From: davidc@montagar.com (David L. Cathey)
Newsgroups: tx.politics
Subject: Re: Football Failures at Bowie Force end of Season
Date: 20 Nov 92 19:45:45 CDT
Distribution: tx
Organization: Montagar Software Concepts, Plano TX

In article <1992Nov20.000823.40174@watson.ibm.com>, johniac@austin.ibm.com (John Iacoletti) writes:
> David L. Cathey (davidc@montagar.com) wrote:
> : 	However, you are an adult, the the high school student isn't.  That's
> : why they can't buy beer, cigarrettes, hard liquor, etc...
> 
> Well then let the parents enforce no pass-no play then.  It would be better
> than total strangers making the choice.

	Parents have that control.  They have the choice to educate their
children at another institution that allows No-pass/Play-anyway.

> : 	Without No-pass/No-play, the student would flunk school, not
> : graduate, not get into college, and most likely never get advanced coaching
> : that would entice a scout to draft them to a Pro team.  Thanks a lot, John...
> 
> Let's change that too.  If you insist on marrying football with college, then
> let him take a football "SAT" and apply for enrollment in a college majoring
> in football.  I wouldn't have any problem with that.  Why should he have to
> waste his time taking calculus or chemistry or home economics when he wants to
> play football?

	First point here, you have yet to prove that taking the above classes
is a "waste" of time.  Secondly, you are forgetting that Football is business
funded by large corporations and alumni of universities.  Funding such an
institution would be difficult in the extreme.  Third, you have yet to prove
that No-Pass/No-Play prohibits anyone from attaining a football career.

	Point 1:  The most important assets to an athlete are his body and
		mind.  You must work out both of them to compete on a
		professional level, or you might as well go home.  These
		"wasteful" classes provide a foundation for understanding
		nutrition (Home Econ), Bio-mechanics (Chemistry  and Biology),
		Strategy (History, particularlty military), optimal
		physical work-out schedules (Physiotherapy, Biology), and
		keeping the required mental edge and concentration to
		compete at a professional level.

	Point 2:  Football is played for high stakes and is very cut-throat.
		One bad season, and you are out of a job, irregardless of
		how the team did.  If someone comes in that competes better
		than you, you're out.  Football is expensive, and the best
		training is funded by alumni of universities.  Until that
		changes, anything done at the High School level is irrelevant
		toward creating a football career.  If you are so hell bent on
		changing the system, you need to start at the top (Pro teams
		and advertisers, like IBM), not start by hurting the students
		you are trying to "protect".  Note: I'm not suggesting the
		system is right or wrong, just how best to help the student
		achieve his goal through the system.  Abolishing No-pass/No-play
		does nothing toward assisting the High School student in
		achieving a football career, in fact has more ability to
		*damage* a potential career.

	Point 3:  No High School Diploma which means no College which means
		no football career.  Yes, No-pass/Noplay may prevent a
		student from playing High School football, but you have
		yet to provide any support on how that denies his choice
		to play Pro ball.  His flunking has already closed that choice
		(no college), we are just making sure he *knows* it while he
		has time to correct the situation.  If football is that
		important to him, he can chose to make up the grade.

	You also do not seem to understand how College and Pro coaches view
the flunking athlete.  They see someone who only follows the rules that they
want to, even when told otherwise.  They see someone who thinks of themselves
and not the team.  They see someone who lacks discipline.  They demand a
team player, someone that follows the rules even when they don't like it,
someone with discipline.  If they can't show that, then they don't play Pro
ball.

	Being a Univ. of OK (where football is a *BIG* deal) graduate, I've
seen athletes lose scholarships and get thrown off the team for bad or
an unaggressive (read: doing only what it takes to get by) attitude.  And these
were (at the time) Big name people with incredible talent and potential.

> :                              If no college wants to recruit him, then at least
> : time is saved by not having to go back to get a GED.
> 
> People don't have the right to "waste time"?

	You're a piece of work, John.  You really are.  No matter what, you
just have to bitch about something, don't you?  You comment does nothing to
support your belief that No-pass/No-play denies anyone a football career, and
its irrelevance demonstrates you have nothing to back up your claims.

	You have done nothing but claim that No-pass/No-play denies someone
the choice to play Pro football, which you have not proven.  You say the system
is broken, however no Pro or College teams have spoken out against
No-pass/No-play or the current system.  Obviously it is accomplishing their
goal of providing quality football players.  So according to those in the
business of football, the system is not broken.

	And I'll go one further against you John: Since are limited spots
on the team, No-pass/No-play increases the chances of someone becoming a
Pro athlete, by weeding out those who lack discipline and make room on the
squad for those that are willing to work for their dream.  A flunking student
on the team denies student that is making the grade (and can go to college)
from a position on the team.  That student could be denied a chance at being
recruited for a college team, and into the Pro's.

> John Iacoletti       IBM AWS Austin       Internet: johniac@austin.ibm.com
>         My opinions do not reflect the views of the IBM Corporation
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David L. Cathey		                |INET: davidc@montagar.com
Montagar Software Concepts              |UUCP: ...!montagar!davidc
P. O. Box 260772, Plano TX  75026-0772  |Fone: (214)-618-2117