Recruiting The Modern Big-time College Athlete

[jazzcyclist]

This story appeared in The New York Times back in December.

He said he saw everything from flat-screen televisions in Texas Coach Mack Brown’s bathrooms to L.S.U.’s recruiting hostesses sitting on the laps of prospects.

But the best summation of his experience might have come from a paper he wrote for his English class comparing Oklahoma and Texas. The paper, “Red River Rivals Recruit,” includes a description of a wild party hosted by Longhorns fans at an upscale hotel in Dallas after the Oklahoma-Texas game on Oct. 11.

“I will never forget the excitement amongst all participants,” McFarland wrote. “Alcohol was all you can drink, money was not an option. Girls were acting wild by taking off their tops, and pulling down their pants. Girls were also romancing each other. Some guys loved every minute of the freakiness some girls demonstrated. I have never attended a party of this magnitude.”

He continued: “The attitude of the people at the party was that everyone should drink or not come to the party. Drugs were prevalent with no price attached.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/26/sport ... ted=1&_r=1

[bad hammy]

And the problem is????

:wink:

[jazzcyclist]

And the problem is????

:wink:

None that I know of. 8-)

[jhc68]

Why does this stuff not surprise me? And why are we surprised when DI student-athletes get arrested for major crimes? And why are we surprised when an NFL star accidently shots himself in a club in the middle of the night?

I know a guy who attended Marshall. When I learned this I said, "Oh, that's where Randy Moss went to school." He replied, " Well.... it's where he played football!"

[jazzcyclist]

Why does this stuff not surprise me? And why are we surprised when DI student-athletes get arrested for major crimes? And why are we surprised when an NFL star accidently shots himself in a club in the middle of the night?

I know a guy who attended Marshall. When I learned this I said, "Oh, that's where Randy Moss went to school." He replied, " Well.... it's where he played football!"

. . . . after he got run off from Notre Dame and Florida State. That's right, Bobby Bowden couldn't tolerate him. Of course Bowden is one of my all-time favorite coaches when it comes to story telling and one-liners. My favorite quote by him is:

If character mattered, then Army and Navy would play for the national championship every year.

[gh]

And none of this is remotely new, of course. As the old line went in the early '50s, the biggest problem Hugh McElhenny had to face when he went from the University of Washington to the NFL was the cut in pay.

[Kevin Richardson]

Girls were "romancing" one another??? This guy has a way with words!

[eldrick]

i was thinking exactly the same thing

i find it difficult to envisage 2 gals presenting flowers & chocolates to each other & then sitting down to sip champagne & slip oysters down at a white-linen covered, candle-lit table in the middle of all this commotion ?!

[Dietmar239]

Who really cares? Although, OU got a darn good guy out of the deal. There are a few videos floating out there on the internet of his performances and he is top notch. Boomer Sooner!

[Marlow]

i find it difficult to envisage 2 gals presenting flowers & chocolates to each other & then sitting down to sip champagne & slip oysters down at a white-linen covered, candle-lit table in the middle of all this commotion ?!

Oh . . . so thaaaat's what 'romancing' means??!! No wonder my wife is the only woman who has ever looked twice at me (and I'm pretty sure she needs glasses). :shock:

I did, however, write her a love poem once:

Collards is green, my dog's name is Blue
And I'm so lucky to have a sweet thang like you.
Yore hair is like corn silk a-flapping in the breeze.
Softer than Blue's and without all them fleas.

You move like the bass, which excite me in May.
You ain't got no scales but I luv you anyway.
Yo're as satisfy'n as okry jist a-fry'n in the pan.
Yo're as fragrant as "snuff" right out of the can.

You have some'a yore teeth, for which I am proud;
I hold my head high when we're in a crowd.
On special occasions, when you shave under yore arms,
Well, I'm in hawg heaven, and awed by yore charms.

Still them fellers at work, they all want to know,
What I did to deserve such a purdy, young doe.
Like a good roll of duct tape, yo're there fer yore man,
To patch up life's troubles and fix what you can.

Yo're as cute as a junebug a-buzzin' overhead.
You ain't mean like those far ants I found in my bed.
Cut from the best cloth like a plaid flannel shirt,
You spark up my life more than a fresh load of dirt.

When you hold me real tight like a padded gunrack,
My life is complete; Ain't nuttin' I lack.
Yore complexion, it's perfection, like the best vinyl sidin'.
Despite all the years, yore age, it keeps hidin'.

Me 'n' you's like a Moon Pie with a RC cold drank,
We go together like a skunk goes with stank.
Some men, they buy chocolate for Valentine's Day;
They git it at Wal-Mart, it's romantic that way.

Some men git roses on that special day
From the cooler at Kroger. That's impressive," I say.
Some men buy fine diamonds from a flea market booth.
"Diamonds are forever," they explain, suave and couth.

But for this man, honey, these won't do.
Cause yor'e too special, you sweet thang you.
I got you a gift, without taste nor odor,
More useful than diamonds......IT'S A NEW TROLL'N MOTOR!!

[Dietmar239]

I think I just threw up a little bit...in my mouth.

[Texas]

Still too much talent coming out of small schools for this recruiting situation to be too precise, regardless of how it's done.

[Kevin Richardson]

How is that applicable to the situation described above? Good talent will come from all sorts of places, but the way that many schools recruit is based on who they consider the "hot property" of the moment.

[Texas]

How is that applicable to the situation described above? Good talent will come from all sorts of places, but the way that many schools recruit is based on who they consider the "hot property" of the moment.

The point was that many high schoolers who see little attention from the Florida's/USC's etc , usually end up at some MAC/WAC/Mountain West school and many times out performing those.."hot property"..athletes, when it's all said and done. LaDanian Tomlinson to mention just one.

[bijanc]

Big Blue Chip

This is the best article I have ever read on the phenomena:

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ ... /index.htm