[NU Sports] You saw it coming...

[Jeff Beamsley]

Roy,

Perhaps you should just put down the shovel before the hole gets any 
deeper. <g>

It is tragic to see kids make bad choices regardless of their racial or 
economic background.  But to characterize bad choices as a racial 
problem smacks of the same sort of bigotry that suggests that one racial 
group is intellectually inferior to another.  It's the same thing as 
saying that people are poor because they are African American, or that 
inner city schools are terrible because the population is primarily 
African American.  Poverty is a national shame that claims victims 
regardless of color.

Fast smart football-playing kids come in all colors (see previous 
post).  They represent the full socio-economic spectrum.  Kids who have 
had an opportunity to attend good academic high schools are going to 
have a better chance of getting into colleges like NU, so that is going 
to skew things economically somewhat.  But the special sorts of kids who 
end up being recruited by NU are the best of the best and will rise to 
the top where ever they are.

That's because, as you point out, RW only talks with kids who, with 
their families, have made GOOD choices.  I agree that the pool should be 
larger than it is, but even if it were, RW would still only be able to 
offer the same small number of scholarships.  So, as far as NU's 
performance is concerned, the size of the pool isn't the problem.  The 
problem is that we aren't getting the best of the talent that is 
available to us. 

Suggesting some subtle or overt NU campus racism is the cause is another 
bad excuse.  Seven of the thirteen kids in the 2004 recruiting class 
were African American.  In comparison, 12 of Michigan's 22 2004 recruits 
were African American.  Just about the same percentage at a school with 
a very large African American population (at least in numbers).  No 
evidence of "white bread" bias affecting recruiting of minorities here.

BTW, active African American student organizations on many campuses 
struggle with the role athletes play, particularly when the football 
team is 50% African American but the student body percentage is much 
smaller.  But that's a different subject.

The rest of your assertions about the value of RW's approach just don't 
hold up against the facts.  I have my own opinions about why, but those 
aren't important.  What is important and easy to measure are the 
results.  He may be doing an outstanding job with the talent that he is 
able to attract because of all of the reasons that you've listed, but he 
hasn't been able to attract more talent than our competitors.  If he 
were getting the most talented kids available, I would have to say that 
you're right, we just can't compete.  But he isn't.  So I have to 
believe that we would do better with someone who was a better fit for 
what NU has to offer. 

It's really pretty siimple.  If he were winning more football games that 
he was losing, I'd admit that I was wrong and keep my opinions to 
myself.  But the bottom line is that we aren't a whole lot better than 
we were last year.  We still lead the league in penalties (can't just be 
effort because every team tries hard).  The special teams which he 
personally coaches were the weak link again this year.  We were lucky to 
get OSU before they found Smith and Ginn.  We were lucky to get Purdue 
when Orton was banged up mentally and physically.  We were lucky last 
year to get Wisky playing a backup QB.  We barely beat Indiana, 
Illinois, and PSU and got blistered by the teams that were playing well 
(Minny, Michigan, and Wisky).

I think that it is great that we went 5-3 in the BT.  My hat is off to 
the kids and the way that they played.  I don't want to take anything 
away from the heart and determination that they showed.  But another 
year of 6-6 is not a ringing RW endorsement in my mind.  Taking a look 
at where we are now, does anyone really think that we have the talent to 
beat the now reloaded OSU and Michigan next year (assuming OSU is on the 
schedule again)?

The point this year is moot anyway because, baring any serious health 
problems, RW is going to be the NU coach next year.  But I don't buy the 
"sky is falling" predictions that the only way to be successful is to 
keep the same coach until they retire.  It appears that Stanford has the 
courage to pull the trigger when they didn't the results that they 
wanted even though there was a significant amount of the sort of 
"on-field" improvement used to defend RW.  This sets the table for a 
good experiment for the "doom crew" . 

If you are right, Stanford is now in for a lengthy and painful 
rebuilding process that will damage their ability to recruit and compete 
for years to come.  If RW stays, however, I predict that Stanford will 
have a PAC-10 championship before we see our next BT championship. 

I don't know that I'll get a lot of pleasure out of saying I told you so 
a few years from now, but I will take some satisfaction in seeing this 
particular excuse for poor performance put to rest.

Jeff








Roy S. Lamberton wrote:

>Maybe we should change the "speed demon" reference below, but what I was
>alluding to was that many Div I prospects don't realize they need decent grades
>until its too late.
>
>There is an attitude among many HS students, [and I'm sorry this might offend
>some around here] particularly those of african descent, that think they don't
>need to study and get good grades because they're going to go to the pros and
>make millions. They are all very talented athletes, but somewhere they get the
>idea that they didn't have to work at anything but football [or basketball] 
>
>I've heard it on the sidelines from parents who are distraught because their kid
>isn't starting. Gee - the kid doesn't put out the effort to start, and besides
>he's about to flunk off the team because of poor performance in the classroom.
>This case was a black kid, but I've had white kids with the same "don't need to
>study" attitude who are smart enough, they just didn't care about school [and
>their future] enough.
>
>I think even Jesse Jackson made the comment once that if Black kids put as much
>effort into studies as playing basketball, we would have black scientists
>running the major research programs, but I still see kids with NBA dreams
>shooting hoops until dark instead of hitting the books. Any kid who puts out the
>effort to study is branded with a negative stigma by all races - the ones who
>rise to the top are always denigrated because they put out the effort, just look
>around at the present political arena.
>
>So how does that relate to NU recruiting. 
>
>Many kids, who are smart enough to attend NU, never take the effort to get the
>grades and work on improving SAT or ACT scores.
>
>There was a young poor black kid in Baltimore who wanted to attend Maryland - he
>raised his SATs by almost 500 points by taking a class. He wanted to get into a
>college that wasn't going to bend its rules. He was smart enough, and good
>enough to make the NBA, but he also realized at the last minute that he had to
>have the grades and the SAT score. He did it and that effort should be what is
>heralded, not his performance at the NCAA tournament.
>
>Many Black Kids, who are smart enough to attend NU, and who play football, and
>who have the grades and SATs will go to other top programs, who also covet their
>mental and physical abilities. They go elsewhere because NU has a reputation of
>being a "white bread" school. The Daily has even run a series on Black Athletes
>not being involved in the "black" activities enough.
>
>Yes, NU has a rep as an "old school" type program under Randy Walker, but we had
>the "new school" coaching approach all through the 70's and 80's. We didn't win,
>and we didn't recruit well. You want to return to that?
>
>NU has a great message right now - "Come to NU and help us advance to the next
>level. We're a tough program, we'll demand 110% from you, but in return you get
>a great education, and maybe a look from the pros, just like at any other Big 10
>College but even so, you'll have that degree when you're done."
>
>I don't know if Randy Walker floated the idea that he might leave if offered a
>better deal somewhere. I suspect its one of the beat writers looking for some
>news and asking the question, but regardless of what you think, Walker and Co.
>does a lot with what we recruit, and every class may not appear to be great on
>the surface, but seems to turn out decent players after a redshirt and 2 years.
>
>The last time Walker was asked about his future plans was right before the
>contract extension, where he got a raise, but more important pushed for, and got
>raises for all of the assistants. That could be in the works again.
>
>Walker has the Cats at .500 with his current talent. I don't want to go back to
>the 3-8, 2-9, 3-7, 5-7 and 3-9 records that St. Gary provided around his two Big
>10 Champ years. This year we beat some pretty good Big 10 teams, all of whom
>garnered bowl bids. Had we not scheduled Hawai'i, we'd be bowling too.
>
>I'm not a big fan of changing coaches. I've seen schools with a merry go round,
>and I've seem the same schools with the same coach for a long time - They were
>given time and most of them got the program going, and kept it going for a long
>time. Personally, I'd rather have RW around until one of our alums - like Fitz -
>is ready to take over the program at NU.
>
>rsl
>
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
>Computer Applications & Support Associates
>and Publisher of Purple Reign, 
>The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
>(http://www.purplewildcats.com)
>AIM Handle: CoachRoy74
>
>=========================================
>No Society has ever Taxed or Litigated
>itself to prosperity...Think about it.
>++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
>
>  
>
>>>What was apparent last night was our lack of sheer speed. College 
>>>football has turned into a faster, stronger sport and NU is 
>>>      
>>>
>>racing to 
>>    
>>
>>>catch up. Unfortunately there are just not enough speed demons out 
>>>there with the ability to get into NU.
>>> 
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>Why not?
>>
>>How many do you think we need?
>>
>>I'm really hoping you didn't mean what you just said.  Do you really 
>>think that the best 40 times only belong to the intellectually 
>>challenged?  Is there some genetic or racial relationship 
>>between quick 
>>twitch muscles and IQ that I'm unaware of?  I thought we 
>>moved past that 
>>stuff a long time ago.  I'm hoping this was the result of 
>>staying up too 
>>late to watch a football game and not something you're willing to 
>>attempt to defend. 
>>
>>In terms of sheer entertainment value, though, it was a heck 
>>of a season!
>>
>>Jeff
>>
>>
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