Maroney's Baloney: Minnesota tailback's got nothing more to accomplish?

As a sportswriter, when covering the college beat I'm normally a little more tolerant of uttered nonsense by players, even by those who go to big schools known for academic rigidity. Kids today don't normally face interview crews week in and week out like the pros do, and as such haven't built up media savvy. Not everyone can be Santana Moss with his timeless, "Big-time players step up in big-time games." Classic.

So athletes can often get stagefright when confronted with their thoughts on something, and blurt out a completely ridiculous statement. Or they let just a little bit too much of their self-confidence leak out. Case in point: Minnesota tailback Laurence Maroney. He ended 2005 with what was possibly, even in a sporting year filled with T.O. and Drew Rosenhaus lighting up the Stupidity Scoreboard, the most awkward soundbyte of the year.

In a sideline interview with ESPN's Stacey Dales-Schumann following a 34-31 loss to Virginia in the Music City Bowl, in which the reporter/broadcaster asked the junior if he'd decided if he would declare his NFL eligibility, he didn't hesistate. He said he did, and that he was ready for the League. He'd had a fine career in Minneapolis, he continued, and didn't think he had anything left to accomplish with the Golden Gophers. Whoa, hoss.

He only rushed for 104 yards and no TDs in a valiant, but ultimately losing effort. And he wound up adding insult to injury, with his team already defeated and now apparently losing its backfield star.

Nothing left to achieve? I'll skip the part where I rant and rail about the importance of staying in school and getting an education and get right to the football. How about winning the national championship? Or the coveted Heisman? Or at least being first-team All-American (he was selected to the third-team this year)? How about winning the Doak Walker Award for being the nation's top running back? Or at least the Big Ten title? Or at least beating Wisconsin and Michigan consistently for the respective annual prizes - Paul Bunyan's Axe and the Little Brown Jug? Pull those off, and I'll have even more respect for you than I do now.

Don't get me wrong, I love Maroney's game. He should make a fine pro, almost Tiki Barber/Warrick Dunn-ish in his style, but with more meat on him. I don't predict him being a washout. He's going to make waves, turn heads and get noticed by those unlucky to have seen - awards and titles notwithstanding - a fine college career. He's got fame and fortune awaiting him, and he's a sure-fire first-round draft pick. And I can look past this little audible snafu, ignoring the fact that there are greater forms of recognition to be won in today's NCAA, and chalk it up to the innocence/ignorance of youth.

But maybe the failure to see the truth lies with me, and I'm the one who can't deal. Face it: Minnesota's not going to win a major bowl game anytime soon, and they pretty much have gone as far as they're going to go. The powerhouses in the Big Ten continue to be the Wolverines, Buckeyes and Hawkeyes, and the Nittany Lions have a solid group of underclassmen. So perhaps it's me that doesn't get it. That Maroney realizes this and seeks to maximize his current value shows pragmatic wisdom far exceeding my own. I'm a sports purist, so I'll admit my own idiocy in blindly hoping for the best and thinking everyone's got the same agenda and goals in life.

Maybe I'm just jealous that he's got the choice at all.