Thursday, January 5, 2012

Diaper Dandies, Good or Bad for College Sports?

Every college basketball fan is familiar with ever so annoying Dick Vitale and his patented phrase "diaper dandy." Vitale uses this phrase of his to point out some of the top freshman in the country. Over the past 5-10 years one-and-done players have become much more occurring in the world of college basketball. None more so than at the University of Kentucky. John Calipari and his staff have brought 3, yes 3 straight number one recruiting classes. Even though not all of his recruits have panned out for UK, Enes Kanter, Calipari has coached 6 one-and-done players who were drafted in the first round. So even though the proud tradition of Kentucky basketball seems overshadowed by their superstar athletes, Kentucky fans seem happier then ever. So the question comes up, are diaper dandies good for the game itself? Many will tell you no and that the rule should be changed, but in my opinion watching a new batch of super freshman enter the college basketball world every year is exciting. I want to see what these highly touted freshman can do, I don't want to see them play 10 minutes a game I want to see them tested and hopefully shine. The flaws of the system are pretty evident, with a lot of players leaving early fans aren't as emotionally attached to the players as they were in the past. There aren't any more Unforgettables, or fans crying on senior day as Tayshaun Prince and Chuck Hayes take their final bows on Rupp's floor. Their is only the fleeting highlight and YouTube video to remind us of the one season we had with them. College basketball has embraced the one-and-done system and I don't see any changes coming to it anytime soon, so in the meantime why not just sit back and enjoy the show.

GO CATS!!!