Carver Country

The article in question is about the kid who is quickly becoming Oregon's native son. His name is Kevin Love. For those of you who live under a rock, Mr. Love is a graduate of Lake Oswego high school in the year 2006. I watched him play in the state finals when I was freshman in college and he was a sophomore in high school. That year Jesuit beat LO. Jesuit was lead by the Tarver brothers, and Love cried into the arms of his personal coach Chris Dudley and his former professional basketball playing father Stan Love. In the years since, the Tarvers have made some impact at Oregon State. Both play, its hard to say whether or not that makes OSU better or worse, they are the worst team in the Pac-10 this year after losing every conference game. Love went on to win and lose again in the state finals, become the top rated high school player in the nation, and lead UCLA this year to the Final Four. 

This article got me thinking about a few things. First: Do I like Kevin Love. Ok there are many things to consider when asking this question. He went to LO, that means I automatically hate him. He is a lot younger than me, though, so I never had to deal with him in any way. In fact I hadn't heard of him until my freshman year of college, so that takes a little of the edge off of being from Lake O. One thing that really makes me hate him, though, is that he is the son of a professional and he had enough money to hire a former pro basketball player as his personal coach when he was fifteen. There was a kid when I was growing up that was a lot like this guy. He did track and his name was Tommy Skipper. He was like a third generation Oregon track star. I think he still competes at UO. All I know was that I saw him at a few meets and he was a total DBAG! His PR in high jump was only two inches better than mine, and my dad isn't in the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame. EAT IT SKIPPER. I think, after careful consideration, that I really don't like Kevin Love. There are a lot of kids from Oregon that are good at sports. Love is going to be a pro, no question, and just because we are from the same state doesn't mean we have to like each other. The second thing this article got me thinking about was the actual state of college basketball. It seems to be such a pervasive part of American culture that anywhere you look you can find something about it. No wonder stupid college jocks think that just because they are eight feet tall and can shoot a basketball real good that they are entitled to everything. True K-Love is going to be richer than I am going to be, and true Jeremiah Dominguez was state player of the year and I was only honorable mention all valley league, but that doesn't mean that they are important people. Let them play basketball and forget about them when its over. 

There is a commercial that the NCAA loves to run during the tournament. They are videos of some person, sometimes a girl, sometimes a guy, that competes in one of the non major college sports. These sports include women's basketball, swimming, tennis, softball, baseball, water polo, basket weaving, and drunk driving. Each ad juxtaposes clips of these athletes playing their sport and also attending class. Each ad says some bullshit like, "the work I do in (the mat room, the pool, the court, the bar bathroom) helps with the work I do in the classroom." Then each ad ends with the line, "There are x number of college athletes, and most of them will go pro in something other than sports." These ads make me want to vomit. The ads should show really what college athletes are like, watch the recruitment scenes from He Got Game, and then say something like, "I don't go to class, and the is going to help me be a huge asshole later in my life." They should then end with, "There are too many college athletes, and most of them will go pro in being stupid jerkoffs and bastards."

Thats just what I think. Its been a long week. I hope that none of the college basketball players in this country read this and then come and try to kick my ass. I think I would confuse them by asking them who Raymond Carver is.