Imrem: What a different sports world if there were a real draft

A golf fan might have wondered the past couple of months what sports would be like if Patrick Kane and other athletes were in Sangmoon Bae's situation.

It could be called Bae's "predicament" if Kane's current legal problems didn't better define "predicament."

So we'll stick with "situation" for Bae, who just played in the BMW Championship.

The South Korean pro soon will have to leave life on the PGA Tour for life in service of his country, reducing his income from $2 million this year to $130 per month.

Men from ages 18 to 35 are drafted into South Korea's military. Being one of his country's international faces doesn't exempt Bae.

Which brings us back to Patrick Kane.

What if the United States had a military draft again like it did as recently as 1973?

Well, not exactly like that one, where you could be exempt for reasons from being in college to having a trick knee to so on and to so forth.

During the Vietnam era, very few world-class professional athletes went to war. Many exploited influence to get into the reserves.

Listening to the GOP presidential debates, candidates advocate rebuilding the United States Armed Forces, which presumably would require more manpower.

So maybe it isn't far-fetched to believe that the military draft could be reinstituted sometime sooner than later.

The loopholes might be closed, too. Everybody would be responsible for serving his country for a couple of years, if not in the military then in some sort of public service.

The U.S. Army would draft healthy young athletes like Patrick Kane. Under the South Korean system, Jay Cutler would have to go, too.

Wouldn't it be interesting to see how Cutler's smirk and attitude toward coaches would play in the Army and with gritty noncommissioned officers?

Sports would start looking more like they did during World War II, when countless premier athletes went off to combat.

Doing so might make Kane a better man. It might make him a worse man. For sure it would make him a different man.

Like a sports team, it takes all kinds to populate an army.

Kane might be sent off to war or to teach generals how to skate. There's no telling how being away would impact him and his career.

Let's not limit this discussion to Patrick Kane.

The entire sports landscape would be altered if the U.S. instituted a draft one/draft all system to stock the military.

Just think if every young man - we'll restrict the discussion to males here - had to sacrifice a couple of years of his career for his country the way Sangmoon Bae soon will.

Much of the continuity that teams in every sport strive for would be interrupted.

The Cubs' plan might have to deal with Kris Bryant enjoying the rookie season he's having and then having to patrol the Middle East instead of Wrigley Field.

Then again, imagine the cheers around Chicago if an elderly gent in red, white and blue pointed his finger at the entire Bears' defense and said "Uncle Sam wants you!"

Of course, as Americans we wouldn't feel very safe then.

The military likely would reject Derrick Rose's knees, but he'd still have to spend two years of his basketball prime in some other capacity.

If Kane beat the current allegations hanging over him, he would be forced to serve his country and perhaps mature a little away from hockey.

Heck, maybe Patrick Kane would even cross paths with Sangmoon Bae up around the DMZ dividing South Korea and North Korea.

mimrem@dailyherald.com