Interesting thread on the Iowa board...

iccyfan · 02-24-2008, 01:12 PM

Originally Posted by SouthernHawk

But these aren't bad kids for the most part. They are getting into a new environment, and are getting involved with rougher crowds.

I think you went a little too far with your spin on this one. This isn't the first brush with the law for either Nelson or Cleaveland. I would opine that they probably are "bad kids" from urban areas (Cleveland, suburban Houston, Detroit, suburban Chicago) who are bringing what they know to Iowa City; I doubt the rough crowd in Iowa City is teaching them anything...

I'll agree with you on the public intox charges for the kid from Prairie City (Brandon Myers) and the kid from Collins (long-snapper), but they're the exception to what is fast becoming a sad rule. I'm as big a Ferentz supporter as you'll find on this board, but his staff is obviously a little lax on completing their due diligence on these kids (and Kirk's allowing it to happen).

Steve · 02-24-2008, 01:16 PM

Originally Posted by iccyfan

I think you went a little too far with your spin on this one. This isn't the first brush with the law for either Nelson or Cleaveland. I would opine that they probably are "bad kids" from urban areas (Cleveland, suburban Houston, Detroit, suburban Chicago) who are bringing what they know to Iowa City; I doubt the rough crowd in Iowa City is teaching them anything...

I'll agree with you on the public intox charges for the kid from Prairie City (Brandon Myers) and the kid from Collins (long-snapper), but they're the exception to what is fast becoming a sad rule. I'm as big a Ferentz supporter as you'll find on this board, but his staff is obviously a little lax on completing their due diligence on these kids (and Kirk's allowing it to happen).

You nailed it. The guys getting in trouble are the rough crowd. The situation won't change until there are some real consequences for these type of actions. Ferentz has dropped the ball time after time when given an opportunity to clean up the ship.

ajk4st8 · 02-24-2008, 01:19 PM

Wow.. those Iowa fans are trying to find anything to blame this on.

Fact of the matter is.. kids with questionable character should not be recruited. If coach KF is that stupid that he cant figure that stuff out when he is recruiting... maybe he shouldnt be getting paid 2.7 mill a year.

mwitt · 02-24-2008, 01:20 PM

If thinking this is a little humorous in a sad kind of way is silly, then I'm guilty as charged.

I'd seriously like to know why the media doesn't make a bigger deal out of this. At other programs, there would be outrage.

ajk4st8 · 02-24-2008, 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by mwitt

If thinking this is a little humorous in a sad kind of way is silly, then I'm guilty as charged.

I'd seriously like to know why the media doesn't make a bigger deal out of this. At other programs, there would be outrage.

If this happened at Iowa State there would be a timeline in the paper every day reviewing all that went bad. The Des Moines Register NEEDS to run this story. Its the biggest story from the U of I athletic department this year.

CycloneErik · 02-24-2008, 02:44 PM

I'm surprised that ESPN hasn't started digging into this mess. It seems like their cup of tea, and they can start into the pressure that they bring to bear in times of scandal (and this really should be seen as a scandal, since they really are getting arrested).

They show up for much less than this. Just saying..........

CycloneErik · 02-24-2008, 02:48 PM

Or, maybe Iowa City isn't really the center of the athletic universe, and no one cares enough to report stuff from there.

ISUAlum2002 · 02-24-2008, 02:52 PM

Something that is a bit interesting to think about is whether the chaplain (or life skills assistant, or whatever the position is officially being called) is having an effect on keeping our players out of trouble. We'd all like to believe that our guys came from good backgrounds, but unfortunately, its impossible to tell for certain from the outside of the program what kind of impact the chaplain has had on the daily lives of our players.

kberyldial · 02-24-2008, 03:03 PM

What more interesting in all of this is the fact that the Univ. of Iowa continually plays the "gathering all the facts" card. I find it astonishing that the players that "transferred" to fresh starts for them and Iowa in the wake of an assault on a female student was essentially swept under the rug. Yes these are young people doing dumb things but when is it enough to warrant actual action by Ferentz and the university? I would demand it of ISU if my daughter was there and something that serious happened. Whether she was involved or not. No athletic team should get to run amouk at any unversity. There, here or anywhere. UI is at a point with the football team where something more needs to be done. This isn't an Iowa State fan being hoier than thou either. Alcohol offenses aren't going away. But the kinds of things Iowa is currently dealing with can't be handled the same way.

Clone9 · 02-24-2008, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by MontyBurns

Hell, even ISU fans laughed about 6'10" Jared Homan getting drunk and trying to hide from police by crawling under a compact car.

One of the best stories ever!

CycloneErik · 02-24-2008, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by kberyldial

What more interesting in all of this is the fact that the Univ. of Iowa continually plays the "gathering all the facts" card. I find it astonishing that the players that "transferred" to fresh starts for them and Iowa in the wake of an assault on a female student was essentially swept under the rug. Yes these are young people doing dumb things but when is it enough to warrant actual action by Ferentz and the university? I would demand it of ISU if my daughter was there and something that serious happened. Whether she was involved or not. No athletic team should get to run amouk at any unversity. There, here or anywhere. UI is at a point with the football team where something more needs to be done. This isn't an Iowa State fan being hoier than thou either. Alcohol offenses aren't going away. But the kinds of things Iowa is currently dealing with can't be handled the same way.

If a person wanted to be funny here, they might say, "Well, it takes time to gather all of these facts. There are just so many."

Truth is, this is becoming a disturbing culture out of Iowa football. Something that should be fun for fans, and powerful for the athletes is turning into a really bad joke.

Something really has to be done here. We've heard all the reactionary threads about firing coaches. Do we have one in IC that's lost control of the program? How much leeway does he get to put this house in order? Or does he have to go?

These are some serious questions that they need to be looking into. If the media is really a watchdog, like they love to claim, they should be discussing this in depth.

JJ4ISU · 02-24-2008, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by SouthernHawk

How is it good news that there are so many things like this happening? I'm sorry, but this enjoyment of 18 year olds making stupid mistakes is starting to look a little obsessive.

These kids are doing dumb things. I don't know why it's happening so much lately, and I agree that something needs to be done. But it just seems ridiculous to me that there are people enjoying the fact that these kids are getting involved in serious problems such as drugs, robbery, and assault.

What's sad is the man overseeing this program just received a one-year extension on his $2.8 million base salary. Ferentz, in my opinion, has not taken near enough heat for the problems in Iowa City. I know he can't keep track of every player all of the time, but we're seeing a trend!

BryceC · 02-24-2008, 03:44 PM

The point of this thread wasn't intended to be another rehashing of the problems, I just thought it was really funny there are guys openly campaigning for a chaplain after some of them went so far as to say it was "unconstitutional" to have it.

Jerry1982 · 02-24-2008, 04:11 PM

Originally Posted by BryceC

The point of this thread wasn't intended to be another rehashing of the problems, I just thought it was really funny there are guys openly campaigning for a chaplain after some of them went so far as to say it was "unconstitutional" to have it.

I recently attended the Cyclone Club outing in New Hampton. Chizik and Pollard both spoke. Pollard made a direct mention of our "life skills" counselor (not his quote directly). My impression is that both Pollard and Chizik are very greatful for this type of help for our athletes. The hassle they went through to get this help was well worth it, in their opinions.

jhill · 02-24-2008, 04:19 PM

I don't find it extremely humorous from the standpoint of the student athletes. What I do find a little funny is that it is happening during the watch of St. Kirk. I also find it a little ironic that Larry Eustachy was absolutely crucified for bad judgement and a problem with alchohol, but our unbiased media appears to be blind to a possibly large problem in Iowa City (that is to some extent ignored by the highest paid state employee). It also pisses me off that the media doesn't see fit to be covering this story as a whole a lot more than they are -- no doubt if these things were going on at Iowa State, the newspapers would be going nuts.