BREAKING NEWS: Armon Bassett Declares for NBA Draft

According to John Groce, Ohio guard Armon Bassett will declare for the NBA draft, but has not hired an agent.  

In his press conference, Groce said that since he did not hire an agent, he is eligible to return to Ohio University and play for the Bobcats next year if he withdraws from the draft by May 8.

What does this mean for Bobcat fans?  It means that it's either the NBA or NCAA for Bassett, who is unlikely to take a gig in Europe, considering he decided not to hire an agent.  That's good news for the Attack U nation.  

This gives Armon time to talk to the NBA draft committee to see what his chances of being drafted are, and apply for Ohio University again in the instance he decides to return for his senior season.  

If he returns for his senior year, Ohio would return its top scorer from the Mid-American Conference and NCAA tournaments.  

If he doesn't return, it opens up a second scholarship for John Groce, as Asown Sayles has decided to graduate and leave the university following spring quarter.  

Visit Bobcat Attack, the official fan board for Ohio athletics to discuss today's press conference events.  

Let's Play Clean Boys

Yesterday, Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first six games of the 2010 season for violating the NFL Player Conduct policy.  There are currently sexual assault allegations against the PIttsburgh Steelers quarterback, a result of a night of partying in a Georgia town.   

Is this right?  Can a player truly be suspended for close to half of his season on PENDING allegations?

The definitive answer is YES, because sports in today's culture is so micromanaged, and so public, that you have to avoid negative publicity at all costs if you are the league in question.  

Not only are these athletes being scrutinized by the watchful eyes of the media, but also their adoring fans.  3-year-old's who someday wish to be just like Tiger, or just like "Big Ben" are seeing first hand what it means NOT to be a good role model.  

Sports is a business now (despite the feeling I have deep in my heart that they are always pure, and that players play "For the love of the game"), and commissioners are acting accordingly, making sure the negative publicity doesn't take away from the quality of the product.  

A recent article by USA Today reveals that the crime rate by NFL players has significantly dropped since Goodell implemented the policy in April 2007.  

Baseball is suffering the same ordeal, only not with player conduct.  Rather, MLB is still dealing with steroid allegations and positive tests, years after the first instances of steroid use by popular players were made public in 2005.

This "60 Minutes" story, which first aired in 2005, hints at the hypocrisy in MLB, and how much work still needs to be done to clean up the league, even five years later. 

The NBA?  They have suffered as well, but not as much recently.  "The Malace at the Palace," an infamous brawl between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers took the media by storm, which led to the coining of the phrase "The Thug League."  

Kobe Bryant was the center of a sexual affair scandal in 2003, bringing more negative publicity to the league.  

Most recently, Tiger Woods has been the king of "Sports Icons Who Dramatically Fall From Their Pedestal."  His sexual affairs, and his confession to sex addiction rocked the sports world, and even made enormous waves in the global media.

Some question why we should care what these athletes do in their free time.  They ask why we cannot just take what we get on the field, and leave our love for these athletes at that.  

I will pose this question:  Why do sports have such a large influence on us as humans that we spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year watching them, buying clothes with logos of our favorite teams, and playing them?  

For something as important as sports, we have to hold those who play them at its highest level to a certain degree of morality.  

Play the games fair, teach our kids valuable lessons, and make the world a better place.