Semi OT: Florida Gators and the law
I thought this article about Urban Meyer's tenure at Florida is pretty interesting, as his teams have had a total of 30 players arrested for a variety of crimes, some minor and some rather substantial. That works out to 59 wins and 30 arrests, a staggering number in light of the fact that the dominant story the past 3-4 years is how the Tebow-led Gators are America's Team and Meyer is a great guy who runs a solid program. By comparison, the author points out that by comparison, Miami U had the one Robert Marve incident and that is it.
To an extent, you have to expect some brushes with the law when you are dealing with 100+ college-aged men, not even taking into account the nature of football football and the deification the players receive at most schools. But at the same time, 30 arrests across a broad spectrum of offenses, including stalking, drunk driving, and larceny, probably represents more than youthful indiscretions. Plus, we are only talking about actual arrests, not the various incidents that go unreported.
I find it funny that UM has been dragged through the mud for the whole Practicegate and a couple of miscues (i.e. Feagin, Cissoko) while Florida has largely remained above reproach by most in the media. Some of that is undoubtedly due to their dominance on the field, but I also think it points to the power of Tebow, who became the wholesome face of the program and shielded it from scrutiny.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:37 PM ^
If you aren't cheating or recruiting thugs, you aren't trying
September 15th, 2010 at 10:49 PM ^
Or losing to Jacksonville State.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^
I found it absolutely astounding that it took the NCAA so damn long to catch up with what was common knowledge to the average football fan. However, as you say, when you're the premier program over a certain period, all the media wants to speak of in regard to such a program is their wins and player performance. I remember reading an article, possibly in SI, just a few years ago, that was so extreme in its praise of Carroll and what he had built in L.A. It was rather sickening reading it and knowing what was actually going on behind the scenes.
'And instate, the media plays the blind monkey to the goings on in EL, which probably is running neck and neck with Fl for most players arrested in a 3 year period, but all they want to do is pound on UM because in their minds, RR does not fit their image of what the head coach at Michigan should look and speak like. It simply befuddles the hell out of me they could actually praise Dantonio for the job he's done in EL and write about that program like it's the equivalent of Fl, AL, OSU, et. al., when it's no more than it's always been, a middle-of -the road Big X team.
Well UM has always been held to higher standards than that particular school, so I guess I can handle the trade-off. It appears like we're poised to take back our rightful place in the state and in the pecking order in the conference. When that's a reality, the same members of the media who've attempted to jump to the front of the line in their outlandish behavior will be the same people attempting to get an exclusive. I know part of coaching has to do with media relations. However, in this case I'd handle it just like Bo would have, and I guess we can all guess and probably agree on how that would have gone down.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:39 PM ^
That Tebow died for their sins and trangressions.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:55 PM ^
You'll notice OT threads get deleted during the season. They are not allowed. Just so you know.
September 16th, 2010 at 8:23 AM ^
Thanks for the check. I looked at the MGoBoard and did not see the link, but must have missed it in the Sticky.
My understanding is that Way OT posts get deleted during the year, but semi-OT articles like those about college football may remain. As noted in the FAQ, they are a grey area.
September 15th, 2010 at 10:58 PM ^
Winning cures all, as you hinted at in your last sentance. Realize almost nothing has been writting about the "problems" with our program over the last 2 weeks, except for the usual out of Drew Sharp.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:00 PM ^
Winning Solves everything, why do you think MSU gets a pass for beating engineers and girls. oh wait.... why do they get a pass?
September 15th, 2010 at 11:27 PM ^
Nerds having a potluck deserve a beating.
/Dantonio
September 15th, 2010 at 11:05 PM ^
They've also had a large number of transfers (like 3-4 this season). I'm not sure if that's related to the criminal activity.
September 15th, 2010 at 11:32 PM ^
But, trust me, most successful coaches want to help boys become men and men become responsible. There's no reason to sound a chorus of clucked tongues that Meyer doesn't care. He cares. He tries. You watch him, you know that much.
This is absolutely true, and the best coaches feel they can mold even the roughest young men. Many of the best players come from those backgrounds, so recruiting the best players sometimes results in legal problems.
Also, this same thread was deleted earlier.