I usually leave the basketblogging to my capable roommate, but there's room for more observation at the crucial junction of roundball and literature. Courtesy of newest New Critter Nick Desai, here's Dwyane Wade on the classics:
I've read Pride and Prejudice a couple of times. It's one of my favorite books, which usually surprises people. I guess they wonder how a love story from Regency England could be relevant to a 21st century basketball player from the Southside of Chicago. Class struggle, overcoming stereotypes and humble beginnings, getting out of your own way and letting love take over: these are things I can relate to, definitely. Reading the Classics is like opening a door to a world that at first looks so different from mine, but when I look closer, is filled with people who struggle with the same things I do. And the great thing is, they may be a little farther along in their struggle than I am, so I can actually learn something.Providing that Wade does not describe himself to others as "a 21st century basketball player," it seems that his press agent—whoever wrote this boilerplate—has done him some disservice, no? Namedropping Prince Regent's England, only to recognize that basketball players—black kids from Chicago, really—don't talk like that? It could be that I'm just touchy and cynical after Vince Young was judged too dumb for football.*
Nevertheless young Wade should share his library with his teammates. Is Shaq not the very picture of Lord Byron's Childe Harold?
Yet oft-times in his maddest mirthful moodAnd so Shaq won't rest until he gets his ring without Kobe Bryant. Maybe it's a stretch to say that moving to Miami to play for the Heat parallels CH's restless travels across wide lands. And in certain respects Kobe makes the better Byronic hero—his vices are more notorious, anyway. The real question here is to what extent Wade's reading preferences illuminate the differences between Pat Riley and Phil Jackson's approaches to coaching.
Strange pangs would flash along Childe Harold's brow,
As if the memory of some deadly feud
Or disappointed passion lurk'd below:
But this none knew, nor haply car'd to know;
For his was not that open, artless soul
That feels relief by bidding sorrow flow,
Nor sought he friend to counsel or condole,
Whate'er his grief mote be, which he could not control. (from Canto I)
* And by that I mean that the Wonderlic is incapable of quantifying Young. Design a test that measures clutch Rose Bowl performance, then come talk to him. I haven't forgotten, I ♥ VY.
Posted by Kriston at April 10, 2006 10:05 PMI'm pretty sure that the test to measure clutch Rose Bowl performance was called, um.... The Rose Bowl, right?
And he passed that test, right?
I'm just sayin.
Posted by: son1 at April 11, 2006 1:12 PMYeah, the test is called "the tapes," damnit.
Posted by: Kriston at April 11, 2006 1:26 PMone might say it would be hard to devise a better test, even. the best test possible for Rose Bowl performance is in our hands -- we need only have the courage to use it.
Posted by: son1 at April 11, 2006 1:28 PMWell, if anyone's in the market for an ineligible quarterback capable of winning the Rose Bowl, I'm sure they'll come talk to Vince. But this is the NFL we're talking about! There won't be any more alumni boosters making sure he has the necessary tutors available to remind him not to forget to breath while he's eating.
Posted by: tom at April 11, 2006 2:21 PMThe Vince Young Facts page isn't very clever, but I think that "Vince Young will continue winning offensive player of the game in the Rose Bowl long after he leaves the University of Texas" is probably accurate.
I don't actually know what the Wonderlic tests, so I can't point out all the ways that its methodology is flawed/racist, but this much is true: Vince Young is very, very good at playing football. Past successful quarterbacks scored high on the Wonderlic—but does that variable alone reliably predict performance? Doesn't the number of quarterbacks drafted by the NFL amount to an exceedingly small sample? And the Wonderlic isn't a football-specific exam; it's used by many corporations across industries as a rough estimate of literacy/intelligence.
Past NFL quarterbacks were drafted because, like Vince Young, they were very, very good at playing football. They were also (if the Young/Wonderlic story is indeed even accurate) likely more literate and definitely better test-takers. But better Wonderlic scores didn't win the Rose Bowl for Leinart last year or for Chad Henne the year before. Not that those games came down to quarterback performance alone, but they sure as fuck didn't hinge on reading skills.
Posted by: Kriston at April 11, 2006 5:06 PMGoddamnit, now I'm kind of pissed. From the Wonderlic Web site:
The WPT takes only 12 minutes to complete. It accurately measures a candidate's ability to:
- Learn a specific job
- Solve problems
- Understand instructions
- Apply knowledge to new situations
- Benefit from specific job training
- Be satisfied with a particular job
Here's one of the sample questions:
When rope is selling at $.10 a foot, how many feet can you buy for sixty cents?
The others are, astonishingly, even easier. Vince Young must be really stupid, or the worst test-taker in history, or robotripping—something. But he probably didn't get stupid recently, right? So if high Wonderlic scores make good NFL quarterbacks, then college football must be nothing like the NFL game, because dumb ol' VY sure kicks ass at the former.
I know I sound like a major booster, and of course I am, but I do think there are definitely good reasons to hesitate before signing VY. But holding VY accountable for a collegiate draft system that encourages parallel institutions (athletic and academic) seems way unreasonable to me. I'm glad most NFL quarterbacks picked up an education while they were professional student athletes; I'm sorry that VY didn't, I guess; and I don't think it has much to do with football.
Posted by: Kriston at April 11, 2006 5:26 PMOkay, that rope question is pretty ridiculous.
So I'm not trying to feed the Vince-anity around here, but ... first of all, don't you think that it's almost a truism that "college football is nothing like the NFL game?"
That seems almost obvious to me. Which isn't a reason not to draft VY highly, but... it makes me think that there's something else going on with the Wonderlic. Like, VY's test score is just providing an excuse for teams that don't want to draft him at the top anyway -- like there's a line out on VY, somewhere, that he's not worth a top-draft-pick. Something other than that angle-of-release thing. And the rope-questions are just a way to CYA with respect to the sports journalists.
Posted by: son1 at April 11, 2006 5:53 PMDude's from Oak Lawn for christ sake. That ain't the South Side of Chicago. Its a relatively nice suburb right on the border. My mom grew up there. I'm sure he actually wrote that.
Posted by: Rob W at April 11, 2006 11:10 PMcouple things:
1. i agree with rob -- i wouldn't be at all surprised if D-Wade wrote that himself, perhaps with an editor helping out. in every interview i've seen with him, he comes off as very intelligent, and not just by athletes' standards. also, he went to marquette, which is a pretty good school, too, isn't it?
2. re: the wonderlic -- another possibility is that VY simply didn't give a shit about answering questions on the price of rope. and what did they say about terry bradshaw -- that he could barely read the side of a cereal box, but he's got himself a ring.
Posted by: matty at April 14, 2006 11:47 AM> The others are, astonishingly, even easier. Vince Young must be really stupid, or the worst test-taker in history, or robotripping—something.
That sample page might be selling the test short, as Wonderlic questions are apparently designed to run the gamut.
ESPN.com has a few more sample questions, including those found at your link above alongside 10 others.
While some are still insanely simple...
9. The ninth month of the year is: 1. October, 2. January, 3. June, 4. September, 5 May.
... I can easily imagine these classic word problems being a bit more taxing on a student–athlete laboring under strict time limits:
11. In printing an article of 48,000 words, a printer decides to use two sizes of type. Using the larger type, a printed page contains 1,800 words. Using smaller type, a page contains 2,400 words. The article is allotted 21 full pages in a magazine. How many pages must be in smaller type?
13. Three individuals form a partnership and agree to divide the profits equally. X invests $9,000, Y invests $7,000, Z invests $4,000. If the profits are $4,800, how much less does X receive than if the profits were divided in proportion to the amount invested?
Define your variables. Reduce. Solve for a in terms of b. (And, as the ESPN page advises: "...oh, yeah, run the 40 and give us some bench-presses first, would ya?")
Posted by: Dan at April 17, 2006 7:15 PMHowdy, Dan! Give me some more news on Chicago/NOVA. I'm coming up at the end of the month.
Posted by: Kriston at April 17, 2006 8:26 PM