FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[badgerwarhawk]

So the big topic of OAC posters is something AJ Raebel has to say.   That's really too, too funny.

[BoBo]

Just Bill - AJ Raebel submitted an opinion piece to the Royal Purple newspaper.  Someone posted the article in the OAC room. 

Most of you don't know this, but the link to that opinion from the Royal Purple was also posted on the WIAC page in the middle of the night Central time recently by a poster from a west region school (but not in the WIAC).  Say you missed it? Don't go back and try and find it because it's not there.  The reason is the poster shortly thereafter, in what he thought was a clandestine operation by the cover of darkness, quickly deleted it. I'm just guessing here, but I'm willing to bet he was totally freaking out and embarrassed that he might be exposed as a reader of the Royal Purple (yikes!!) and/or thought nobody had seen it, since as I said, it was the middle of the night in nearly all of the continental U.S. Well, I think many of you know I live on the other side of the planet, so it certainly wasn't the middle of the night here. I was online just about to leave my office when I read the snide, totally jacka$$ remarks. I was going to respond as soon as I got home - my office is less than a 5 minute walk from my home - but by the time I got there and turned on the computer, it had already been deleted. Smart move, bud, your secret is safe with me!!      

[wildcat11]

This story just keeps going and going.  I did go over to the OAC and read what AJ had to say.  What really caught my attention was this section:

"The truth is, with the high level of competition in WW, if you miss a lift, miss a film session, miss a practice... You are going to get chewed out and you aren't going to play. If you miss a class, miss an assignment, miss a test... you fail, but you don't have the teacher pull you into their office to scream at you for an hour."

I understand that the coaches are working as hard as they can to get their team ready to play but there has to be a better balance between the students education and their sport.  This just seems to run counter to the whole sprit of Division III athletics.

/waiting for rocks to be tossed at my head

[janesvilleflash]

No rocks. Having had 2 sons play in the wiac, one at WW, I can tell you it's all about time management. There is time to do both, but you have to plan it out. The coaches know that, and of course get pissed when told ""I didn't have time".

Of all the things my sons learned in college, planning their lives and scheduling  were among  the most important.

[Warhawk 96]

This story just keeps going and going.  I did go over to the OAC and read what AJ had to say.  What really caught my attention was this section:

"The truth is, with the high level of competition in WW, if you miss a lift, miss a film session, miss a practice... You are going to get chewed out and you aren't going to play. If you miss a class, miss an assignment, miss a test... you fail, but you don't have the teacher pull you into their office to scream at you for an hour."

I understand that the coaches are working as hard as they can to get their team ready to play but there has to be a better balance between the students education and their sport.  This just seems to run counter to the whole sprit of Division III athletics.

/waiting for rocks to be tossed at my head

I don't think that he's saying that student-athletes don't get reprimanded for not meeting academic expectations by the football team, he's saying that teachers don't do it so there's no one from that area of the university that cares enough to scold him and push him to be better. I do wish that I could have read that article though. I guess the phantom of the opera message board conveniently retreated back to the caverns he came from

[HScoach]

I was more worried (or freaked out) by AJ's statement about the team singing Garth Brooks songs together.

That's just plain strange.

[bulk19]

There's a big difference between the responsibilities the student-athletes have in and out of the class room...

You miss a class, an assignment or a test, you are only hurting yourself...

You miss a practice, a lift or a film session, you are hurting the team. Therefore, a coach has every reason to be critical of your committment and failures to meet up to the obligations you, as a player, have made to him and your fellow teammates by putting the pads on... In the best interest of the team, he should get on your case.

I don't think, however, that a professor should have to call a college student into the classroom to give him or her a chewing out when he or she is not meeting the class requirements or the grades... The personal individual responsibility one has in his/her own education increases as we go from kindergarten, to grade school, to high school, to finally, the secondary levels, where you are considered an adult... Professors aren't there to hold your hand; you need to seek them out. (Although the good ones find a way to motivate and get the students to seek their help...)

Academics should come first, and I think most coaches I know in the WIAC think this is so... But janesvilleflash hits it on the head - it is a matter of balancing your time... I think, however, most professors and coaches are flexible in dealing with scheduling conflicts...

OK.... that's my ramblings for the day...

[Mr. Ypsi]

There's a big difference between the responsibilities the student-athletes have in and out of the class room...

You miss a class, an assignment or a test, you are only hurting yourself...

You miss a practice, a lift or a film session, you are hurting the team. Therefore, a coach has every reason to be critical of your committment and failures to meet up to the obligations you, as a player, have made to him and your fellow teammates by putting the pads on... In the best interest of the team, he should get on your case.

I don't think, however, that a professor should have to call a college student into the classroom to give him or her a chewing out when he or she is not meeting the class requirements or the grades... The personal individual responsibility one has in his/her own education increases as we go from kindergarten, to grade school, to high school, to finally, the secondary levels, where you are considered an adult... Professors aren't there to hold your hand; you need to seek them out. (Although the good ones find a way to motivate and get the students to seek their help...)

Academics should come first, and I think most coaches I know in the WIAC think this is so... But janesvilleflash hits it on the head - it is a matter of balancing your time... I think, however, most professors and coaches are flexible in dealing with scheduling conflicts...

OK.... that's my ramblings for the day...

Good post, and quite true in terms of professors.  But coaches need to recognize that losing eligibility hurts the team even more than missing a practice or two.  This may be less of an issue in one-semester sports like football, but is potentially a major issue in a two-semester sport like basketball.  Even if it were not simply the right thing to do, coaches had better be concerned about academics!

[Warhawk 96]

I agree Bulk. I know that they way that I wrote my last post suggests otherwise but I don't think that any teacher should be obligated to get on the case of students who aren't doing the thing they need to be doing. They are supposed to be adults and handle themselves accordingly. This means manage your time so that you get your work done and make sure that you get to class and behave there.

With that being said, good coaches do take a greater interest in their STUDENT-athlete's success off the field because it shows that they care about the life that person will have once they hang their pads up for the last time. This is not a requirement, however, but it's something that they do above and beyond their regular duties to help their players succeed and they should be applauded for that.

[WLCALUM83]

News on several prep players headed the WIAC's direction:

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/preps/44944662.html

("Hale players moving on", toward the bottom).

[BoBo]

This story just keeps going and going. 

You think when a private school has a little brouhaha at their campus (and you know it happens), they can just sweep it under the rug or take it out in the evening trash without much fuss being made? I do. 

File this one under "obtained through a Wisconsin Open Records request." The Journal Sentinel reported last night & posted on JSOnline that documents showed Leipold faced possible stiffer punishments than were handed out. Also from the article, at least one upper UWW administration official support Leipold's action, for instance:

In an April 22 e-mail from Plinske to Leipold, Plinske wrote: "Randy Marnocha just called and said he banned the RP from working with him as well. Your decision is supported." Marnocha is vice chancellor for administrative affairs.

In regards to punishment:

In an e-mail from Plinske to Telfer, Plinske raised some possible penalties: "I'm 'talking out loud' here but need to consider: 1. Public reprimand. 2. Suspension with pay for remainder of spring conditioning. 3. Suspension from 1-3 games next fall. 4. Others? Sorry about all this."

Instead, a letter of reprimand was put in Leipold's file.

[OzJohnnie]

Just Bill - AJ Raebel submitted an opinion piece to the Royal Purple newspaper.  Someone posted the article in the OAC room. 

Most of you don't know this, but the link to that opinion from the Royal Purple was also posted on the WIAC page in the middle of the night Central time recently by a poster from a west region school (but not in the WIAC).  Say you missed it? Don't go back and try and find it because it's not there.  The reason is the poster shortly thereafter, in what he thought was a clandestine operation by the cover of darkness, quickly deleted it. I'm just guessing here, but I'm willing to bet he was totally freaking out and embarrassed that he might be exposed as a reader of the Royal Purple (yikes!!) and/or thought nobody had seen it, since as I said, it was the middle of the night in nearly all of the continental U.S. Well, I think many of you know I live on the other side of the planet, so it certainly wasn't the middle of the night here. I was online just about to leave my office when I read the snide, totally jacka$$ remarks. I was going to respond as soon as I got home - my office is less than a 5 minute walk from my home - but by the time I got there and turned on the computer, it had already been deleted. Smart move, bud, your secret is safe with me!!      

No secret to keep, Bobo.  I deleted it because someone let me know that AJ's dad posted here.  While it's fun to be snarky, particularly when I'm giving the WW a bit of stick, there's no reason to be personal.

After all, you all present so many easy targets that I can let one or two drift by.

[raiderguy]

There's a big difference between the responsibilities the student-athletes have in and out of the class room...

You miss a class, an assignment or a test, you are only hurting yourself...

You miss a practice, a lift or a film session, you are hurting the team. Therefore, a coach has every reason to be critical of your committment and failures to meet up to the obligations you, as a player, have made to him and your fellow teammates by putting the pads on... In the best interest of the team, he should get on your case.

Just a thought here.....it seems to me if you are ineligible academically you are going to hurt your team more than if you miss a film session or a lift. The coach should be on your a$$ for that first! After all your obligations are to attend class and graduate first.....Oh, and play football too if you can fit it into your schedule.

I recall years ago Robert Smith at Ohio State was the starting RB and was in Pre-Med. He was getting grief from some coaches because his labs were cutting into his pratices.....Solution, he quit the football team. He seemed to end up OK,  came back the next year and played, drafted and played many years in the NFL and got his degree.

[tmerton]

I recall years ago Robert Smith at Ohio State was the starting RB and was in Pre-Med. He was getting grief from some coaches because his labs were cutting into his pratices.....Solution, he quit the football team. He seemed to end up OK,  came back the next year and played, drafted and played many years in the NFL and got his degree.

I recall the recruiting battle over Smith and how he said from the start that he wanted to major in pre-med.  Schools like USC and tOSU fell all over themselves to show him their medical schools and all.  When he picked tOSU, though, I know I laughed up my sleeve.  They may have a nice medical school, but when push came to shove football wise, I fully expected the football coaches to do what you describe.  When I think of tOSU, I think of Andy Katzenmoyer and the class schedule they arranged for him to stay/get eligible - Golf 1, Music 140 and AIDS Awareness.

[raiderguy]

What? somebody didn't agree with my academics first slant and whacked my karma...

Anyway Tmerton if you review your statement about the "Big Kat" it must have worked,  I have not heard anything about Andy having "AIDS". So he probably went to class. He swings a mean "9" iron and he can kick a$$ in a game of "Name That Tune"...He is especially good with Garth Brooks songs. He gets those songs in less than three notes!

Now, let the smiting begin.