Yesterday I received a frantic call from a friend of mine. “Bomar’s off the team dude!” I said “Who the hell is Bomar?” Sorry kids, but I don’t pay attention to Sooner football. I don’t pay attention to any football at all really so that statement meant nothing to me. Well I guess I’m one of the few people in this state who weren’t impacted in some way by this news.
For those of you who are fortunate enough to not know what I’m talking about, Rhett Bomar, quarterback for the almighty Oklahoma Sooners, along with fellow player J.D. Quinn, were both kicked off the football team yesterday after it was found that they were getting paid by a company for not actually working at said company. A lot of people are upset about this and I figured that since I’m in a pretty objective position, as I could care less one way or the other, I thought I would espouse my opinions here.
Lucky you.
For starters, can we please leave these guys alone? Yeah, they screwed up and took money they shouldn’t have, but there are a lot of other factors at play here. First off, athletes aren’t known for their decision making skills. They play a sport, coast through college and some even end up with a degree and can’t even read. I’m not saying these guys are dopes but history shows athletes aren’t the brightest specimens of humanity.
Also, are you going to tell me that you never made a mistake at 21? The only problem with their mistake is that so many people count on them for entertainment. Like it or not people, sports is entertainment, plain and simple. We don’t care if an actor or rock star does boat loads of cocaine, slaps his wife around or embezzles now and again, so why are we so up in arms over what these guys did? Get over it.
Besides, aren’t there more important things in your life to get angry at? Your unfaithful spouse, or your commander-in-chief or your boss or virtually anyone other than some kid who played ball would be more worthy of your anger than the angry wrath of fans these guys are having to experience. Hell, getting angry at the guy who gave them the money is a good place to put that anger. If I was 21 and played ball and some moron who has to live vicariously through much younger men who have a much brighter future than selling cars, offered me a whole bunch of money for nothing, I can’t say I wouldn’t entertain the thought. That guy was so stupid.
A year ago my friend Jason and I had talked to a player for the Sooners about attending a comedy show we did. We were going to give him tickets but then realized that action was a violation of NCAA rules. My friend and I knew that and that was for one show. This car dealer moron knew what he was doing and should be condemned to the hell that is selling cars for the rest of his life. Wait. Too late.
I’m surprised that people are acting like this is something new though. Has anyone driven by the football dorms at OU? Here is a group of guys who are in school or practicing yet they somehow manage to get a job that allows them to afford the payment on a Cadillac Escalade with sweet rims and a killer sound system These guys get paid, and we all know it, it’s just that these two happened to get caught. On paper it looks like they might not get any money, but when you were in college, did you drive a car that nice or sport the finest of clothes? They might not get paid in cash, but they’re taken care of.
The other problem with the entire situation is that I think that a lot of Sooners fans aren’t fans of the team so much as they are fans of winning and when it looks like that won’t happen people get in a rage over it. “What?! Some athlete made a mistake and now we might not be able to brag on our football team?! Dammit! That’s all I got in this life because my marriage is loveless and I like seeing minorities beat each other up because it makes me forget the pain that is my own life. Dammit all to hell!” For proof of that theory try to think if anyone has already condemned the entire the season because of the loss of the QB. That’s the fan I’m talking about right there. The fair weather Sooner fan.
I’m not defending these guys, or condemning all Sooner fans, I just think the reaction by the media and come of the fans is a tad overblown. The local news stations aren’t helping. You would have thought Tim McVeigh rose from the dead and drove another truck downtown what with the passion and fervor these local reporters were reporting the story. “Bomar is out! My god! That’s it. The apocalypse is upon us!”
Personally, I think that this will make the season more interesting. I mean here is a team that has a chance to prove all the detractors wrong. Winning is a team effort, and no matter how good Bomar was, there is still a whole team of guys ready to win for their school, for their fans and for themselves. A real Sooner fan is going to get behind their team, no matter what happens, and not condemn an entire season before even one game is played.
I didn’t know who Bomar was though so I could be way off about all of this.
- Joel David