Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Pete Rose betting on baseballl...Pol Pot thinking that he could defeat the Vietnamese after killing a couple of million defenseless Cambodians...that Bernie Madoff guy thinking he could go on ripping people off forever...and the list goes on ad infinitum. All examples of people who, basically, do stupid things when the possibilities are endless. And now, these latest shining examples of sh@!* for brains:
Ken Wall, arguably the BEST high school basketball player in the country...ANY school he chooses would take him Duke and NC included, even before he went to the NBA for a gazillion dollars...yes, he's THAT good. So, what happens? He gets arrested on a misdemeanor breaking and entering charge in Raleigh, North Carolina the other day. Granted, it is a misdemeanor, punishable by 120 days in jail, though according to assistant D.A. Frank Jackson, he'll probably get community service. How stupid is THAT? Literally one year away from the biggest payday in his life. You and I know, though, that his payday will still be more than you or I will ever see in our lifetimes...combined, but still...
And his saga comes less than a week or so after the Renardo Sidney escapade. Sidney, who recently signed to play college basketball at Mississippi State University (noted hoops hotbed...NOT) was recruited by everyone as the next big thing. He and his family moved to Los Angeles last year when he was being recruited heavily by both USC and UCLA. Why MSU? Easy...there were serious questions about the lavish lifestyle that his mother and stepfather were living as they moved from one stylish set of digs to another during their time in Tinseltown. The only family income seemed to come from a minor level AAU program which had a small shoe deal. Oh yes, and it was also duly noted that Sidney's stepdad expected to be compensated for delivering the boy to either school...uh, the stupid meter just shot off the charts like a thermometer spraying mercury in a cartoon. Remember, USC is still getting close scrutiny for the Reggie Bush and O.J. Mayo deals. You KNOW it had to be rotten if UCLA wouldn't take a chance to steal somebody from their hated rivals.
"OK," I can hear you say,"that's guys from somewhere else. That could never happen here." Ah, but you are wrong. One of my students whose family lives in Milwaukee told me yesterday of a young man who, as a sophomore, was already getting heavily recruited by some big-name basketball schools. This young man transferred from a city school to a suburban school last year in order to get more exposure. Now, I have to take my student's word that this kid was good. So, what happens? This past weekend, he and several of his friends break into an apartment, take a woman hostage at gunpoint and make go to the ATM and get cash. The hoops player stays in the apartment with a gun held to the head of the woman's son to insure her compliance. However, she had her cell phone on, somebody heard the call, the police showed up at her house...a standoff ensued, and a career went swirling down the drain...at 16.
Seriously...HOW FREAKING STUPID CAN PEOPLE BE?
I guess I have to be glad that I never had any real talent. It might have gone to my head.