Baylor Rape Scandal
Why, oh why, do our football fellas have to taint the entire system? Why can't we just have clean games, clean recruiting, and behave like the gentlemen your mama's thought they were raising? Does anybody out there have a brain?
Of course, these "hostess" girls are chosen for their looks, personality, and wooing skills! So who I ask, is really at fault here?
Many of these boys are away from home for the first time in their lives visiting college campuses with out a parent around. What do you, Mister Head Coach expect?
It's really a no brainier.
Folks, if you send your son on a recruiting trip, I can assure you he is not always chaperoned 24 hrs a day. In fact, they are usually teamed up with a kid (program's team member) who may have the same position, or come from the same state, or with some other common interest as your son, with the soul purpose of getting him interested enough in the extra curricular activities to commit on the spot. The team members are assigned to show recruits the city sights, given pocket change to boot, and return to campus or the hotel just in time for Sunday's fireside chat with the head coach.
Hey, Mister Head Coach, if ya don't want sexual stuff like rape to happen on your watch, then create a more upright atmosphere! Honestly, my youngest son was honey-dripped-on more than my oldest son was. Simply I believe, because of timing issues. Heck when Bryson visited Tulane the trips were purdy much done. He slipped in on the very last weekend. But, I also believe these days, the honey-dos are most predominantly in programs that are in acute need of talent. They are leveraging any and all assets to get recruits to sign.
What a shame. And shame on you, Mister Head Coaches!! Shame on you for trying to cover it up. Rape is NOT okay! Never.
Friday, February 3, 2017
Monday, April 20, 2015
Let’s Redefine a Win?
Because sometime, you’re gonna lose at something~
I pounded the integrity drum loudly, lately. Scandals in college and NFL took center stage. Players
behaving more like thugs then men of honor—much less, those guys in question outta
be more thankful than a pig in sunshine, blessed with talent and health to play
beyond high school is a privilege!
Programs crumble brick by brick, because various accusations surface like sharks searching for their next meal. Cheating violations continue plaguing programs, which then leads to sanctions.
Even worse, programs covering for coaches that should have been banned from being
around any boys at any time. Black eyes of all kinds
brought-on from top executives down to water boys have tinged our most beloved
game of football. Is it any wonder why I am so passionate to keep the sport
pure as possible?
Football in its purest sense is about teamwork, discipline,
self-sacrifice, hard work, and sportsmanship. By definition, the game is
supposed to teach a boy how to become a man. However, the reverse is oftentimes
too true. Football can also morph a man back into an immature, juvenile boy who
makes bad choices. That my friends, is sad!
Sad or not, the good news is, we can champion winners! Now, the above
paragraph does not mention any scoreboard stats. No win columns or digit
markers. Maybe a win is simply
showing up. Maybe a win is gauged by
ones character. Maybe a win is baking
cookies and sharing them with a neighbor. Maybe a win has more to do with what is on the inside of a person than what is recorded for all to see and admire.
I believe at the core of every person lays a barometer, the measure of ones thoughts and actions. Often egocentricity is at the heart of ones infractions. Oh, that ego
fella is one bad boy! Pride runs a close second. Certainly
most sports, football or otherwise, could never teach or coach selfishness, their
scoreboards would most surely reflect losses. When did our culture become so self-centered? Yet, we see it time after time,
and especially in sports. What’s up with that? I guess because the media picks
up on almost every move a team makes and the players who make wrong choices.
The juicier the better.
Here’s an interesting story. One reflecting the purest sense of what it
means to be an unselfish coach. For the record, I haven’t the foggiest clue
about the game of lacrosse, but I can spot a guy that we can all learn from who
possesses exceptional standards. This man holds more moral heart than anyone
I’ve met or read about in recent years. His loyalties, honesty, honor, and by
golly, his integrity reaches new heights. Or, maybe I should say, are at his core.
Mike Pressler redefined a win. His integrity tools put him back on top and
he continues to turn down zillions of bucks to stay right where he is. How many
coaches across this great land of ours can say that?? It all goes back to doing
the right thing even when no one else is.
I hope Coach Pressler’s story spreads new hope to all coaches who may have
to take a good look inside. Checking the ego-dip-stick may open old wounds, but
better to make some character adjustments and tap your gauge now, instead of
waiting for when your own feet hit the fire. I hope all those involved with
sports will take a deep heart-check and redefine their own wins. I sure am.
Look, no one wins every time. However, what you do or don’t do, and how
you react to certain situations should be a predetermined decision in your
life. It’s what you do during the feet-fires that set the true winners apart. I
may need a good foot-washin’ myself.
Redefining a win isn’t always easy. Sometimes, it involves the smallest of
things, checking the ego-dip-stick occasionally, and making appropriate
adjustments. We can all Champion Winners right where we are. Embrace the small
stuff, God is watching. We really do reap what we sow.
Friday, January 23, 2015
Lessons Learned from Football Transcend other Traditional Education except, an audible from your mama!
If the NFL had the oversight of
the NCAA,
the New England Patriots wouldn't be in the pickle they are in right
now. The NCAA can spot a cheater from three footballs fields away! They are
sticklers for clean games. I am beginning to believe the movie, “The Longest
Yard” is more or less the truer way of how the NFL-ers conduct business.
The real sadness of the situation
is the kids. The youth players who look up to these guys with such admiration,
that it’s rather sickening the way these guys have so carelessly handled the
hero-status to their young fans. Honestly, that’s the real tragedy. Too many NFL-ers
are on to their houses, cars, model girlfriends or the next form of material possession
and forget they previously had dreams of making it on Sundays and what that
felt like. No doubt, the players of today once held their NFL heroes as high as
the Georgia pines ever grow around here! However, that appears faded from so
many players memory.
There are a few guys who really
care about the character they put out there and do an awfully lot of good
things for lot of folks. They contribute in their communities and help others unselfishly
and it is so refreshing to see or hear about. Thanks guys. Big thanks to those NFL-ers!
Is the lesson of doing the right thing even when no one is
looking ever going to get through? In the end, it always comes out and its
worse than had the incident not been committed in the first place! Thing with
the Patriot’s however, is all the previously poisoned apples. When your barrel
has some stinky apples in it, and you've been accused of cheating before, it
doesn't make your case of innocence's very convincing. Even the hint of
cheating on plays in games or other issues with this team puts them in a
precarious position.
The NFL has taken big hits this
year, black eyes everywhere, take that however you want. My question is this;
are ya ever goin’ to get it guys? Can anyone learn a lesson from other mistakes?
Good heavens. This is not rocket science!
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Looking for Leadership
Leadership is always king in football, and it doesn't take genius to figure out what teams are blessed with true leadership coaches and those who are not. It's evident the minute the team steps onto the field, if you know what to look for, that is. Dave Ramsey sums-up leadership lessons based on some purdy famous football coaches in his blog. This is worth a look-see.
http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/5-leadership-lessons-from-football-coaches
Ramsey lays it out with a little history from these winning coaches and it's all good stuff. I've experienced football as a fan and a mom, obliviously not as a player or a coach, but if you are a mom/parent then you have a special position all your own. Like it or not, you are coaching your own team and it is up to you to lead the way.
For insistence, in my last post, "Raising Jocks or Men of Honor" I rather scolded the grown fellers/players in to acting like somebody and stop all this craziness of ill behavior. I also strongly encouraged them to get in church.
Here is what I used to tell my own two when they were in high school, played football, could drive and make choices as to who they hung out with and so on.
1. You choose your friends, don't let your friends chose you.
2. Nothing good ever happens after midnight.
3. You can stay out as long as you want on Saturday nights, but your butt will be up for church and Sunday school the next morning.
They knew what to expect and how it would go down. We had a game-plan and it was up to them to execute. It was up to me to hold them accountable. Very simple.
Of course there were times of drama, times when I wanted to pinch their little cheeks red, times when holding it together I grabbed the glue and times I simply cried out to the Lord. The key is consistency. Like football, the players who are there time and time again, executing their assignments, making a way to make the play, are well coached with leadership at the helm, those are the teams who most likely win games, seasons, and championships.
I believe there is no other game like the game of football to teach life lessons and the gift of leadership. As I've said many times, football is so much more than what happens on the hundred yard expanse. I am always looking for those moms/parents with the gift of leadership. If you look real hard within your heart and seek The King of All Kings, you'll find your own gift of leadership. Kids really want moms/parents of leadership. Heck, they have enough peers.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Are we raising jocks or men of honor?
Gretchen Carlson just
aired the 911 tape of a couple who were terrified by an apparent road-raged
Rob Bironas just moments before crashing his car and consequently losing his
life.
Football used to be the game of champions, true champions, loaded with men of character and integrity. Football, the game, is supposed to teach a boy how to become a man. A man who just might think of his teammates before himself, translated--a man of honor in life off the field. Once were teams formed consisting of young fellas/men who would form camaraderie among each other and steer a teammate on the path of righteous before it was too late. Granted, at the end of the day, there are tons of choices.
As of late however, with all the discrepancies, even starting a few years back with perhaps the biggest, blackest eye in all of college football, the Penn State scandals, I am losing hope. Hope in even the most innocents of my beloved game. The All American game--Football. There is no other game on God's green earth like football, there just isn't.
Am I dreaming? Did all this shady stuff exist years ago? And guys, especially you NFL-ers and college players, listen to your mama, the low-rent actions some of you are publicly demonstrating "IS" Shady with a capital S! Oh come on, you know better! I don't give a hoot-n-holler how you were raised, you really do know better no matter what or where you came from!! Stop taking the purest of sports into the gutter with all your nonsense and shenanigans!! Straighten up, y'all and fly right!
The first thing you could do if you were a young fella/man of character is go to church and stop whining about it! Get your tail up and take your family or a buddy to church. The worst that could happen is God will forgive you. He is all about new beginnings and He'll meet you right where you are.
You can call me the church lady if you want too, but I speak truth and from my heart. Guys, get after it, and get on with it, righteous living, that is. We remember the inspirational stories off the field so much more than who won the super bowl in 1972. Put hope back in America and back in the most wonderful game on earth called, football!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
So, it’s okay to hit women?
After all, you’re a big
time college football player. You have your fellow student body bowing at your
feet in adoration, you can do anything you want and get by with it. Right? Sad,
but true on so many levels.
I would like to think
that back in the day when Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown were synonymous with the
NFL and Bear Bryant was a rising star college coach, this stuff wasn’t happing.
Even so, I cannot say that for a fact. A lot things were hidden and hush-hush
with media as only a fly on the wall in a few locker rooms, quickly to be
swatted and squashed if the reporting wasn’t to the liking of team mangers.
Football back then
however, was a gentlemen’s game. Oh I’d say the game it’s self was tougher, sure
it was! They weren’t worried about concussions or broken bones and relied on
pure guts and grit on the gridiron. I mean the guys of the game had character off the field. They displayed a sense of
responsibility to put forth good examples for the up and comers—the young
fellas who looked-up to these guys. Our culture was certainly less violent.
So much for all the
equality for woman. I’m not too sure poor Gloria Steinem, did anything to help
the girls! Women are so much more exploited now a days than ever before. Sex
trafficking, sensual ads, babies born before marriage, or no marriage or no daddy’s
present and so on. We raise funds for battered woman’s shelters, implement 800
hot line numbers and the leading cause of injury to woman is domestic violence.
Do we really consider this equality for women?
Obliviously, the
recent news of UGA defensive lineman player, Jonathan Taylor prompted this post
with several other college players throughout the nation on the line for such
behavior as well. Come on guys, seriously? Aren’t you football guys getting
enough hits on the field? What the heck are you doing?
Coaches, maybe you
should take a good hard look at your recruiting methods. Wouldn’t you rather
have maybe a 3 star player who will give you everything he’s got, including his
off the field character? Instead of maybe the 4 star recruit, who can outplay
the 3 star, but questionable off the field? You are not stupid; this stuff
shows up long before signing day. Is it worth a scholarship to take a chance on
his maybe not so great nature that in the end, will cost you?
This particular kid
had been jailed before without repercussions from the Georgia coaching staff. He
still played last year. Tell me that was a bright move. Now UGA is out a
D-lineman and in a much tougher spot than if this had been dealt with last year.
Coaches, we all know
who the player’s daddies are. YOU! Step up, make the hard choices, lower the boom,
and be that dad who instructs his kids leading them to a life of Character. Someday,
Football will be over for every player. Then what?
Monday, April 7, 2014
Players Needs or unNecessary Roughness?
Northwestern
University and the NCAA must prove that football players are NOT “employees” as
per the latest ruling by the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago.
The peril these kids are
in is not hearsay—it’s personal testimony. I’m married to someone who’s spent a
lifetime advocating on behalf of children in our foster care systems.
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