Garcia changes Bluegrass basketball – so sayeth The New York Times

sports tripe

An acquaintance was kind enough to pass on this link to a NY Times story on junior forward Francisco Garcia and his announced plans to leave the University of Louisville early for the NBA draft. (Excuse me if I don’t adopt the Times' preening affectation of delineating N.B.A. with periods – yes, I know the rule on acronyms, but give me a break.)

Two thoughts here:

Firstly …

I was scolded by Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy – who I think is about as with it as any national sports writer today – for complaining that Garcia, a junior, was honored at Senior Night (which I attended, of course). Don’t get me wrong: I hope the kid gets as much money as he can out of the draft and is able to move his mother to a nice safe neighborhood. He’s in a tough situation, and I don’t begrudge him leaving school if that’s the decision he needs to make for his family. I’m pretty sure this is exactly what they had in mind when they coined the phrase “hardship entry.”

But to me, Senior Night is for seniors. It’s a recognition of four years of commitment to the program, both in and out of the classroom. DeCourcy contends that “Garcia has done enough for Louisville basketball that he deserves whatever honors Pitino wishes to bestow upon him.” I disagree. Make him a captain, hang a banner with his number on it – a ton of honors are reserved for standout players. Senior Night simply shouldn’t be one of them. That’s for the four-year guys, even the ones who never make a big shot or sign an NBA contract.

Secondly …

Where does the Times get off with this dramatic closing?:

“It has taken only three years for Garcia to change bluegrass basketball. There is Spanish spoken during games, there is a junior speaking at senior night, there is a coach advising his star player to turn pro, and there is the growing realization that an early exit can still be a sweet one.”

Well, of course, that’s a rhetorical question. The Times gets off doing this because after two or three hours of interviews for any given story, Times reporters become subject matter “experts” who feel no compunction whatsoever about inserting themselves as sources into a story. As an old fart who works with student journalists, this widely embraced “journalistic” practice makes me even meaner than usual.

There’s Spanish spoken in games simply because a couple of Spanish-speaking players happen to be on the team. There’s no evidence of some new focus on recruiting Spanish-speaking players, or that prior to Garcia’s arrival there was some hesitance to recruit international players in general – we’ve had (or at least tried to have) kids on the squad from Africa and Europe for years now. But it makes good copy, and it plays to the Time’s audience demographic, so run with it. Besides, I'm the reporter, and I know everything about this topic anyway, so what's the harm?

Grumble.