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- Please no inappropriate usernames (remember that there may be youngsters in the room)
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- 3/17/19 UPDATE -- We've updated the permissions for our "Football" and "Commit to the G" recruiting message boards. We aim to be the best free board out there and that has not changed. We do now ask that all of you good people register as a member of our forum in order to see the sugar that is falling from our skies, so to speak.
Comments
This drives me crazy. Supposedly grown people stalking a teenager on social media and then have the gall to post hateful stuff at them as soon as they tweet something which they disagree. It's sick.
I am pretty aware of the pressure, and don't feel that I am at all ignorant on that subject. I will admit that I take that knowledge for granted, and sometimes overlook the intensity of it at times. So I will commit to consider it more often and with more thought. With all that said, I don't think its the point of the discussion, as HUGE as it is.
It's tremendous.
It can crush you.
It can also create diamonds.
Yep. Having coached every one of my son's football teams up until he went to HS, then watched him play HS for 4 years, and then walk on to a DII program his freshman year of college...I know as a dad firsthand the stresses and pressures of playing competitive football. No other sport is even close. It can often be overwhelming.
Exactly. Imagine if that was your teenager.
I think it's kind of a stretch to say a kid quitting a sports team is an immoral act. That is placing WAAAYYYYY too much social and moral importance on a game. Sports are not life. Yes, there are some correlations and valuable life lessons in sports...but it is not life. Life is life. Family is life. The pursuit of happiness is life. Keeping sports fans satisfied is not life.
If a player destroys his knees in the next game and never plays football again, are you going to pay him a salary for keeping you entertained? Are you (the fans) going to offer him a job, visit him in the hospital, give him a ride to the physical therapist? No. The fans will forget about him and will be on to the next player.
Those are all legitimate reasons that fall within mental health, physical health, education, overall happiness, etc.
No kid is transferring simply because they’re not getting PT. Not getting PT can affect other things that might lead them to transfer. You won’t be able to find an example where there’s only one factor at play and that factor is something as slight as not getting PT.
No student goes to a University or into a season with the intention of transferring/opting out in the middle of it. There will always be other things at play and it’s a tough, personal decision. There will always be multiple **** good reasons and middle-aged men critiquing a decision where they know so little of what went into said decision is silly, regardless of whether your painting with broad strokes or speaking of specific instances.
And if we’re being honest, offering up your dissenting opinion on a personal decision that does not affect you and that you know nothing about all the while taking the moral high ground is egotistical, and therefore selfish.
He's putting himself and family before Miss. St. football. Makes sense to me. And what does lying to your neighbor have to do with a kid opting out of playing 5 more college games? No need to make this out like the kid is immoral. You can opt out of a handful of games and still have a great moral compass.
All I can offer then, since you think my motives are "egotistical and selfish," which they aren't - at all - is the fact that I have worked in athletics for over two decades and seen many - MANY - athletes walk away from college sports because they were not getting enough PT (and several for other reasons I named). You don't have to believe it, but it's true so I don't mind posting it.
Are you saying that everyone in this entire thread who disagrees with your take - who didn't vote red on this poll - who dissents from your opinion is also egotistical and selfish? Is it possible that you could be wrong on this? You don't seem to be willing to budge, to admit that myself and others may have some good points.
I am not sure why we can't have a discussion about the merits of both sides. But, you have that right, and I am sorry you see it this way. You know, it is possible that we both are right on several levels of this, and its possible that we could have both learn from each other if the conversation didn't break down and made to be personal. If you don't immediately make up your mind about the other person in a conversation - if you don't write them off, you may learn something. I try to listen and learn from people all the time who are different than me, who think different than I do.
You are just wrong, and ignorant (as in you just don't know enough about this) when it comes to why some kids walk away from college sports. I know a lot of kids who walked away. Some of their motives are very immature and selfish, and they would have been better off to stay. And several did so mid-season. And, you are right - some had much less selfish reasons for leaving.
And I mentor a lot of kids when it comes to these types of decisions, so claiming that "middle-aged men like me who comment on this thread is silly" is also an ignorant statement. This is part of what I do for a living.
By the way, egotism and selfishness can be mutually exclusive. I am egotistical all the time.
For instance...
Every point you have made about this shows that you are far too removed from these situations to make the baseless claims that you are making. I am in the middle of all these things all the time - and have been for years and years. I just know more about this than you do - I know the long-term ramifications of these decisions and I have seen many of these stories play out. Many of the points you have made are RIGHT about A FEW of the situations. But you are very wrong about others. And I wish you had a greater perspective of ALL the possibilities here.
I am sorry to point that out. But you have kind of made our back and forth have to come to an end. And if you don't want to listen to experienced reason, it probably should.
Too long.
Who? What kids? You have a lot of anecdotes. Not a lot of anecdotal evidence. I have as much, if not more, familiarity with this than you. You can spew of a few more paragraphs of how you know so much about this, but you’ve yet to provide a single solid example.
Also, the conversation was about kids opting out midseason. You moved the goalposts. It was never about them outright quitting college athletics. That’s a different discussion.
Lastly, I made a sarcastic comment that you took offense to. I was not even responding to you when I made it. It offended you however, you then made it personal, and I think you’re the only one taking it personally.
Goodnight.
That's what the wife said....
...after not having a haircut for 5 months during covid.....
Please re-read my posts. LOL. Never said lying had anything to do with Mr. Hill. That wasn’t even the point.
Please re-read my posts. The operative words and phrases are, “microcosm” and a “reflection of larger societal problem.” One last time—the original premise of this post was that Mr. Hill was quitting mid season to prepare for the NFL—not quitting for family or COVID or anything else.
Does it matter? What's the difference? The kid has a shot at making a ton of money in the job market and doesn't feel playing a bunch of meaningless games at Miss St. is in his best interest. I suspect having a brand new coach (who is doing a horrendous job right now) might have something to do with it. My son's senior year 5 starting seniors quit the team because the coach was such an abusive a-hole. And he truly was. The parents despised him as well because he was such an obnoxious jerk. Football is a voluntary activity. Nobody is obligated to play if they don't want to.
Just because we love football doesn't mean people shouldn't make the best decision for themselves.