It’s just like the steriods scandel..
Everyone gets upset at the players – when it’s really MLB and the players union who decided not police things that are at fault.

The Chicago Newspapers are over this story. They are not saying if Rose did the Grade Change. They are flat out saying that he was involved.

And now the newspapers have said that they know who actually who took the SATs. I find that a little hard to believe.

BUT… this is a summary of what has been reported in the Tribune and Sun papers.

This is bigger than Memphis and Rose.

Rose and 3 of his high school team mates worked together to cheat on SATs and to change their grades via a computer system so that the NCAA would get the wrong information so that 3 of the kids could play college basketball.

There are 2 colleges and the NCAA that are involved. It appears that neither the NCAA that clears the kids to play nor either school nor staff new about this.

I run a small store up here in Michigan. One of the most amusing things that I see on a regular basis is that every one of my customers wants my store to thrive. For it to thrive, it has to make a profit. So, it logically follows that all of my customer want me to make a profit …but on everyone else, just not them.

I think it stems from our “Age of Entitlement”. If a person feels that they “deserve” something, then that person can justify doing whatever it takes to get it. No longer do we as a nation beleive that success is deserved only after the pre-requisite hard work and doing things the right way.

Here are just a few examples of entitlement justifications:

“…I am just one little person who works hard and doesn’t have a lot of money, so it’s no big deal that I just ripped-off this large retail chain.”

“…I was blessed with talent and I am good enough to be a star in the NBA. That’s my destiny, so whatever I have to do to get there is okay.”

“…I am sixteen and breathing, so I deserve a new car!”

(Ok, ok, that last one might be the grumpy reflections of a high school senior who still had to ride the bus, but you get the point.)

Matt, you are absolutely right about this particular incident being a symptom. But it is not just the NCAA’s problem, it points directly to what I think is America’s biggest problem. They say that a forest fire is nature’s way of renewing the forest. I often worry about how bad America’s “forest fire” is going to need to be before we can all get in the right frame of mind again.

I don’t know, but I hope we catch fire soon. I can almost feel our country rotting from the inside, just like an old oak tree.