Thursday, February 26, 1998
Letters
Too quick to judge
I am writing in response to Michael Urcan’s Feb. 18 letter,
"Good Riddance." I do not know Jelani McCoy personally, which is
why I would never presume to judge his actions or decisions. But
obviously, Urcan feels that he is the overriding authority in this
matter. Urcan makes sweeping generalizations to support his weak
argument that McCoy "represents everything ‘bad’ about the game." I
just cannot bring myself to agree with that statement. As far as I
can remember, Jelani has not had a history of "bad" behavior. He
hasn’t gambled on basketball games. He hasn’t shaved points. He
hasn’t taken money from any agents. Nevertheless, according to
Urcan, he represents everything "bad" about the game.
Urcan proceeds to critique McCoy’s "alleged decision" to enter
the NBA. The reasoning for this critique is Urcan’s "belief" that
McCoy is a nationwide role model and is only interested in the
money. I cannot vouch for Urcan, but I don’t recall anyone saying
how disappointed they were because their "twenty-something college
athlete role model" was resigning from the UCLA basketball team.
Speaking of playing for the money, how about those outrageous
signing bonuses athletes are awarded?
Lastly, Urcan calls McCoy a quitter and says that he is the
"perfect example of what someone in his situation shouldn’t have
done." Now, what exactly was that situation again? What were the
details? Oh, yeah, Urcan doesn’t know the details of Jelani’s
situation. All he knows (or presumes to know) are rumors. And based
on these rumors, Urcan subjects McCoy’s character to his wild
conjectures.
By making allegations without any facts to back them up, it is
people like Urcan that represent everything "bad" about the
game.
Gloria K. King
Fifth-year
Sociology