When Jimmy takes a call from SI he probably doesn't know that this reporter and his lack of research tried to take down the Michigan program for stretching before practice. Maybe we should just move on from that, were in a much better place now. I'm still a little bitter.
Jimmy spoke to SI and Michael Rosenberg about the NCAA and Satellite Camp, here are some quotes from the article.
"The incompetence of the NCAA has reared its ugly head yet again."
Harbaugh says the ruling was "knee-jerk ... like somebody was shaving in the morning, cut themselves when they were shaving and said, 'Let's just ban satellite camps.'
"I mean, what's it based on? A survey? There wasn't a lot of discussion or study. What are the facts? What are the perils and merits of making that decision? It just seemed lacking in that regard."
Harbaugh says, "This is going to affect thousands and thousands of people." That is no exaggeration. It will affect thousands and thousands of people.
Harbaugh points out the hypocrisy: "During the NCAA basketball tournament we discuss the term 'student-athlete' ad nauseam in promoting our governing institution and our member institutions. Then, when we have an opportunity to truly promote the 'student-athlete' with a concept shared by educators and football men from all backgrounds, our leadership goes into hiding.
"I suggest we drop the term 'student-athlete' for consistency."
"It seems to be outrage by the SEC and ACC," Harbaugh says. "They power-brokered that out ... the image that comes to my mind is guys in a back room smoking cigars, doing what they perceive is best for them. It certainly isn't the best thing for the youngsters. It's not the best thing for the student-athletes."
Harbaugh saw Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze say, "I'm away from my family enough, and I just did not want to go," and it did not sit well with him.
Says Harbaugh: "You've got a guy sitting in a big house, making $5 million a year, saying he does not want to sacrifice his time. That is not a kindred spirit to me. What most of these coaches are saying is they don't want to work harder."
I love that last paragraph! Well done Sir!
- ESPN Mike and Mike just killed the NCAA yesterday on this topic. Hugh Freeze was just on this morning and said it was a much broader issue and that opinions are skewed where you live. He prefers to run his own camps on his campus and does support other coaches attending his camps. He also didn't agree with Jimmy's comment above about working hard or calling out other coaches in a public forum.
3 comments:
Bob, I think that in many if not most cases the normative course of action would be for two parties to negotiate their differences to find an acceptable medium. However, in my very humble opinion I don't think this is a subject that should be negotiated, I believe the NCAA should rescind their ruling because it's a bad ruling. Any attempt to limit the kid’s opportunity to win a scholarship in this age of out of control tuition and fees is abominable and incomprehensible. It's been stated by so many already ad nauseam that those who are the most adversely affected are those who least can afford to pay their own way and those smaller programs that cannot afford to manage these camps or extensive recruiting activities.
The message that these kids have consistently tweeted out basically says if they didn't have the benefit of the satellite camps then they would likely not have received the offer or offers that they have. So if Michigan conducted about nine satellite camps last summer and they are only allowed to run four, then knowing that there are many poor or less affluent kids that won't have that exposure then the question that Michigan would have to ask itself is, "then what unfortunate group do I neglect this time?" If these other colleges are limited then they would have to ask themselves the same question. I know that no matter what, Michigan can't be everywhere but the challenge should be to expand opportunities for these kids and not to take them away.
Again, (restating what we already know) that through these camps there is a sports eco system where maybe a kid doesn't get a Michigan, OSU, Florida offer but they may receive one from Eastern Michigan, Toledo, SDSU, East Carolina and so forth. Late bloomers can still catch the eye of the NFL from those schools...if they are seen through the camps. There are various reasons why some kids aren't seen playing during their school’s playing season but it is through the summer camps that places the onus on the athlete themselves to perform. And let's face it, when a Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban show up at a camp it draws more media attention, along with encouraging other coaches to show up as opposed to only having a lower tier or lesser known group of coaches there. That alone pays off for the young athletes who show up and bust their behinds trying to demonstrate their skills. Moreover, in most cases these parents who experience financial hardships themselves often take off of work, and spend money that they may not normally have the luxury to spend on travel, hotels and so forth, they do it on the chance that some school's coach will notice their kid and like them enough to offer them a free education. And again let’s face it, not every student is fortunate enough to be a Graham Glasgow or Jordan Kovacs where it all works out in the end.
Let me close by saying this, I am not an athlete. However, I studied and I remember one day there was an academic recruiter from the University of Michigan that came to my school and addressed my class. I applied and Michigan offered me (a kid from a poor family) a full academic scholarship. If that didn't happen odds are I wouldn't have been a Michigan graduate. I thank God that Michigan saw fit to invest in the time and expense to send an academic recruiter to my school because no other school saw fit to do so. In the same vein schools need to be able to reach out and provide opportunities to those whom might otherwise fall through the cracks. No compromise, reverse this bad decision. IMHO!!!
Does the "Harbaugh effect" have anything to do with Lynn Swann becoming USC's AD, not that lynn does not deserve it... but in years gone by Lynn Swann was one of the biggest names in the NFL (at least up north), hiring a retired pro-bowler (that is played in the pro bowl for NFL) is a brilliant coup or move... maybe influenced by Harbaugh's use of high profile Michigan athletes, do not know only postulating.
Lynn needed a job after his bid to become PA's governor fell flat. LOL
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