bws258
Well-Known Member
that's a ******* rule, I didn't think that's how it was applied ... what about Mormons on their 2-year hiatus?
Heelan frosh tries Florida sports school
- Thread starter SheagleHawk
- Start date
That is how it's applied, and there's an exception for religious missions.
bws258
Well-Known Member
What the hell does that mean? He left Iowa because he made bad choices. The Iowa experience was not the part of BW's life that didn't go well.
bws258
Well-Known Member
another (albeit minor) reason why I'll be glad when Big Jim pulls the B1G out of the NCAA.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
Good God, parents would actually pay money to send their teenage kids to a year round athletic/schooling program in Florida? If anyone from the family reads this board, please watch the Todd Marinovich 30 for 30. The odds of your youngster (a) making the NFL and (b) walking out with actual retirement money that he doesn't lose within a decade are about 1 in 1,000,000. Don't ruin the final years of his childhood. Bulk up his grades, work on his SAT/ACT as much as his athletic training and get him into Stanford or some other prestigious school. He might not win a national title, but if he's good, the NFL will still find him and he'll have a prestigious degree to fall back on when the time to join the real world comes.
kmajhawk
Well-Known Member
I don't believe the coaches or school had anything to do with Brandon's bad decisions, and I suspect -- but don't know for a fact -- that the coaching staff actually tried to help him and offered guidance. My point was that their son made a number of mistakes in Iowa City that resulted in his much-publicized transfer, a lot of rumor and innuendo and eventually him dropping out of school. Irregardless of the city's and the university's lack of involvement in their son's issues, I doubt it would be a place where they'd want another child to be.
He is a freshman in high school. Specializing at this age is not a good idea in my opinion. Let kids grow up and not be todd marinovich
kmajhawk
Well-Known Member
What if the parents feel their other son needs more structure than what a prestige university could provide?
After seeing pics of his girlfriend, I'm not sure he made a bad choice. All joking aside, I think the Iowa coaches did everything for BW that they could have. Not sure how the family could be mad at them or the U of I for anything.
bws258
Well-Known Member
get used to it, special kids specialize at young ages, it's not a recent phenomenon.
GhostofBTT
Banned
Why hasn't anyone pointed out that this "academy" is obviously a freaking scam?
kmajhawk
Well-Known Member
Serious? If so, you obviously aren't familiar with the current state of amateur athletics. If you're not on the elite road by, say, 10, your chances of making it to the highest levels are substantially reduced, virtually nil.
Most of the top college and professional soccer players have been in academies and elite programs since age 8, 9 or 10. Same with lacrosse. Years ago I shared a cab from the airport with a woman and her 8-year-old daughter who were going to an NCAA women's volleyball competition in Dallas where they were scheduled to meet with coaches from several of top college programs. Her daughter already competed in three competitive youth volleyball leagues in Chicago. She told me if girls were not on the road to a D1 scholarship by age 11, it was probably too late.
Sad but true...
kmajhawk
Well-Known Member
Obvious scam is obvious.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
That has nothing to do with enrolling a 14 year old in an academy. That is an issue for when he turns 18. My parents were pretty laissez faire with me and my bro, and if we were crushing brews in the basement with friends or if something was "burning" in the house, they didn't get all bent out of shape so long as no one was out driving around or anything. I ended up doing fine in college and graduating in 4 years. My bro did, too.
The kids I knew with the helicopter parents with all kinds of structured crap and parents controlling every aspect of their life until the day they moved out who went off to college ended up either flunking out or graduating in 5-6 years with GPAs around 2. something because they couldn't handle themselves when they got some freedom. And now they're making like $35-42k a year. Sadly, our country is moving to that helicopter parent route and you're seeing colleges adjust by trying to implement even more structure and administration and massively inflating grades, kicking the issues associated with dealing with freedom onto graduates and their employers (if the kids can find jobs).
A healthy 14-18 year old should be concerned with (a) getting through HS, (b) getting some furburgers, (c) athletics if that is what they are into (or choir, or drama or whatever), and (d) hitting parties on the weekends to learn to control their liquor/dro and to try to consummate (b) above. Interference with the state of nature I have outlined can have very bad results, especially for a guy who has a good chance of becoming a BMOC.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
My question was along those lines. Why the hell aren't we running one, ghost?
GhostofBTT
Banned
Because we're both poor athletes. If you can find an athlete, I think we can pull this off. You run the scam business, I'll run the scam "academics", and maybe GDR can find us a former college athlete to run the scam athletics.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
It's not true at all save for maybe soccer. Your body changes dramatically between the ages of 10 and 18. Poopscoop.com has started ranking like 5th graders something and their number 1 player was some kid who was like 6' or something in fifth grade. Yeah, the kid can dominate fifth graders, but once he stops growing, he's gonna be just another slow white kid trying to play basketball. Luckily, his dad realized this kid had a 0% chance of being a BCS caliber basketball player.
Point is, you can have a lot of skill in some sport, but if your body doesn't cooperate with growth, you're screwed. And some kids grow into their bodies and become awesome.
This whole industry is a scheme perpetuated by scam artists who make money by convincing parents that unless the parents fork over thousands of dollars in furtherance of junior's budding "career" that junior will suffer the same ignominy that the parents dealt with. It is merely the sale of a false security blanket. If you have kids, your absolute best expenditure for ROI is tutoring and ACT/SAT cram classes that allow them to academically distinguish themselves and help them put the imprimatur of a good school on their resume. The number of folks who can actually make retirement money in pro sports is very low (and basically 0 for women). Athletic gifts come primarily from genetics. The lady busting her butt to get her daughter a volleyball scholarship at BFE State U (that will only come if her daughter grows into a volleyball player's body (which in 75% of cases could render the young lass unmarriable)) is a total moron.
Hawkeye11en1
Well-Known Member
I think I know a salesman who just may be who you are looking for.
kmajhawk
Well-Known Member
All well and good for Pop and Mom OK4P because their spawn were model children. But what if your brother was sort of a hellion, got to college, had a few scrapes but nothing serious, impregnated an athlete in another college sport, thought in the spring he was going to play but by the time fall rolled around circumstances dictated that he would not play, transferred to another school hundreds of miles away, then dropped out before the start of school with all sorts of academic, financial and family obligations, and in general caused all sorts of tension, disruption and embarrassment within your family, to the point that your father more or less disowned your brother? Think Mom and Pop might want a different environment for their youngest son?
kmajhawk
Well-Known Member
It's not just soccer; it is spreading to other sports.
I don't disagree with you about the disadvantages of the academy system and the harm it may do to young athletes. It is what it is, and I don't see anyone moving to dismantle it. If anything, it is growing. US Soccer is already moving hard on putting young, talented players in the elite academy system, to the point that those players will not be allowed to play for their high school teams, which previously had been allowed.
