As a student, I’m not the biggest fan of football players’ attitudes. This kind of “us versus the world” bullshit, and acting like they’ve somehow been terribly victimized. Let’s put this into context: they get to attend a world class institution for FREE, and in the case of some of them, have the potential to make multi-million dollar contracts playing a game. A game that’s entertaining to watch? Yes. But in the end it is a game.
Now, I don’t personally boo. I just find it difficult to take a football player seriously when they go on about the “anguish” they have to endure. Somehow, I don’t have too much sympathy for them. Not when there are people here paying OOS tuition without parental support in order to get a job in an ailing economy, without the slightest hope of ever earning a fraction of what some of these athletes have the potential of making.
I know there is about a 100% chance I get down voted for this. Also, at least one person will respond saying that I can’t possibly know what it’s like having to balance student responsibilities with their athletic responsibilities. But again, they’re getting paid for it, and have the privilege of attending a university that many of them wouldn’t have been able to get into otherwise.
And for that person out there who believes “Then stop attending games. We won’t miss you” is a clever and snappy response, you’ve misunderstood. I will continue to attend games, and enjoy the team and sport. I will continue to think that people who boo are misguided. I just happen to believe that it’s a bit difficult to take extremely privileged people seriously when they complain.
Hmmmm…. No one pays too much attention to what seat they’re assigned to in the student section. I sit (stand) in the student section in the same general vicinity as where the guy with the cowbell typically is, but I’ve never been in the same seat twice. There is a significant amount of interaction between the band and the students, which is nice, and the atmosphere is far better than any other sport I’ve been to. Student attendance has also consistently gone up game to game.
Just went through the college application process last year. The vast majority of my essays were written the night before the final deadline. Fun times.
Edit: This sounded less "Cool Story, Bro" in my head.
Hmmm. I was veeeerrryyyy close to jumping up on my soapbox to rant about the reputation of the school, the future of UM athletics, AIDS in Africa, or whatever other topic occurred to me in response to the decidedly negative response I’ve received for my two posts. Then I realized that A) noone would listen/care, B) we’re all UM fans here who are just trying to get through another brutal offseason, and C) if I continue this way I’ll be shunned from this blog.
All I meant to say is that I’d like to see him kick ass on the field before he does so in a press release. That way there’s less fodder for Sparty/Buckeye fans. Unfortunately, my comment just wasn’t gung-ho enough for a fan blog. Ho-hum.
Hoke just seems especially vocal about it. I’m a fan of Hoke, and believe his is an improvement over the last regime. It’s precisely for this reason that I don’t want his credibility undermined. Realistically, our odds are less than ideal at the moment. One would think therefore that he’d keep his head down a bit. Again, I appreciate the enthusiasm. I just think it’s a bit premature.
Optimism is great, but failing to produce will lose him credibility in the eyes of potential recruits. I really don’t want Hoke to turn into the coach that cried Big Ten Championship.
It seems like a lot of people are undervaluing the ACC. Academically, with BC, Duke, UVA, UNC, GT, and Wake Forest they are the strongest conference in the FBS (sorry, B1G), they are consistently good at basketball, and they have a couple solid football teams in Clemson, FSU, Miami, and VT. The notion that the SEC can just come in and cherry pick whichever teams they would like from the conference speaks to the immense influence the SEC exerts within college football. In a perfect world, we get ND, UT, and OU just so we maintain some semblance of balance of power. Obviously no chance of this though.
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As a student, I’m not the biggest fan of football players’ attitudes. This kind of “us versus the world” bullshit, and acting like they’ve somehow been terribly victimized. Let’s put this into context: they get to attend a world class institution for FREE, and in the case of some of them, have the potential to make multi-million dollar contracts playing a game. A game that’s entertaining to watch? Yes. But in the end it is a game.
Now, I don’t personally boo. I just find it difficult to take a football player seriously when they go on about the “anguish” they have to endure. Somehow, I don’t have too much sympathy for them. Not when there are people here paying OOS tuition without parental support in order to get a job in an ailing economy, without the slightest hope of ever earning a fraction of what some of these athletes have the potential of making.
I know there is about a 100% chance I get down voted for this. Also, at least one person will respond saying that I can’t possibly know what it’s like having to balance student responsibilities with their athletic responsibilities. But again, they’re getting paid for it, and have the privilege of attending a university that many of them wouldn’t have been able to get into otherwise.
And for that person out there who believes “Then stop attending games. We won’t miss you” is a clever and snappy response, you’ve misunderstood. I will continue to attend games, and enjoy the team and sport. I will continue to think that people who boo are misguided. I just happen to believe that it’s a bit difficult to take extremely privileged people seriously when they complain.
Nevermind
Hmmmm…. No one pays too much attention to what seat they’re assigned to in the student section. I sit (stand) in the student section in the same general vicinity as where the guy with the cowbell typically is, but I’ve never been in the same seat twice. There is a significant amount of interaction between the band and the students, which is nice, and the atmosphere is far better than any other sport I’ve been to. Student attendance has also consistently gone up game to game.
Just went through the college application process last year. The vast majority of my essays were written the night before the final deadline. Fun times.
Edit: This sounded less "Cool Story, Bro" in my head.
My god. It reads like an Onion article.
Brutal in that it’s time spent not watching football. Recruiting has been great. I promise I didn’t mean anything negative by it.
Hmmm. I was veeeerrryyyy close to jumping up on my soapbox to rant about the reputation of the school, the future of UM athletics, AIDS in Africa, or whatever other topic occurred to me in response to the decidedly negative response I’ve received for my two posts. Then I realized that A) noone would listen/care, B) we’re all UM fans here who are just trying to get through another brutal offseason, and C) if I continue this way I’ll be shunned from this blog.
All I meant to say is that I’d like to see him kick ass on the field before he does so in a press release. That way there’s less fodder for Sparty/Buckeye fans. Unfortunately, my comment just wasn’t gung-ho enough for a fan blog. Ho-hum.
Hoke just seems especially vocal about it. I’m a fan of Hoke, and believe his is an improvement over the last regime. It’s precisely for this reason that I don’t want his credibility undermined. Realistically, our odds are less than ideal at the moment. One would think therefore that he’d keep his head down a bit. Again, I appreciate the enthusiasm. I just think it’s a bit premature.
Optimism is great, but failing to produce will lose him credibility in the eyes of potential recruits. I really don’t want Hoke to turn into the coach that cried Big Ten Championship.
Wait…. is the term frowned upon? I’m from the South, but I’m moving up to UM this upcoming term for school.
...This is what I got.
No, no. That’s on purpose. It’s symbolic of the fact that the big house is the summation of years of history and tradition.
It seems like a lot of people are undervaluing the ACC. Academically, with BC, Duke, UVA, UNC, GT, and Wake Forest they are the strongest conference in the FBS (sorry, B1G), they are consistently good at basketball, and they have a couple solid football teams in Clemson, FSU, Miami, and VT. The notion that the SEC can just come in and cherry pick whichever teams they would like from the conference speaks to the immense influence the SEC exerts within college football. In a perfect world, we get ND, UT, and OU just so we maintain some semblance of balance of power. Obviously no chance of this though.