Lost and Found

What you don't know will kill you. Others say what you don't know won't hurt you. There are many beliefs out there of what the truth can and can't do to you. Ultimately, the proof is in the proverbial pudding.

The average student-athlete who plays for me typically has a sub 2.0 GPA coming out of high school. Thuglife, for example, came into college with a 1.47 GPA. His high school grades were actually higher than two other starters this past season (1.1 and 1.12). The second "highest" mark among the quintet was a paltry 1.59." Interestingly, as a group of college students this season they had a combined 2.57 GPA first semester...

I took Thuglife to a Randall Robinson lecture after the basketball season ended. Having heard Robinson speak many years before as a college student I felt like Thuglife may come away with something profound--a message that could perhaps stir his soul, or flick the light switch on in his head at a minimum. My moment of clarity as a teenager came when I went on a "class trip" to a busy intersection with my History class. He asked us to just stand still with our pens and observe. While I saw nothing but girls and people hurrying about, my classmates saw examples of Capitalism. A week later when I went back to my stomping grounds for a haircut I noticed for the first time that there were more liquor stores than bookstores.   

As I sat there listening to Randall Robinson speak I was a bit disappointed. Years before he was far more energetic and entertaining. He inspired me like nobody ever did in a span of forty five minutes. This time around he was flat. He talked about the general ignorance of Americans and how our lack of knowledge is crippling in many ways. This wasn't news to me. I came in expecting a Grand-slam, but I got a soft double instead. The message was strong, but it wasn't riveting by any means. I thought Thuglife would fall asleep, but he didn't. He was really attentive the whole time. Afterwards, I asked for his thoughts on the presentation.

Me: So what did you think about Mr. Robinson.
Thuglife: Honestly, at first I thought it was gonna be boring and stuff but something told me to pay attention.
Me: Good. Did you learn anything?
Thuglife: Yeh, like, I never knew what Timbuktu was? It was interesting hearing him talk about it.
Me: Huh?
Thuglife: I never knew what Timbuktu was. I heard Nas say it in one of his songs. I never learned about it in history class or nothing. Now I know there was a kingdom back in the day in Africa.

The past two seasons Thuglife has violated the "nigga" rule more than anybody else on the team.