re: Official Fall Practice Thread: It's game week Barners

PM take

And now comes a Wall Street Journal story that contends, well, I’m not really what sure what it contends other than some Auburn athletes major in public administration and the athletic department didn’t want the major to go away.

I’m not here to defend or not defend what happened or didn’t happen with the public administration major. Nothing I read in that story even hinted at academic fraud. And if the Wall Street Journal believes Auburn is even close to unique, it is wrong.

I would suggest looking at the large numbers of college athletes majoring in general studies, a major that prepares students for nothing and a major that Auburn, unlike most SEC schools, does not have. All Auburn students have to complete a core curriculum that, in itself, makes any major challenging.

There will be lots of wringing of hands, probably some uninformed shots taken at Auburn over the latest so-called expose. Auburn folks ought to be accustomed to that by now.

The question that keeps coming in my mind is “Why?”

Why do some Auburn faculty members and even Auburn graduates believe it is a good thing to take their agendas to national news outlets?

Why do the Wall Street Journal and New York Times have such a keen interest in Auburn?

I don’t know.

The reality of college football, particularly in the South, is that if you are going to win, you are going to take some marginal students, guys that aren’t going to major in chemical engineering or pre-med or business or veterinary medicine. And a good number of those guys are going to earn degrees and go on to live good and productive lives.
Yet, some find that to be troubling. I find it to be worthy of celebration.

In the wake of the sociology report, I went through every SEC media guide to find the majors for every SEC football player. That was before most schools stopped putting majors in their media guides. Here’s what I found:

More than 70 percent of LSU football players majored in general studies. More than two thirds of Vanderbilt football players had the same major. Maybe they all just happened to want to major in the same thing, or maybe it was the easiest thing.

Should Auburn’s athletic department have offered to subsidize the public administration program? Probably not. It looks bad if nothing else. Is that, in any way, a violation of any kinds of rules? If every Auburn player majors in public administration, is that a violation of any kinds of rules?

And get this: Al.com reports that, according to university records, 16 football players, four men’s basketball players, three baseball players and three softball players are either majoring in or have completed degrees in public administration.

That’s a problem?

There was no indication in the Wall Street Journal story that Auburn athletes had been given anything, that they attended sham classes or got credit they didn’t earn. In the eyes of some, apparently, it’s just really bad that they were majoring in public administration.

So let the screaming and wailing begin. Like the other so-called scandals before it, unless there is more there than has been reported, it will come to nothing other than another effort to make a really fine academic institution look bad.

Oh, well. What else is new?

quote:

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I'm immune to these types of stories at this point. Wake me up when something of real importance happens.

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I agree every school in the country has major tracks that are easier that athletes like it or not often go toward. If you want an education you can get it, but you can also avoid getting one that has any real value. PM's assertion that the core classes are the same is true.

quote:

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I agree every school in the country has major tracks that are easier that athletes like it or not often go toward. If you want an education you can get it, but you can also avoid getting one that has any real value. PM's assertion that the core classes are the same is true.

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Even the degrees that don't offer "real value" have value. My degree from AU is in Public Admin. Had no interest in public work after finishing my degree so ended up in the private sector. Things turned out okay......I attribute much of that to what I learned and was exposed to while working on my degree of little value. Many of these young people will benefit just from the exposure to things they had never seen growing up in a different environment. I know that was the case for me. It is all about what you make of it.

And let's keep in mind there are plenty of football players who major in "real" degrees (Kris Frost aviation) and those players who also return for their degrees (Cam and Cadillac).

Why? I have little expectations for football players, except for them to play football. Every school has to pick what direction they want their football program to go. Ga Tech wanted strict requirements, and they have an average football team. ND tried that, but learned you can't have both. LSU, UA, AU, etc want a great football team. So we will have to live with the bad apples that WILL come through every so often.

Auburn, for some reason, has been cursed with a subset of Auburn student journalists and Auburn faculty which, for some reason, just really really DESPISE Auburn.

"It's the same thing Christians deal with in this country, we don't fight back. You think faculty would do this at uat? Hell no! They'd get that arse fallen up some stairs."

LOL

Dont nothin promote no Christianity like cussin and fightin. Lets go kick the everloven (*&* outta sumbuddy. In the name of God, of course. And, lets get drunk first.

Rasheed Kennion had a cast on his wrist, Tony Stephens is tall and his hair is neat, and Ricardo Louis is looking pretty beastly.


#insiderinfo

Agreed. Also, he's one tall MF'r.