Bad sports, good sports: on a Rolle

Posted on June 1st, 2009 by Alan Spoll

I generally write about the negative side of sports. I guess it’s easier to criticize than to praise. Comes with the territory, when you are in quality assurance, I guess. Sometimes, though, a positive story just jumps out at you, and you want to make sure as many people as possible know about it. Myron Rolle has one of those stories.

A few years ago, when I first heard of Myron Rolle, I wasn’t fond of him. He was a highly recruited high school football player out of New Jersey who flirted with Penn State before deciding on Florida State. As a die-hard Penn State fan, I couldn’t figure out why this excellent student, who talked a lot about academics, would decide on Florida State over Penn State. After all, Penn State is a much more highly ranked academic institution than Florida State (this isn’t just my fandom speaking…PSU is ranked 47 by U.S. News, while FSU is 102). I figured this was just another player who was making the more glamorous choice. I have since changed my mind. In addition to playing football at a level that will have NFL scouts anxious to draft him, he graduated in 2 1/2 years, and was chosen as a Rhodes Scholar. He plans to attend Oxford in the fall, putting his NFL dreams on hold.

As much as college football players are often mocked for taking courses that seem less than challenging academically, I would think that there is nothing easy about trying to get good grades while following the very difficult schedule that one of these athletes is required to follow. Practice, weight training, games, travel…it’s a full-time job. To do well in school is more difficult than it is for the average student. To graduate in 2 1/2 years, while playing football at a division 1 university is remarkable. To do it at such a level as to accomplish what Rolle has accomplished is simply astonishing.

I am excited to hear about what he will do in the future. I imagine that it will be something extraordinary.

Good sports, continued:

2) It is indeed a rarity these days when someone in sports actually speaks his mind about another person, particularly when that other person is an icon like Brett Favre. That’s exactly what Fran Tarkenton did this week. I agree with everything he said, but I am just amazed that he said it. Refreshing, in a way.

3) French Open 23rd seed Robin Soderling beat Rafael Nadal on Sunday in four sets. Amazingly, four-time champion Nadal had never before lost at the French. In fact, he had only ever lost 7 sets there.

Bad sports:

1) I hate the fact that the only time I seem to mention soccer here is when someone dies. I am not a fan, so I am not usually clued in to the various good things that I imagine must happen in the world of soccer. It is amazing, though, how something like this seems to happen with regularity. A Nigerian fan of Manchester United drove his van into a crowd of Barcelona fans after the Spanish team beat Man U. Four people were killed.

2) Sounds like someone took the SAT for Derrick Rose while he was being recruited by the University of Memphis basketball team. The University is being charged with some pretty serious stuff. Meanwhile, Rose is in the NBA, and then-coach John Calipari is now at Kentucky. Looks like this will be a bad one.

3) Local driver John Schulz died racing in Fargo, North Dakota on Saturday. He was 47.

Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02