The Mark Madsen Exception

Every year, without fail, I'll get obsessed with the NBA, NFL, and NHL drafts. I'll scour mock drafts on websites, talk it about with friends, and read whatever I can get my hands on. I definitely waste too much time on these things and I'm sure when I get a girlfriend, this time and energy will finally be redirected (or not). These drafts are an odd process. These sports teams congregate in some auditorium, force these kids (between the ages of 17-24) to sit in said auditorium in a suit, and then select them like they were selecting a kick ball team. But unlike a kickball team, these kids are getting multimillion dollar contracts. Sweet deal.

I'm not complaining about the fact that these kids are getting paid millions of dollars. If you're really good at something, you're going to get paid for it. That's how life works (except for UCI award winning screenwriters, cough cough). Plus these kids get put under the microscope and aren't allowed to be kids anymore. Caught smoking weed in college? You have "character" issues. Got in a fight outside of a club because someone spilled Bud Light on your new Italian loafers? You're a headcase. Every kid gets disected. "He seems to have a low basketball IQ", "his wingspan is surprsingly short", "not very athletic".

See, these kids have expectations to perform, and short of dying or being paralyzed, these kids will be judged no matter what life throws at them. Tore up your knee? Great, you've set our franchise back three years! Your Mom died? You need to get over it because Game 7 is tomorrow. Sympathy is dead. 20 year old kids get labeled as failures. It's a great world we live in.

It actually really is if you're Mark Madsen, who somehow managed to escape having an expectations bestowed on him even though he was a 1st round pick. 1st round picks are supposed to be useful, maybe not necessarily great, but regular contributors. Mark got picked by the Lakers with the last pick of the first round, and immediately the joke was "he's getting picked to guard Shaq during practice". Madsen is perhaps the worst player in the NBA. It's almost unanimous but he seems to find work and isn't considered a failure. If he were a walk-on, I'd understand because he'd be the modern day Rudy. But would you still enjoy the movie if Rudy came from a ridiculously wealthy family? Nope, but here we are, shrugging at Mark Madsen's lack of skills, instead of looking back at the draft and wondering who the Lakers could've had that would've been a better choice of a pick.

Not to hate personally hate on the guy. I mean I hear he's a great teammate. Maybe the NBA is just trying to teach us about morals. Or maybe we see a little bit of Madsen in ourselves. I mean, isn't most of America incompetent at what they but enjoy getting paid for it anyways? Mark Madsen is a America, except he's got great character.