I think the biggest lesson in this thread is that putting all your eggs in the sports basket and letting the academic basket wane is a dangerous prospect. If you keep the academic side strong you can at least go to college. If you only concentrate on sports, the odds are heavily against you getting a free ride to college, and then you are left with nothing. Parents that allow that scenario to happen are even more guilty than the kids.

This is why it's so disgusting when athletes get a pass on grades because they are athletes. It is such a disservice to the kid. Making him earn the grade will also make him a better athlete in the long run. Once they go down the path of everything being handed to them on a silver platter because of a game, about the only thing they will ever be capable of is playing that game.

And, even if they are one of the lucky ones that has the right combination of skill and talent to make it to D1 and professional sports, those are short-lived careers. You end up unleashing a person on society with no way to be productive past their career. And for someone who makes league minimums for 3-4 years and then out, they still have to make a living for the next 50-60 years. There aren't enough spokesman and sportscast jobs to go around.