An Odd Time Indeed

Well it turns out that I was lying yesterday when I said that I had noting to write about. The problem is that I did not find said story of interest untill 9ish, last night when I wrapped up the first day of training for my new job. Given my blase nature to begin with it is no small wonder that I choose not to do a damn thing. Which brings me to this point about the time of the night at wich this is being typed out which really is odd, even for a person like myself. Over the past few weeks I have performed a metemorphisis into Peter Gibbons without the money making scheme.

Regardless the story on Noel Devine really caught my attention. You really have to pull for this kid to be a complete success. You have to root for him. This is a kid who had the roughest of up bringings, with a multittude of odds stacked against his success from the very start. He has overcome the issues with his parents or lack there of and made his way to West Virginia where he surprised most everyone and qualified instead of going to the prep school route. He was dealt a bad hand and he made the best of it he has made mistakes, but every kid does. Unlike most kids he did not have the backbone most people have. By most accounts he was raised by the town as much as he was raised by anyone else. The problem comes when you have the entire community telling him how great he is and how he can do nothing wrong, at least untill he did something wrong. Like move in with Prime Time.  

Controversey has swirled around Devine for the better part of a year, ever since it was announced that he was going to be moving in with Deion Sanders at his Dallas area home, which he left after a short period to return to North Fort Meyers where he wraped up his senior season. The kid has made some bad choices in his life, I think he would be the first to admit the fact. When people look at the kid there is a tendancy to expect a level of bad choices, because looking at his past its what anyone would expect. There is a tendancy to harp on his decision making because when it comes to the ability to play Football there is no doubting him.  

The funny thing is that doubt is all that fills the minds of most comminatators. and that doubt always stems from his past transgressions. He talks about how he wants to prove the doubters wrong, and he does. He is going to be labled as a problem child by many many people, fucks like Dennis Dodd who openly question the logic of persuing Devine given his history of prior transgressions which is nothing if not obsured.

I don’t really see the harm in taking a shot on the kid. Some might expect him to flame out in a mannor as spectacular and complete as Maurice Clarrett.  I am not expecting Devine to flame out like Clarrett. It might have been a questionable decsion to have two children but that would force him to mature quickly. He really does seem to be a good kid, who has made some bad choices. It might seem stupid to trust Deion Sanders as a judge of character but he seems to think that Devine is a good kid. Sanders might seem to be a bit of pompus ass.   

But he is not a fool. Sanders might be a tad bit shameless but he is extremly shrewd. You can construct an image as well as Sanders did without being a bit og a con man yourself. I don’t get the impression that he is easy to win over, convince or trick. If Sanders still beleives in the kid, and is still pulling for him after the stunt he pulled, you have to beleive that Noel Devine is a good kid who has made some really bad choices. This is America, we love those types of stories.