FB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[TC]

Doesn't anyone find this policy of having the athletes bring their ID card to the weight room a really dumb policy?  Athletes have physicals/insurance information/emergency contacts on file with the athletic department.  To make them hand over their ID like the rest of the student population is redundant and pointless.  This was definitely not the way to go about challenging the policy, but the policy should be changed. 

yea, in the athletic department's file...not at the front entrance to the gym which some freshman is working... B/C it's so hard to show your ID as you walk through a door   Just like every university that I'm aware of does. The policy couldn't be simpler or more straight forward

The policy is straight foward, but it doesn't use common sense.  Is that so much to ask?

compared to using common sence of just flashing a piece of plastic....yes.

and if you forgot your little piece of plastic, does that make a recognizable athlete into a complete stranger? 

Leave it to AO to so completely and totally miss the forest for the trees that he ends up making a fool of himself in the matter of 3 short posts.  Well played.

AO, Northwestern has an enrollment of under 2,000 of the most sheltered college students in the industrialized world, UW-W's enrollment is nearly 9,000.  If even you can't recognize why your don't-you-know-who-I-am? policy that might work at Northwestern wouldn't fly at Whitewater, I just don't know what to say.




As a St. John's fan, I'm not exactly losing sleep about this happening to one of my, ahem, "less favorite" teams, but I'll do my best to not pile on.  The thing that I think is most amazing isn't that this display of student-athlete entitlement and coach jackassery happened on a college campus, it's that it happened on one of our idyllic, we-put-the-'student'-in-student-athlete, D3 schools.  The fact that a coach would take himself seriously enough to even consider acting this way towards another campus group shows both the expectations of the football program at UW-W, as well as the privileges that meeting those expectations seem to have provided Leipold and his players.

I tried to imagine John Gagliardi handling the same situation in the same way at St. John's and it is just laughable.  I thought about what I know about the cultures at other D3 schools I've been to and, even as much as I hate St. Thomas, I just couldn't picture this happening anywhere else (well, except for maybe Mount Union), simply because of the inanity of the football coach big-timing the student newspaper and publicly bashing the soccer coach.  Really?  That just happened?

As others have mentioned, with a little decent PR work, none of this ever leaves campus.  Heck, I never would have heard about it if it weren't on Deadspin.  But it's likely that within a month or two everyone will have forgotten about it and Leipold can go back to winning a pile of football games however he chooses.

[TC]

Do the football players in Wisconsin walk around campus with their helmets on?  There's at least a 98% certainty the worker at the desk recognized the players.  let the kids use some discretion.   it's really not complicated.

Do you think that creating one set of rules for the football team and another, more restrictive, set of rules for the rest of the student body might create a environment where the football players might have an inflated sense of entitlement?  Isn't that sorta the underlying problem that caused this whole issue?

[Mr. Ypsi]

Doesn't anyone find this policy of having the athletes bring their ID card to the weight room a really dumb policy?  Athletes have physicals/insurance information/emergency contacts on file with the athletic department.  To make them hand over their ID like the rest of the student population is redundant and pointless.  This was definitely not the way to go about challenging the policy, but the policy should be changed. 

yea, in the athletic department's file...not at the front entrance to the gym which some freshman is working... B/C it's so hard to show your ID as you walk through a door   Just like every university that I'm aware of does. The policy couldn't be simpler or more straight forward

The policy is straight foward, but it doesn't use common sense.  Is that so much to ask?

compared to using common sence of just flashing a piece of plastic....yes.

and if you forgot your little piece of plastic, does that make a recognizable athlete into a complete stranger? 

Leave it to AO to so completely and totally miss the forest for the trees that he ends up making a fool of himself in the matter of 3 short posts.  Well played.

AO, Northwestern has an enrollment of under 2,000 of the most sheltered college students in the industrialized world, UW-W's enrollment is nearly 9,000.  If even you can't recognize why your don't-you-know-who-I-am? policy that might work at Northwestern wouldn't fly at Whitewater, I just don't know what to say.




As a St. John's fan, I'm not exactly losing sleep about this happening to one of my, ahem, "less favorite" teams, but I'll do my best to not pile on.  The thing that I think is most amazing isn't that this display of student-athlete entitlement and coach jackassery happened on a college campus, it's that it happened on one of our idyllic, we-put-the-'student'-in-student-athlete, D3 schools.  The fact that a coach would take himself seriously enough to even consider acting this way towards another campus group shows both the expectations of the football program at UW-W, as well as the privileges that meeting those expectations seem to have provided Leipold and his players.

I tried to imagine John Gagliardi handling the same situation in the same way at St. John's and it is just laughable.  I thought about what I know about the cultures at other D3 schools I've been to and, even as much as I hate St. Thomas, I just couldn't picture this happening anywhere else (well, except for maybe Mount Union), simply because of the inanity of the football coach big-timing the student newspaper and publicly bashing the soccer coach.  Really?  That just happened?

As others have mentioned, with a little decent PR work, none of this ever leaves campus.  Heck, I never would have heard about it if it weren't on Deadspin.  But it's likely that within a month or two everyone will have forgotten about it and Leipold can go back to winning a pile of football games however he chooses.

Nicely said, except for the gratuitous shot at Mount Union.  I have no ties to them (I'm an IWU/CCIW guy), but from what I've heard an outburst like this would be every bit as inconceivable for Larry Kehres as for John Gagliardi.

[TC]

Nicely said, except for the gratuitous shot at Mount Union.  I have no ties to them (I'm an IWU/CCIW guy), but from what I've heard an outburst like this would be every bit as inconceivable for Larry Kehres as for John Gagliardi.

You are probably correct, and I probably shouldn't have even brought MUC into the conversation.

I was basing that off of conversations I've had with some recent alums regarding the god-like status Kehres has acheived in the greater Alliance community rubbing some people the wrong way and the display by Kehres' coaching son at the Stagg Bowl a few years ago, but smoke does not always equal fire.

[Goo 62]

TC all this bashing of UWW it sounds like you have some hatred for UWW.  Maybe that is because nobody talks about your Johnnies anymore.  Lets face it the party is over at St. Johns.  Except for your attendance of course. 
That is like getting the sportsmanship award instead of being on the all star team in little league.

Tons of great coaches have made mistakes in the press.  Just like Leipold did.  Im sure everyone will move on and UWW will be a top team in D3 football with or without the Royal Purple at the games.

[BoBo]

Along with the liability I'm sure that many students bring in valuables (wallets, backpacks, ipods, etc) into the weight room so I'm sure the university wants to make sure that only UWW students are in the weight room to avoid theft.  

wc11, avoiding theft is an important matter wherever people assemble, whether it's a 9,000 student public university or a small private college. However, avoiding theft isn't one of the primary reason university officials want to make sure only students utilize university programs, services,and facilities except during open, public events. Being a student doesn't make them immune to theft. The reason you show your student ID is that students are paying for the privilege of using university programs, services, and facilities through student fees charged to them, obviously, non-students do not pay these charges. If you and I decided to enter the local commercial health club w/o a membership pass -they would likely throw our a$$ out on the street a lot easier & with no fuss than the work study student at the entrance to the weight room. And with one more big difference - a local newspaper writer probably wouldn't be staking out that local establishment and writing about it the next day. 

[Pat Coleman]

If the cops were called, though ...

[stealth]

I take some time off posting and the whole D3 world has gone crazy over a id card incident and a human being saying something maybe a bit out of character Even Oxy a-hole has graced the WIAC with his holier than tho presence. Good thing this wasn't a real big sports story like a  towel snapping in the locker room or a missing ladies swim cap. If this "reporter" has any aspirations of anything other than the RP in sports reporting or even editorializng the Dennys menu he/she/them better get a set. Could you imagine how the poor little feelings would be hurt if it was
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPx327SbBQ0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YKxf3OkpJc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xokthY5zuPU

[BoBo]

When it rains, it pours.  The trials and tribulations of being a football coach in Wisconsin continue.  When will it ever end? 

[Just Bill]

I thought the ugliest part of the whole thing was LL's uncalled for cheap shot at an athletic department colleague and the sport he coaches.  I just can't imagine the coach of one sport disparaging another sport for a punch line.

[Warhawk 96]

TC, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. In case you've forgotten, Whitewater is a suitcase college meaning that about half of the people that attend Whitewater (4,500) are commuters. A commuter is a person that doesn't reside on campus and travels to classes whenever they need to btw. Also, the people who most frequent the weight room are athletes and if it takes you more than 8 months to recognize a face you see four days out of the week, you're an idiot. The school year is almost over with so I doubt it's an issue of being a poor little freshman who didn't know anybody. That's a crock and a half.

The point AO made about cutting someone some slack if you've seen him regularly working out with a team and you know everyone on the team is required to purchase a membership, is a valid one and you should be able to use some discretion. Horrible way of trying to change a bureaucratic policy though.

Whitewater is not New York City, you see the same people everywhere and the people who frequent the same buildings (like athletes and gym workers) tend to recognize each other. With that being said, the person at the desk either had a pay review coming up and it was his last chance to get that raise to 6.80 an hour or they had an ax to grind.

[TC]

W96, Pat makes a good point:

If the cops were called, though ...

Knowing that, I doubt the exchange went like this:

Dictatorial Student Worker:  Identification, please.

Oppressed Student-Athlete:  Oh, gosh, I appear to have forgotten it in my dorm room and/or off campus housing.  Since I use your facilities regularly and know you personally through our numerous shared personal, social and education endeavors would it be acceptable if I enter, just this once, without my identification?

Dictatorial Student Worker, thinking to himself:  Hmmm, he is in here every day, we are in numerous campus clubs and activities, classes, and study groups together, and we did share a dorm room for most of our sophomore year.  On the other hand, I DO have a performance review coming up...

Dictatorial Student Worker:  **** it, I'm calling the cops.

If your take-away from the entire situation is that you don't think football players should have to show identification when they want to use the weight room, well, I guess I don't know what to say.

[TC]

I'm offended that you would think these were my best shots.

And yes, a St. John's football player left the team and the school a couple years ago after being charged with criminal sexual conduct.  I know that a lot of people here were disappointed that it happened, but I don't remember anyone here or anywhere else arguing that the criminal sexual conduct laws needed to be changed because he was good at running with a football or that the only reason he got caught was because a police officer happened to be getting a cat out of a tree at the same bonfire. 

I can't remember if he took any shots at the soccer team on his way out.

[Pat Coleman]

We're famous for that kind of thing - I was just reading the story in  USAToday.com about M*A*S*H and the award the show received recently. I loved the show then and still do today, but isn't it ironic that a 3 year conflict took 11 years to present on tv?  That's our style. 

How many half-hour shows does it take to add up to three years?

Doesn't matter where the cop was when he/she was called. A cop had to come to the scene before the person would show his ID. I stand by my point -- and perhaps you missed that this was my actual point in your rush to criticize -- that in the outside world, if a police officer was called, there's a greater chance it would end up in the news.

[Just Bill]

How many half-hour shows does it take to add up to three years?

52,560.  Unless of course, you factor in that a half-hour episode is really only 23 minutes with commercials. Then it's 68,556.