Bob Ryan argues that history shows how NBA teams that trade away superstars always end up on the losing end of the deal. He provides seven examples. His approach is a bit historicist, and certainly is deterministic, but when it comes to basketball, Bob Ryan is like E. F. Hutton: When he talks (and writes) people should listen.
Meanwhile, apparently a number of Massachusetts high schools are using pictures posted on the web (MySpace, et al) to catch, and possibly punish, students seen in pictures using drugs or alcohol. While this approach in and of itself might be debatable, the most problematic aspect is that these schools are choosing to focus solely on athletes in meting out punishments. This approach is dubious at best and sends precisely the wrong message: That athletes are different, that they are subject to a different level of scrutiny. In this case, to be sure, athletes pay the price. But on the other hand, if we can choose to single out athletes for punishment for deeds that are either right or wrong for all students (why not punish a kid in the chorus, or the debating team, or a class officer?) then we are saying that we can also treat them favorably as a matter of official policy. It seems to me that one of the positive aspects of Buzz Bissinger's book Friday Night Lights is that it shed a light on the excesses of glorifying high school athletes. Now what some Massachusetts public schools are doing is feeding this mindset even while putting it in the context of holding these athletes to higher standards.
Finally, Jason Stearns, a senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, and the spy novelist John Le Carre (!?!) have a plan to get the Congo's vast mineral wealth into the hands of its suffering people. Their suggestion, an entirely sane one that I do not see happening to the extent necessary anytime soon, is that the government and international organizations must renegotiate contracts "in a way that benefits the Congolese state and people."
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