Hypocrisy runs rampant in society. People contradict themselves on a daily basis in an effort to prove their current stance on an issue. Nevermind what they may have said or thought in weeks past or even the day before because, for the here and now, it does not jive with their current agenda.

It is shortsighted for people to say one thing, only to defy themselves later simply for self-gratification.

This vice of humanity is especially apparent in America’s sportswriters and commentators.

When the National Basketball Association was considering a new collective bargaining agreement, the league offices as well as many pundits throughout the country were calling for a minimum age requirement for those players to enter the league. They said players should be at least 20 years old in order to declare for the NBA draft.

Logic was that these kids, at 18, were not ready to handle the rigors of the prep-to-pros jump. This meant cooking, cleaning, time management and assorted other tasks you learn in your first two years on a college campus. (I hope you catch my sarcasm there, because I am “laying it on pretty thick.”)

To think kids learn complete independence in their first two years of college is ludicrous. Sure, there are exceptions, as there are to any blanket statement, but nonetheless, I am sure the difference between a high school senior and a college sophomore is negligible.

However, my major concern is not about the preparedness of these young men, who are no longer allowed to enter the league right after high school. The media lauded NBA commissioner David Stern for instituting a revised age limit in the league.

A few short months later, these same media members are swarming around a 16-year-old golfer who just turned PRO. That’s right. Michelle Wie, now a professional golfer on the LPGA tour, has been swarmed by reporters since her recent decision. She has been so inundated with media coverage that it cost her a tournament over the weekend. A Sports Illustrated writer noticed Wie dropped a ball minutely too close to the pin and finked on her. Surely, this would have gone unnoticed regularly, but not with the media coverage Wie is garnering.

Sidenote: The tattletale reporter cost Wie over $50,000. Do you think she will ever do an interview with Sports Illustrated now? At some point, that guy has to think – I am sure his editor is less than happy with him, but I digress.

I have to wonder: Where is the media outrage on this issue? Where are the reporters and commentators who were so proud of Stern? Why is it OK for a 16-yearold-girl to turn professional, but not an 18-year-old man?

I hesitate to pull the race card on this one, but is there another explanation?

I can’t see a logical reason as to why a 16-year-old girl is ready to handle the rigors of being an adult, but an 18-year-old man is not. I realize, scientifically, women mature faster than men, but I don’t think that is a legitimate argument in this situation.

I am not saying Wie does not have the right to become a professional athlete. Clearly, she has the talent. But if the media is going to celebrate her and fawn over her, then they should support 18-year-old men making the leap from high school to the NBA.

Consistency is essential to journalism. I am a finance and economics major and even I know that.

Sure, an argument can be made why kids should not be able to make the jump in certain sports.

For instance, I would not want to see it legal for young men to leap from high school to the National Football League, but that is because I would fear for their lives.

I have established my dislike for the national sporting media in the last year, but the recent hypocrisy is too much to handle.

Sure, we deal with hypocrites every day in life, but you expect the media to be fair and balanced, right? Well, it would be nice if the sports media were at least consistent.