OT: Bowling Green kicker earns scholarship by nailing a 53 yarder in practice
This kind of story makes college sports so special. You see the camaraderie of a building team and it has to do not with hitting a game winner but securing funding for a student's education and an investment in his career. Great feel good story, worth a read.
http://www.espn.com/sportsnation/story/_/id/20370965/bowling-green-kick…
August 18th, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^
what if he missed?
August 18th, 2017 at 8:31 AM ^
Death
August 18th, 2017 at 9:01 AM ^
What better way to simulate a high pressure game situation in practice than to put that much money on the line?
August 18th, 2017 at 9:03 AM ^
I have to imagine he would have gotten it anyway.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^
I would hope not. If you're going to put pressure on the kid with a bet, follow through on that bet either way. Give him another shot in a week, or two, but make good on the bet that was agreed to.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:38 AM ^
welp, no scholarship for you... have a nice day!
August 18th, 2017 at 9:41 AM ^
Forced transfer to Michigan State.
August 18th, 2017 at 8:28 AM ^
Talk about meritocracy...
August 18th, 2017 at 11:12 AM ^
Must admit the man bun kind of curbs my enthusiasm, but good on ya' kid!
August 18th, 2017 at 8:28 AM ^
Awesome. Hopefully that leg carries them past sparty! Team was really fired up!
August 18th, 2017 at 9:04 AM ^
LOL can you imagine if MSU loses their first game? Hopefully we don't have to imagine. Hopefully it actually happens.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:18 AM ^
But they will lose to my Broncos 33-27 week 2. TAKE THAT FOR DATA! Bogan and Franklin gonna run all day on them.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:21 AM ^
Falcon gets to smoke a MSU LB in this one
August 18th, 2017 at 9:46 AM ^
I wish MSU would have played WMU in 2016.
Sadly I think MSU has enough talent on their OL with LJ Scott to beat MAC teams in a close game.
August 18th, 2017 at 10:11 AM ^
Well, if it does, I suppose it is a good thing that you could probably impose the "Defeated With Dignity" headline on pretty much any picture to tell how they might see a loss, even one to BGSU, a team that even a severely hamstrung and downtrodden Spartan squad should theoretically be able to kick around.....but perhaps not now....we shall see, I suppose.
August 18th, 2017 at 8:41 AM ^
It's a good thing the head coach didn't jinx him.
August 18th, 2017 at 8:44 AM ^
A better coach would have called a timeout to freeze the kid. Really let him think about what was at stake ... .
(Good for the kicker - pretty clutch.)
August 18th, 2017 at 9:23 AM ^
With the last name Jinks, this is the only way to test the kicker.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
Dude, it's Bowling Green - they're "better coach" was Brady Hoke...
August 18th, 2017 at 9:35 AM ^
Did you confuse BG with Ball State?
August 18th, 2017 at 9:36 AM ^
If by "Bowling Green" you mean "Ball State" I understand the comment. Otherwise, it's flying over my head.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:58 AM ^
Meh... Bowling Green, Ball State, they're, thier, there... Whatever. I'll drop an 'oopsy' here, take my negs like a man, and move along.
August 18th, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^
You mean, Bowlingg Reen, Balls Tate, theyr'e, their, theer right?
August 18th, 2017 at 8:47 AM ^
This was completely staged. Or he had some attempts prior that were not filmed.
I would think if a coach actually did this, and said "Make or no scholarship," that's pretty shitty.
Awesome for the young man to get the scholarship, but there was definitely some hollywooding to this.
August 18th, 2017 at 8:55 AM ^
You're overthinking it. Its sounds from the article like, yes, the kid had already earned his scholarship in the coach's eyes based on his body of work, but he had a hot foot in practice that day so the coach decided to have some fun with it. The reaction from the teammates seems genuine and not staged. Also, lol at the player who jumped and tried to block the kick (dick...lol).
August 18th, 2017 at 9:00 AM ^
A couple of times. It is not even remotely hinted that he's already earned the scholarship.
"The Bowling Green kicker was having such a strong day at practice recently, according to Yahoo! Sports, that coach Mike Jinks put him on the spot -- on the spur of the moment -- and challenged him to make a 53-yard field goal with a full scholarship on the line."
August 18th, 2017 at 9:25 AM ^
You need to read between the lines and appreciate that there's a certain psychology involved in coaching young men that includes motivating them, rewarding them, and forming bonds among teammates.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:27 AM ^
Sorry.
If he already knows that he's earned a scholarship, what's the point of all this? Wouldn't you feel kinda weird if you had it and then the coach said, "Hey, by the way, go kick this 52 yarder on film, one shot, or you can't play here on a full ride"?
I appreciate the fact he probably earned the scholarship through hard practice and good work with his team, so those bonds were already formed.
Again, very happy for the young man. He's getting to do something I never did. But you won't sell me that this isn't staged, because it is.
August 18th, 2017 at 10:02 AM ^
but the coach did. When the coach saw the kid was hot in practice, the coach might have thought of a clever way to make the kicker think he earned it which boosted that kids confidence, built some team comradery, etc.
August 18th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^
Risky way to handle this.
Could you imagine how horribly deflated he would be if that curled just a bit more to the left? After all that build up, people cheering, etc... Yeah, being told AFTER that, "Don't worry, you still got it" would be helpful, but the immediate impact of that miss would be a freaking gut punch.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:12 AM ^
AyZiggy!
August 18th, 2017 at 9:22 AM ^
With this, is the kid is wearing a bun on the top of his head.
August 18th, 2017 at 9:30 AM ^
and good for that kid, that was as much of a pressure situation as he's going to face.
August 18th, 2017 at 11:46 AM ^
You never know with that Thursday night MACtion!!
August 18th, 2017 at 12:53 PM ^
that kick deserves a Husky high five!
August 18th, 2017 at 11:47 AM ^
Unfalconbelievable!
August 18th, 2017 at 6:49 PM ^
The decision to offer scholarship was already made. But as a former kicker, that added pressure sure makes a difference. Gotta feel good for the kid!
August 19th, 2017 at 2:00 AM ^
its too bad the NCAA is making him close his youtube account now