Luck's father, Oliver, says the decision was based purely on "staying in a place he loves, playing beside teammates he adores and getting the degree he covets." Perhaps, I can relate to Luck better than some because I have the perspective of a 19-year-old high school senior that wants nothing more than to be in college right now instead of high school.

Being a senior in high school is not a horrible experience by any means, but right now, if I could be anywhere I wanted, I would be a second-semester freshman in college. Maybe a lot of high school seniors say that, but I am in my 14th consecutive year at the same independent private school. I have gone to school with more or less the same people for that entire time. I am ready to change schools, take some new classes, meet new people, and leave home. So when Andrew Luck announced he wanted to stay at school instead of going pro, I totally understood how he felt. I wouldn't want to leave school either.

On another note, even though the current NFL Collective Bargaining situation reported influenced Luck's decision very little, it is still a major issue worth examining in the context of Luck's decision. A major crticism of Luck is that he will lose tens of millions of dollars for not turning pro.

On the surface, that is almost guaranteed to be true even if his draft stock doesn't go down at all, and he doesn't get hurt playing for Stanford next year or the year after that because the new CBA realistically has to have a rookie payscale, which would result in Luck receiving a significantly smaller salary than the one he would have gotten had he gone pro this year.

But a closer analysis of the broad financial picture reveals that Luck made a sensible decision that very few big-time college athletes are capable of making. Assuming Luck gets his architectural design degree, he will still be set up to make good money regardless of what happens to his football career.

If something bad happens, he has a college degree to fall back on. If he plays for 20 years and makes more money than most of us will see in our lives, then he will have options for a real job beyond football if he wants to leave. Most former players who don't want to coach or don't make good coaches and don't have enough education, end up on the street because they spend too much money during their playing careers. By getting a degree, Luck assures himself that he will not share that future.

Andrew Luck has the right ideas of how to build a successful future. The rest of the world of big-time college athletics should take notice. And his critics should think twice before saying anything.

« Previous |

Main

| Next »

Vice President Biden to Pakistan: Fight Extremism or Be 'Consumed' By It

January 12, 2011 8:17 AM

ABC News’ Nick Schifrin and Karen Travers report: Vice President Joe Biden made an unannounced trip to Pakistan today to try and push government and military leaders to crack down on militants and shore up a shaky economy.

Biden delivered that message in private and in public, one week after a prominent politician was assassinated and crowds across the country celebrated his killer.

“Societies that tolerate such actions wind up being consumed by those actions,” Biden said to the media in prepared remarks.

Biden was in the country for only about 6 hours and did not meet any Pakistanis who do not work in the government or military. He traveled by motorcade under extraordinary security from the airport to the U.S. embassy, then onto the Presidential palace, the prime minister’s residence, and the military’s headquarters before departing for an unannounced destination.‬

He had arrived in Pakistan from Afghanistan, where he spent a day and a half in three different provinces, meeting with President Hamid Karzai, U.S. troops, and U.S. diplomats in a trip that was far more extensive than the one he made to Pakistan.

In Afghanistan, Biden said the United States military needed more help from Pakistan if it was going to permanently push out the Taliban.

“It’s going to require more pressure -- more pressure on the Taliban, from Pakistan’s side of the border, than we’ve been -- we’ve been able to exert so far,” Biden said in a statement delivered next to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

After his arrival in Islamabad, Biden traveled to the U.S. embassy, where he met with American officials, including the new U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter. He later sat down with Pakistani President Zadari at the presidential palace.

The press was allowed to observe the beginning of their meeting, when Biden joked with Zardari, whom he has known for years.

“We should act like we know each other,” the vice president quipped. “I’ve known the president long enough that I used to have hair.”

“Is he making fun of me?” Zadari asked.

Biden laughed and ran his hand over his thinning hair and asked a Pakistani official, “What are you laughing at?”

January 12, 2011

| Permalink
| Share
| User Comments (7)

bench craft company reviews bench craft company reviews

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Being Right or Making Money

Vice President Biden to Pakistan: Fight Extremism or Be 'Consumed' By It

No comments:

Post a Comment