Loyalty in sports today

The values of today are extremely different from that of forty, twenty, even ten years ago. This
difference of values is visible in all aspects of life including sports.

Twenty years ago it would have been viewed as soft or the easy way out to leave one sports team
to go to another for personal gain, but now we see this regularly.

You do not have to look far to see examples. Former Central student Jackson Page transferred to
Millard North just this summer to team up with the highly talented and highly recruited Jasen
Green.

Page got little to no scrutiny for the move, because the precedent has been set that you can
transfer whenever and wherever you want.

Central’s basketball team is no stranger to this practice either. Last year’s leading scorer for the
eagles, Denim Johnson, was a transfer from just down Northwest Radial Highway at Benson.
This goes far beyond the high school courts of Omaha and can be seen at every corner of every
team sport at the professional level and collegiate level.

The most high-profile cases in American professional sports both took place in the NBA. LeBron
James’ departure to South Beach and Kevin Durant’s transfer to Golden State both changed the
landscape of not only basketball, but sports as a whole.

With this stark change in the past decade many have questioned if loyalty is a dying part of
sports. Many say yes, and I would agree.

This is administered by fans and media but is also noted by coaches of these teams across the
country.

“Buckle up because this isn’t the last time you’re going to see this happen,” Nebraska head
football coach, Scott Frost said in reference to the transfer young quarterback Luke McCaffrey.

This comment made national attention because, along with this comment, Frost also questioned
the character of McCaffrey. Many found this to be a low blow from a losing head coach at a
failing program, but others found truth in this.

Nick Sabin echoed a similar message, “If you’re going to transfer to different schools throughout
your high school years, I already do not want to recruit you… because I know you do not have
perseverance and grit.”

Saban unlike Frost is a winner, a perennial winner even. This message coming from him carries
weight and influence and brings to question the character of these kids hopping from school to
school.

We as fans, media, parents and colleagues within this community need to put into place morals
or rules that keep kids in places, not only because it makes the viewing experience better but
because it is better for the children in question.