OT Abdullah Speech at Big Ten Kickoff

[Drew]

Received a standing ovation (although from people who were there apparently Urban Meyer didn't pay much attention to the speech, looking at his phone the whole time and not standing at the end) which was started by Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald. It's really refreshing to hear someone, let alone an All-American caliber student athlete- stand up and speak to the value that these kids are receiving in an education. http://www.snappytv.com/landing/b1g-network?s=269412

 

[zls44]

The education is valuable, but isn't anywhere near enough of what the players deserve for all the cash their exploits earn the schools.

 

[UCHuskies08]

The education is valuable, but isn't anywhere near enough of what the players deserve for all the cash their exploits earn the schools.

How much profit did the NW football program turn last year?

 

[SubbaBub]

How much profit did the NW football program turn last year?

If you only count the cost directly associated with fielding a team and staging the games, I'd imagine quite a bit.

If you count all the other places and AD spends FB revenue, not so much.

 

[Drew]

One of the things that is never spoken about regarding this topic is the amount of athletes who get into these schools who have absolutely no business getting in based off of their academic record alone. UNC came to my brother's high school and the representative for them told the class that you have around a 5% chance of getting in if you have under a 3.9 highschool GPA. And yet the athletes they get in there don't even read at a 5th grade level. If they want to get paid and stuff fine but let them get into these schools on their own merrit and see what happens... all of a sudden the D1AA and HBCUs of the world will be fielding first class football teams.

 

[SubbaBub]

One of the things that is never spoken about regarding this topic is the amount of athletes who get into these schools who have absolutely no business getting in based off of their academic record alone. UNC came to my brother's high school and the representative for them told the class that you have around a 5% chance of getting in if you have under a 3.9 highschool GPA. And yet the athletes they get in there don't even read at a 5th grade level. If they want to get paid and stuff fine but let them get into these schools on their own merrit and see what happens... all of a sudden the D1AA and HBCUs of the world will be fielding first class football teams.

I've never been bothered by admissions standards for athletes. The college experience is about more than just chemistry test scores. I've always believed athletics, intramural, club, and varsity were an important part of that experience. I went to a small school full of ridiculously smart people and that was still the case. So much so, that dealing with the average Joe's back in the real world seemed a bit foreign. Same for the drinking speed at happy hours, but that's another story.

Some of the athletes were equally as brilliant, while other athletes were in the business school (we didn't have a basket weaving dept), but no one cared. As long as they can, and, do the work, I have no issue with letting them in any more than I would a top violinist for the music dept. We didn't have one of those either.

 

[uconnfan68]

One of the things that is never spoken about regarding this topic is the amount of athletes who get into these schools who have absolutely no business getting in based off of their academic record alone. UNC came to my brother's high school and the representative for them told the class that you have around a 5% chance of getting in if you have under a 3.9 highschool GPA. And yet the athletes they get in there don't even read at a 5th grade level. If they want to get paid and stuff fine but let them get into these schools on their own merrit and see what happens... all of a sudden the D1AA and HBCUs of the world will be fielding first class football teams.

And no one would be watching them either.

 

[ZooCougar]

I've never been bothered by admissions standards for athletes. The college experience is about more than just chemistry test scores. I've always believed athletics, intramural, club, and varsity were an important part of that experience. I went to a small school full of ridiculously smart people and that was still the case. So much so, that dealing with the average Joe's back in the real world seemed a bit foreign. Same for the drinking speed at happy hours, but that's another story.

Some of the athletes were equally as brilliant, while other athletes were in the business school (we didn't have a basket weaving dept), but no one cared. As long as they can, and, do the work, I have no issue with letting them in any more than I would a top violinist for the music dept. We didn't have one of those either.

It's one thing to have a below media SAT or GPA when compared to the rest of the student body, but it's another thing altogether when a recruit can barely read. I think that was what he was referring to.

 

[BlueMAB]

One of the things that is never spoken about regarding this topic is the amount of athletes who get into these schools who have absolutely no business getting in based off of their academic record alone. UNC came to my brother's high school and the representative for them told the class that you have around a 5% chance of getting in if you have under a 3.9 highschool GPA. And yet the athletes they get in there don't even read at a 5th grade level. If they want to get paid and stuff fine but let them get into these schools on their own merrit and see what happens... all of a sudden the D1AA and HBCUs of the world will be fielding first class football teams.

Oh look, a triple threat guy. Irony, stereotypes, and bigotry combined in one brief post.

 

[Drew]

Oh look, a triple threat guy. Irony, stereotypes, and bigotry combined in one brief post.

Stereotypes? Read the articles about whats going on at UNC. I'm not joking when I say people are being admitted to the school who read at or below a 5th grade reading level. If you want to sit here and act like everyone playing college sports has the educational background necessary to attend a top university in the entire country and be academically competitive on their own then I'm not even going to waste my time conversing with you about the topic.

Elite athletes can often get pushed through the system at school while growing up because they need to stay eligible and people think they're helping them. The kids that have this happen to them are then sent of to play x sport(usually basketball or football) at x school and it continues. Students writing papers for them, tutors overstepping boundaries, etc. I'm a student at UConn and I have taken multiple classes with athletes (as recently as last year with two on the football team and three on the track team, although I will not disclose their names for identity sake but one of the football players was a starter last year and will start this year and the other has since transferred but started/played regularly last year) and the while the track guys were smart and mostly in class, the football guys were NEVER in class. I received a text before every single test/assignment from the one who has since transferred asking me if I had completed the work necessary yet and asking what was due. After exams we would compare grades and I was often left to wonder how both of these students were still eligible to participate in football due to the lack of success they were finding academically, yet both were out there every Saturday playing for the Huskies.

Pointing out what seems to be a growing issue in college football/basketball doesn't make me a "hater" or a "racist" or a "bigot". I posted this because it is an interesting topic to discuss. The mission of college athletics seems to be changing from a way to educate kids while they're playing a sport at your university to complte ignorance of what using your scholarship for real academic enrichment and achievement can lead to down the road in exchange for immediate reward. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.

 

[BlueMAB]

You accuse me of saying something I didn't. Build a straw man only to tell me you aren't gonna bother discussing it and then waste a ton of time babbling about anecdotal cases.

You picked on athletes as if all of then are stupid. You picked on HBCU's as if they don't have academic standards for any students much less athletes. And you had a few spelling and grammatical errors while mocking the intelligence of others.

Irony, stereotypes and bigotry.

 

[whaler11]

The HBCUs are all FCS anyway so it's a bit of a duplication. /in before the lock

 

[Drew]

You accuse me of saying something I didn't. Build a straw man only to tell me you aren't gonna bother discussing it and then waste a ton of time babbling about anecdotal cases.

You picked on athletes as if all of then are stupid. You picked on HBCU's as if they don't have academic standards for any students much less athletes. And you had a few spelling and grammatical errors while mocking the intelligence of others.

Irony, stereotypes and bigotry.

the "anecdotal cases" you speak of is actually one (first hand) case of it happening at the University of Connecticut. I didn't pick on all athletes. I stated what is merely true, that there are athletes that get into schools that they really don't have any business getting into just based off of their academic accomplishments alone.

I never said HBCU's don't have academic standards, all I implied was that they are lower than most of the schools that these kids are playing football at, which is true. Look at this chart, which shows the admission standards of 60 HBCUs from 2014: https://sites.google.com/site/mcpshbcufair/financial-aid

How do you think these admission standards compare to the standards for regular students at schools like UNC, Duke, Stanford, Texas, Cal, USC, UCLA, etc?

Pac 12: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/sat/a/pac-10-sat-scores.htm
Big 12: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/sat/a/big-12-sat-scores.htm
Big 10: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/sat/a/big-ten-sat-scores.htm
ACC: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/sat/a/atlantic-coast-conference-sat-scores.htm
SEC: http://collegeapps.about.com/od/sat/a/southeastern-conference-sat-scores.htm

6 out of the 15 institutions that served APR bans the same year UConn did were HBCU's. Again I never said these Universities don't have standards I'm merely saying that there are other universities that have lower standards that would be able to accept these athletes if they had to get into a school on their own. It is immeasurable the amount you can change someone's life by giving them admittance to one of several FBS schools that have strict academic requirements. The quality of the education, the alumni, the career offices, etc. You can't put a value on that stuff. It is up to the athlete to take advantage of the opportunity that they are given at said University.

Mods I have no problem if you would like to delete this thread. It has swayed drastically from the original topic and was not intended for this purpose.

 

[BlueMAB]

"One of the things that is never spoken about regarding this topic is the amount of athletes who get into these schools who have absolutely no business getting in based off of their academic record alone...

..And yet the athletes they get in there don't even read at a 5th grade level.

...all of a sudden the D1AA and HBCUs of the world will be fielding first class football teams."


I suppose there are no "traditional" colleges with white athletes reading at a 5th grade level.

Is that what you meant to say? Probably not, but you should really choose how you make a point more carefully, because if it has nothing to do with race, then it has nothing to do with HSBCUs. Lowering standards to allow for certain athletes to gain admission isn't unique to any sport at any level.

Athletic ability and talent, count toward one's merit. Community service requires little more than free time and selflessness, but it matters in the college admission process. The ability to run a 4.5, throw a baseball 90 mph, or shoot 45% from 3 point range matters too. Those are skills, or talents, and they are valuable. Valuable to the student-athlete and the school.

I'm not arguing schools should be allowing kids to read at a 5th grade level, but those kids were done a disservice from the time they left elementary school. The problem isn't colleges admitting athletes reading at a 5th grade level. The problem is middle and high schools continuing to push those kids through the system knowing they shouldn't be. Because for every athlete we hear about who has no business in college, I bet there are 10-20 who are no better off academically, but weren't good enough to get a pass through to college.

 

[NickyNewark]

The education is valuable, but isn't anywhere near enough of what the players deserve for all the cash their exploits earn the schools.

I think its gotten to be too much....OOH and any further I'll just stick with my Jints and go back to following Ivy League and HS FB IMHO!! Too many no revenue sports depend on the 2 moneymakers and not every school makes money.

 

[ZooCougar]

This thread is a miss because we're missing a chance to bash Pope Urban.