Freep: Ron English Sells Single Moms Short
I didn't know what to expect when I saw this headline....Suffice to say, it's weird, idiotic and funny at the same time.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100808/HSS1201/8080506/
August 8th, 2010 at 12:59 PM ^
Just when I thought the negative nancy train had slowed to less than 50 mph..
I slightly get the sentiment, and Im guessing it was taken out of context but this doesnt look good...
....no matter how un pc it is. Having a male figure in one's life is as important as having a female one. The sad part is that too many guys are neglecting their responsibility as a father. And I would think Ron knows what he is talking about as he's coached scores of kids from all backgrounds.
But, I think Ron should have self censored his opinion on the matter as it will only garner bad press for him.
I give English props for actually addressing real issues, though, I agree that he went about it the wrong way.
"For a woman, it ain't easy trying to raise a man." - Tupac Amaru Shakur
August 8th, 2010 at 10:55 PM ^
If it really isn't P.C. to say that, on average, two parent households parent their kid(s) more successfully than one parent households, then: America fail.
Ron may want to put the interviews on hold until he wins a few games
Or you know...maybe 1 game
in general, it is better to keep my mouth shut and let people think I'm dumb than to open it and prove it.
just because a kid doesn't have a dad doesn't mean he doesn't have an uncle or a grandfather who can teach him how to be a man
Or a high school coach.
I was going with actual family members. I know certain situations where coaches have adopted one of their players to give them a chance in life, but outside of those special situations family members will have more access to a young man than a football coach will
The Waterboy turned out OK.
The president turned out alright.
This is the Freep grasping for straws. They are in trouble.
Ron English probably shouldn't have said this. While there may be some truth to it, it's just not a smart thing for a head coach of a college football team to say. Too many people will take it too negatively for it to serve as any benefit to him or his team.
With that said, the integrity of the freep is still in question in this case. Whether or not they actually "tried" to get in contact with English to explain what was most likely taken out of context, they didn't eventually get in contact with him and there is no doubt in my mind that this writer was already prepared to slam English because controversy sells papers, or more realistically, gets page views. In the end, this is simply a slander piece that will be effective in its goal because it's appropriate enough for people to care (because Eastern Michigan is local enough for people to take issue with it) but it's still Eastern Michigan football, and not many people will defend English because not enough people actually care. Chalk this up to another reason why I try to avoid the freep.
Its career suicide for English to say this. He's making a broad sweeping generalization of young men who are raised by their single mother. I understand way so many Detroit high school coaches are upset he said this, and may not encourage their players to listen to English if he recruits them.
English is making no friends at Eastern. The players last season hated him. The players parents hate him. English made players call out other players in post game meetings. English asked a player to "Name me 3 players that you feel didn't give it their all today" in front of the entire team. Thats not what I call building a team atmosphere.
Not clicking the link - what exactly did he say?
Not clicking on the link, but I'm willing to bet that the article repeatedly referred to English as "former UM defensive coordinator" and not as "EMU head coach."
It didn't mention the University of Michigan at all.
I don't believe it.
no-follow print link:
http://www.freep.com/PRINT/article/20100808/HSS1201/8080506/
for misleading headlines?
Ron's quote was not moronic or ill thought out in my opinion. "
Ron did not say that the kids were raised wrong, he did not say that mom was bad, did not say mom didn't do a good job. read what he said. I take from what he said these kids get shaken or will not accept hard tough critisim from a man
The truth of the matter is these coaches are older guys speaking from their experience as raised in a "Father less home" I myself was raised by a single mother but she and most of her generation were different than many of the young women of today. My son and daughter in law are both teachers and the stories they bring home about the parents behavior is astounding, especially when the kid underachieves because the parents do not take time and effort to discipline correctly or help out with studies. some from two parent homes but mostly from single mothers who are sometimes as young as 10-15 years older than the child.
.
Just a couple years ago some on this board were excited that RE was taking over as DC because of his firey no non sense approach. There a lot of kids that don't do well with that type of pressure.
If you don't like what RE said you would probably like to tune out or really hate Bill Cosby for his comments particularly. just one man's opinion
People need to stop being so damn sensitive.
but OTOH, I'd rather have no father figure than an abusive one, and sometimes that's the case.
And RE had nothing to gain from saying that, I wonder what the interviewer could have possibly asked to get that response.
English has to know better than to say something like this. Fatherlessness(if that's a word) is a huge problem in this country. Mom's go to heroic lengths to raise their kids but kids need dads too. However, this is not the way to address the topic. Ron English would be better off addressing the topic by commiting publicly to be a strong male influence to as many players as possible.
.... this sort of mistake is going to give Dantonio just the opening he's been looking for.
August 8th, 2010 at 10:18 PM ^
team were raised in single-family households, oftener by moms. Of course it's better for a kid to have a stable upbringing, strong role models nearby. But does English want to cut himself out of a quarter to a third of all potential recruits? Not a helpful move.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:03 AM ^
I don't think I'll rest easy until I know for sure what I am supposed to think of this story, courtesy of Mr. Drew Sharp. Mick McCabe just doesn't satisfy my need to really know what to make of the social complexity buried in a story like this one.
Drew Sharp? Drew Sharp? Sharp? Bueller?