Athletes should know when to say when

by Paul Shugar
Staff Writer

Bo knows football; Bo knows baseball; Bo knows basketball; Bo knows hockey; Bo knows when to call it quits.

Sure, I bet Bo Jackson could have grabbed a guitar and gone nuts, but let's be serious people. Pro athletes are trained professionals who have dedicated their lives to being the best at what they do.

To do anything else would be tremendously hard because whether it is another sport or an entertainment skill, it would only be a mere hobby compared to their main focus.

I understand why they think they can do other things though.

I dedicate a lot of my time to writing and reading and still think I can tear anyone up on the ice playing hockey. Then I show up at the ice arena and get knocked around and strut off the ice muttering, "Well, all those punks probably split their verbs."

Being a pro athlete, just like being a pro entertainer or a pro journalist, requires endless hours of sweat and toil.

That is why crossovers just do not mix. Master P could not make it as a basketball player, and Shaq could not make it as a magical genie in Kazaam.

I could not make it as either. Well, maybe the genie.

Now sure, there are a few good athlete/entertainers in all sorts of areas. Too bad most of them were playing athletes or coaches in the movies.

Yes, athletes can become actors when they have to play the role they play everyday. I know I could not pull off a pompous super-rich baseball player. A boy who drinks Natural Light does not have a pompous and rich persona, I guess.

But athletes should try to cross over to entertainment fields and combine it with their sports field because they might discover some hidden talent and success.

Some people can do it and have, but few can, and I would like the athletes to do us a favor and give it up if it does not work out. That is all I ask.

Cough...Shaq, cough...Allen Iverson, cough...cough...among others.

So now that I have cleared my throat, I say: Go to it athletes, go for your dreams. I cannot wait to see Tie Domi on Broadway as a ballet dancer and John Stockton releasing a country album singing about how tough it is to be a pro basketball player.

I am sure someone out there has talent to give us something amazing if they have the talent and time for both, and I cannot wait to hear or see it.

If athletes do not make it though, they always have their day jobs.

I remember there was a day when I thought Shaq was a great rapper; I am sure athletes, just like anybody, are capable of doing anything and making something amazing.

I am just glad they never gave DJ Jazzy Bo the microphone because I know he woulda got down with his bad self.

But Bo knows better than most athletes I guess.

- Shugar, a sophomore journalism major, should know better than to play softball, but for some reason he does not listen. Send him e-mail at ps198099.