Bittersweet celebration?

I'm finally 21 years old, and yet I haven't done a thing I'm proud of.

Maybe it's because when I watch SportsCenter, I see millionaire athletes younger than me that have enough money to "make it rain" on a daily basis.

In a time where money is tight and jobs are no longer guaranteed, teenage athletes are the ones prospering the most. Teams are paying rookies more than ever to provide their teams with youthful skill.

These same kids are signing million-dollar contracts with shoe companies while I'm scoping eBay for a decent pair of $40 Nikes previously worn by some kid in Los Angeles.

Kevin Durant is a good example of why I get incredibly jealous of professional athletes younger than me. As an 18-year-old rookie, Durant had the choice between a seven-year, $60 million deal from Nike or a seven-year, $70 million deal with Adidas. At that age the only offers I possessed were a couple scholarships from colleges.

That must have been a great day for Durant, who signed with Nike and received a $10 million signing bonus. For people who can't comprehend that much money, that's two million "Five Dollar Footlongs" just for signing a piece of paper. Durant could probably buy Jared with his signing bonus.

Now, it's unfair to compare myself to Durant. Let's be realistic -- he is the leader of a 13-40 team, while I write for a student publication.

Durant must have been counting the days before leaving college, but the thought of exiting college in a little more than a year is quite scary to me. Jobs are being cut left and right, especially in the sports journalism field. I'm sure most of you are also scared to enter the real world, and I'm not talking MTV.

It'll take me a ton of training and probably a Master's degree to even break into the journalism field, yet these kids blessed with athleticism and very raw skill can buy four mansions for family members and seven Ferraris while still possessing enough pocket change to buy an island before their 20th birthday.

Most of the time, this kind of money is being spent on kids viewed as huge risks. In every single profession, you have to be the best of the best to ensure a good salary... except in sports.

Kwame Brown was the first overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. He signed a three-year contract worth almost $12 million, including a fourth-year option worth $5.3 million.

Brown proved his worth by averaging 7.6 points per game. Consider it money well spent by the Wizards.

How are these kinds of stories supposed to encourage kids to work hard at anything besides dribbling, tackling or throwing a baseball? Bachelor's degrees mean nothing anymore in this market, but if you can run fast and possess some kind of athletic skill, you're laughing all the way to the bank.

I'll tell you one thing: I'm sure we all would have worked a little harder if we knew we could have cheated the system, avoided the recession and made $10,000 per jump shot.