News Article: Alabama Has a Very Few Unhappy Former Players...

[PacificTide]

Good grief - one would expect better from one of the nations premier newspapers. The demise of the newspaper business is apparent in this article. Poorly researched, one sided blatant sensationalism, with a snide bigotry toward the south.

Typical New York pseudo-intellectual junk with all the Mr. honorifics thrown in to satisfy their elitist purview.

The article was no doubt instigated by the Big 10/Ivy League meritocracy that is in danger of dying or even better, being killed.

 

[Bama323]

No one ever mentions players like Rashad Johnson, Will Lowery, Tyrone King, Corey Reamer, etc. Let's look at these players for a second:

1) Rashad Johnson was a walk-on that earned a scholarship and ended up starting in Nick Saban's defense and making it to the NFL.

2) Will Lowery is a current player that is a walk-on that is making a major contribution to the team this year in the defensive backfield. Sure, he is not on scholarship, but I wouldn't be suprised if he earns one.

3) Tyrone King was a walk-on player that earned a scholarship from Saban even though he never started or played very often. He really only played some on special teams, and a little mop-up duty.

4) Then Corey Reamer, who was not only undersized but also had a major knee injury and some other injuries while at Alabama was kept on the team and was a major contributor during the past couple of years.

I'm sure there are plenty of others in the same category.

 

[Black Warrior]

Disappointed that the WSJ - a very fine paper to all you who hate the media - would run such a sorry piece.

Well, since Rupert Murcoch took over the WSJ there has been a grounswell of this kind of cheap journalism. They also have a right wing agenda that is founded in misinformation, but that's for another forum.

 

[GreatDanish]

Sensationalist...
Title "Alabama's Unhappy Castaways"

Quotations:

Player 1: "I'm still kind of bitter...It's a business,"
"College football is all about politics. And this is a loophole in the system."
"I wasn't playing significant minutes, but I was personally upset because I did anything coach asked, I was a team player, I had a 4.0 average," said Mr. Kirschman, who played in two career games, both in 2008, and is now working full time as a robot programmer at Mercedes.
Mr. Kirschman said the school offered in the summer of 2009 to pay for his graduate degree in business—an offer he accepted—and that he still gets some of the same perks as players. "I still get game tickets, which is nice," he says.

Mr. Kirschman said the decision to take the medical scholarship was ultimately his, and that he decided to do it to open up a scholarship for the good of the team. But he said he felt he was pressured. "It was pushed," he said. "It was instigated for several players."

Player 2: Said the choice was left entirely up to him and was based on the many conversations he had with the team's doctors and trainers over the course of his junior year.

Player 3: "I came back in the spring and I was OK."
He said that Mr. Saban floated the possibility of a medical scholarship and asked if Mr. Griffin was interested in student coaching.
Mr. Griffin said he doesn't contest the results of the physical and said it was "basically my decision" to forgo the rest of his playing career.
Mr. Griffin said he has agreed to take a job as a student coach. He added that he felt less angry about being pushed to take the medical scholarship—which frees up roster space for the team—than he did about not living up to his potential.
"I felt like I could have played," he said.


So, by "Unhappy Alabama Castaways", the authors really mean one guy who is admittedly bitter, and two other players who do not seem to express any kind of unhappiness, except perhaps at themselves.

 

[TexasBama]

If you gave some people a suitcase full of $100 bills, they'd complain its too heavy

 

[buzzincuzzin]

Perks? Do they get a ring along with free tichets,,, or just get to keep the co-eds they've collected?

 

[100%Crimson]

A FREE college education. Did I mention FREE? Give me a break!

 

[WishIwasInBama]

What I don't get is that in a roundabout way they article is saying Coach Saban is also influencing the medical staff to not clear they players involved. I am pretty sure the NCAA wouldn't buy off on these medical schollys without clearance from doctors and I just can't see a doctor risking his or her license just so Coach Saban can sign 2 more people in any given year. INMO this is far better than what the Ole Ball Coach did at USCe, when he came on board didn't he basically cut several players by not renewing their schollys?

 

[stlimprov]

If you actually read the article, what comes though is an understandable disappointment at not having been able to play. There's also a clear sense that some effort was made to look after the best interest of the student.

I can even get some disappointment that one was expecting coaches to push you to compete, and that it feels strange when they encourage you to push yourself other ways.

When you read the actual quotes, there's nothing to suggest that the staff was anything less that extremely honest with each individual.

Having been disappointed at how my quotes have appeared in news articles before, I'm not going to assume that I know how the individuals actually feel or what they intended to express. It is entirely possible that they were simply being honest and that when that got folded into something attempting to shade at the issue of the business of major college sports (which would have been much better articulated by giving examples from a number of institutions), it reads differently.

And there's the part of me that says "Yeah, go on being 'bitter' while you program robots for Mercedes. Why don't you go write a blues song about that?"

 

[MOAN]

This could be like the Andy Griffith show where Barney got interviewed by a pretty lady reporter and everything he said about Andy was spun to make Andy look bad even though they are best friends. Who knows what was really said or meant in the interview and twisted as well as what else was left out of the article?

Non issue in my opinion. No rules broken by Bama.

 

[REBELZED]

And there's the part of me that says "Yeah, go on being 'bitter' while you program robots for Mercedes. Why don't you go write a blues song about that?"

This was my exact thought. Boo freaking hoo. That FREE EDUCATION obviously netted you what is probably a 6 figure/year job and you're bitter about it? Pardon me if I don't show you any sympathy, Mr. K-whatever

 

[RTR91]

I can't find out where the Everson guy went to school, but Hannah Karp went to Northwestern for her undergrad. Another Big 10 person that is talking about this stuff.

I tell you what, if someone offered me a free ride along with perks, I would shut my mouth and not say a bad word about them.

 

[capnfrog]

Wonder if Mr. K. would like some cheese with that whine? Some folks would whine if they were being hung with a new rope.

 

[45longcolt]

I agree completely. If anyone is at fault here it is the NCAA. I mean, how stupid is it to only allow 85 scholarship players on a roster, but to allow each school to bring in 25 new players per year. If the NCAA wanted to cut this type of stuff out, they could simply let each school keep 100 players on scholarship (25 X 4) and and then only allow each school to bring in a max of 25 players a year. Voila, problem solved.

So if you have to put two players on medical scolly this year and maybe only one next year then you are down to 97 total players. Seeing as these are truly MEDICAL Scollys and not to clean the trash out so to speak where do the 3 players get made up from with only 25 per year. This could be a continuing problem as I see it, NO??

 

[TIDE-HSV]

So if you have to put two players on medical scolly this year and maybe only one next year then you are down to 97 total players. Seeing as these are truly MEDICAL Scollys and not to clean the trash out so to speak where do the 3 players get made up from with only 25 per year. This could be a continuing problem as I see it, NO??

Yep, it is a continuing problem. Usually, after a program like ours stabilizes - and we're not quite there yet (a Kirschman will not ever be signed again) - normally occurring attrition takes care of the situation. There are the medicals, frustration transfers and quitting FB, inappropriate behavior, etc...

 

[45longcolt]

Well, since Rupert Murcoch took over the WSJ there has been a grounswell of this kind of cheap journalism. They also have a right wing agenda that is founded in misinformation, but that's for another forum.

Is right wing agenda similar to the wing T? If not why do you insert it on a football forum??

 

[Bama323]

So if you have to put two players on medical scolly this year and maybe only one next year then you are down to 97 total players. Seeing as these are truly MEDICAL Scollys and not to clean the trash out so to speak where do the 3 players get made up from with only 25 per year. This could be a continuing problem as I see it, NO??

My main point was that the reason the rule is having the unintended consequences that it is, is because the rule as it is now makes no sense. If you allow teams to bring in 25 players or more each year, but you tell them they can't have over 85 on scholarship, that is just inviting a problem. They should go back to allowing 100 players to be on scholarship if they are going to allow teams to bring in 25 or more new recruits a year.

As to the issue you mention here, "where do the three players get made up from with only 25 a year?" One answer to that is that there are going to be some players that redshirt, so really you have 4 full classes, plus a few 5th year seniors. It wouldn't be a perfect scenario, but it would be better than what is in place now. You're always going to have players that quit, transfer, get hurt, get in trouble, etc. But, being 3 under the limit of 100 is alot better than being 3 under the limit of 85, or for that matter being OVER the limit of 85 like what happened at LSU and Miami this year.

 

[REBELZED]

Just had a guy in my office (UcheaT fan) come up to me and say, "Saw that article in the WSJ about forcing players to take medical scholarships" and he chuckled. I scoffed and he walked off. Went back up to him a few minutes later and started pointing out the author's sensationalizing of a non-issue brought up by a bitter former player and the co-worker goes, "Oh, I didn't read the article, I just saw the headline." :mad2:

Stuff like this can be damaging, no matter how untrue or twisted the article is. The days of unbiased/unslanted reporting are long gone...

 

[Dallas4Bama]

Stuff like this can be damaging, no matter how untrue or twisted the article is. The days of unbiased/unslanted reporting are long gone...

Yes, I'm surprised it wasn't held and released closer to signing day.

 

[TideEngineer08]

So, it's something else our rivals/jealous wannabe's can have to salve their wounds.

Ultimately, no rules are being broken. If they don't like it, change the rule. And it's not a loophole either. This stuff is written down in the rule books, plain for everyone to see. If the Big Ten doesn't like it, then they should change their policy or lead the charge to get the ncaa to change its rules.

As for the players, I can understand being bitter because of falling short on the football field, after being dominant players all their lives up until college. Whether that comes by just not being as talented as they thought they were, or by being hurt. However, IMO, these guys should be counting their blessings. The longer you play football, the greater the chance of lifetime physical hardship. These guys got to do what 1000s dream of - put on a crimson jersey and run out on the field in front of thousands of screaming fans. More than that, they got a free college education, something that costs others tens of thousands of dollars.

I'm sorry. Life isn't fair, but it seems these players actually caught a break.