have sent the letter to Stern and Hunter at a worse time.
Cohen represents the 9th Congressional District in Tennessee, which just happens to encompass virtually the entire city of Memphis.
On Monday, it was learned that the University of Memphis was under NCAA investigation over allegations the school used an unnamed ineligible player during the 2007-08 basketball season.
The wording of the letter received from the NCAA suggests the only player who could have been involved in the allegations was former Memphis point guard Derrick Rose.
Memphis also happens to be the home of former Southern California player O.J. Mayo, now with the NBA’s Grizzlies. Mayo has been involved in an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations at USC which has focused on the Trojans’ head coach, Tim Floyd.
During an interview with CBSSports.com, Cohen denied the timing of his letter is related to recent news involving Rose and Mayo and their former schools. Cohen said he had planned to send his letter this week to coincide with the start of the NBA Finals.
Cohen believed two of the NBA’s most heralded players, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James – both of which entered the NBA straight out of high school – were expected to face one another this week.
As it turned out, James’ team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, were eliminated from the playoffs by the Orlando Magic, a team lead by Dwight Howard, another player who entered the NBA straight out of high school.
“We’ve been looking at the issue since April, to be honest,” Cohen said by phone. “We were expecting a Kobe-LeBron Finals, but we got a Kobe-Dwight Finals, which is just as fine because we’ve got two players who went straight from high school to the NBA (in the Finals), and it didn’t seem to hurt them at all in their development as players.”
Cohen believes that the NBA’s age restriction rule was the cause of the recent NCAA investigations at Southern California and the University of Memphis.
Cohen couldn’t be more wrong.
Having resided in Memphis most of my life, it’s impossible not to recognize Cohen’s political influence on the city.
I’ve never met Cohen but I’ve always felt he is a well-intentioned man who genuinely has the city of Memphis and his constituents best interests in mind.
But in this case, his motives are misguided.
Moreover, Cohen’s letter is another example of potential government intervention where it isn’t needed.
Cohen made it clear he could be “looking into proposing legislation on the issue” and that he wants Stern and Hunter to appear before Congress and “explain what their position is.”
Stern and Hunter may have to explain their positions on any number of NBA related issues, but the age restriction rule – and its supposed effect involving the allegations against Southern California and the University of Memphis – aren’t and shouldn’t be topics up for discussion.
The Congressman apparently isn’t aware that recruiting scandals of this nature have been taking place for decades. The NBA’s age restriction rule had nothing to do with the recent allegations involving Mayo and Rose, despite what Cohen believes.
Cohen went on to say that the NFL’s and NBA’s age restriction rules adversely effects blacks, citing professional football and basketball – sports that are predominantly populated by black players – as being the only professional sports leagues with age restriction rules.
While blacks do represent the majority of players in the NFL and NBA, Cohen noted that swimming, golf, tennis and baseball are predominantly populated with white players but don’t have age restriction rules to prevent athletes from competing professionally.
Again, while all of that is true, it has nothing to do with recruiting violations.
As it relates to recruiting scandals, age restriction limits don’t have a causal effect on possible recruiting violations committed by college athletic programs.
Had Cohen suggested the ever-growing demand on college football and basketball programs to produce championships have been a greater factor in causing recruiting violations to occur, then he would have made a valid argument.
But for Cohen to suggest the NBA’s age restriction rule caused Southern California coach Tim Floyd to allegedly pay for O.J. Mayo’s services or for Derrick Rose to allegedly have someone take his SAT exam to gain entrance into the University of Memphis is pure folly.
The cases involving Mayo and Rose are about what recruiting violations have always been about – doing what it takes to sign the most talented players in hope of producing a winning team.
Cohen appears to be on the verge of walking on the same slippery slope his colleagues Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Congressman Joe Barton (R-TX) have done, threatening legislation that would force college football to disband the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) and implement a playoff system.
Just as Hatch, Barton and others in Congress have stuck their noses where they don’t belong, Cohen may very well take his own ill-prescribed course of action.
And while Cohen wouldn’t admit it, all of this amounts to nothing more than pandering to his majority black constituency.
If Cohen were smart, he’d stick to what he knows best – politics as usual – and leave the business of sports to those that are qualified to manage it.
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Tagged with: 9th Congressional District, Age Restriction Rules, Allegations, Basketball, BCS, Bowl Championship Series, CBSSports.com, City of Memphis, Derrick Rose, Dwight Howard, Football, Government Intervention, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Legislation, Memphis Grizzlies, MoonDog, NBA, NBA Finals, NCAA, NCAA Investigation, O.J. Mayo, Orlando Magic, Politics, Programs, Recruiting Scandals, Recruiting Violations, Representative Joe Barton, Senator Orrin Hatch, Southern California, Tim Floyd, U.S. Congress, U.S. Representative Steve Cohen, University of Memphis
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tophatal on Sat, 6th Jun 2009 10:27
If ever there was a reason why there ought to be term limits within Congress. Then this idiotic moron ensures you reason why ! One’d have thought that there are far more pressing matters for him to be dealing with at this juncture ,concerning not only his constituents but the nation as a whole.
tophatal …………….