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I am I
All-Conference
I care. And I actually care more now than I used to, I went to college on a scholarship to play football, and it was 9/10ths about football. I could've used someone really truly caring about what I would become after college! (Besides my family, who always cared...which is even more telling because a lot of these guys don't have good families or fathers!!)
Being molded into good citizens doesn't mean we can't win games and be nasty on the field. Sure a bad apple spoils things, but they'll weed themselves out. That's why I give Pelini more grace: he had to clean RATS off of a sinking ship when he got here. He had to clean out the "oh-so-full" cupboards of, quite frankly, a bunch of guys who didn't care about having an ENTIRE "culture". Most were good, played hard, stayed out of trouble, etc...but to have a good clean 20 yr program? Please...we had quitters and lazy dudes by the end of Ca***an. That much is evident.
We needed this run of 4-6 yrs of just plain ol getting good guys to represent us, to build a foundation of a "culture". And we've still won 70%!
When you have a foundation of "take no bullsh#t" accountability (ie, using all of about 5 min to release 2 dudes involved in hitting THEIR OWN TEAMMATE w a bottle) then, and only then can you start to take a chance on a Lawerece Phillips et al---when there is PEER accountability.
That was the "culture" that Billy ruined that it takes to win in such a unique (awkward) place to win at!! Home grown boys, leadership council, "I Play for NEBRASKA", that DONU is bigger than me, etc...
And u wanna strip guys who can mold a team, hold guys accountable, show up everyday and give it their all even if their not "contributing"???
Go cheer for USC or Auburn. I'm sure Cam Newton $$$ needs another fan.
RedRedJarvisRedwine
All-American
Am I missing something? How is Matt Finnin already a senior?
I love how people will rip Lawrence Phillips to shreds these days, but most people didn't say a word when he was breaking tackles and being arguably the best Big 8/12 running back ever (that includes Sanders, Williams, and AP).
And who says you can't take a chance on troubled kids, you're doing them as much as of a disservice not pulling them out of a bad situation they would be living in. I would say sending a kid like that to the NFL is the greatest thing these coaches could do for them. We have "good kids" that get in trouble in all the time too, so to say that one lapse of judgment from an 18 year old kid makes him a bad representation of a "perfect" program is laughable.
And who says you can't take a chance on troubled kids, you're doing them as much as of a disservice not pulling them out of a bad situation they would be living in. I would say sending a kid like that to the NFL is the greatest thing these coaches could do for them. We have "good kids" that get in trouble in all the time too, so to say that one lapse of judgment from an 18 year old kid makes him a bad representation of a "perfect" program is laughable.
I am I
All-Conference
Read my post.
I specifically said that it takes a foundation of getting "good guys" before you can take a chance on a Lawerence Phillips. Especially at Nebraska.
In a town of barely, what 270,000 people where any football star is known; you better have guys walking around campus, town, houses, classes, hospitals, practice, dorms, etc who are accountable.
It's taken Bo about a Rex and Cross and Bell and David to get to a point where he can even SNIFF the jock of a 5* star personal project.
Don't think for one minute Bo hasn't had a few dudes that could BALL OUT fall into his lap but pass on them because he's building a culture of accountability first! Imagine if we were 11-1 but had a rap sheet? Please. Please. Seriously.
I for one was glad glad glad Phillips got suspended, even tho he'd have won the Heisman (which is a joke) his last year, because Tom had built such a program that we won without him, and we all know it. I thought LP was so f'ing good and loved him to pieces, and we all STILL get sh#t about him, but Tom had a culture and he benched him. And we still won.
knapplc
International Man of Mystery
Now you're just making stuff up. You've officially hit bedrock. It's time to stop digging.
Oh God, please Knapp tell me what exactly I made up. Lawrence Phillips was suspended and brought back for a title game, people still gush over our 95 championship that he was a huge part of, so unless I'm missing something here...Oh wait my opinion doesn't fall in line with yours, that's right, silly me.
knapplc
International Man of Mystery
You've created a little straw man to argue against here. Your contention is that people "rip Lawrence Phillips to shreds these days," and contrast that to some fallacious argument that "most people didn't say a word when he was breaking tackles and being arguably the best Big 8/12 running back ever."
This is entirely untrue, and there is zero chance you have any kind of support for such a statement. You can't possibly know who was or was not for or against LP back then. You can't possibly know if those same people are against LP today. This is a silly argument to make and should be self-evident.
Wow, an actual answer instead of your usual dribble. Here's what I know, there's a lot people that like to white knight this program into something that it wasn't. At the end of the day you can either accept that or you can't. It seems pretty apparent that yes though I may not know exactly who supported Lawrence Phillips back then on this sacred board it seems a lot easier to take shots at him today well after the fact. And if you would like me to stop using the "Straw Man" argument, you logic major you, well that's easy, how about the Peter Bros? How about the use of steroids in our program that were running rampant back then, how about all these other not so high character guys that were in program?
There were a lot more issues than Lawrence Phillips in the 90s, but as I've said before and been ignored over and over again by people that just want their opinion and not the truth, people seem to ignore all that stuff an focus only the championships, not the process, but the results.
There were a lot more issues than Lawrence Phillips in the 90s, but as I've said before and been ignored over and over again by people that just want their opinion and not the truth, people seem to ignore all that stuff an focus only the championships, not the process, but the results.
Saunders
Heisman Trophy Winner
Kids who come in on Academic scholarships have only themselves to blame for not making grades. A football player can have his career cut short (or never fully recover) by an inury that wasn't his doing.
RedRedJarvisRedwine
All-American
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I think there's a big difference between under performing, being injured, and simply not committing or being willing to work for success. In the first two conditions, I would not agree that scholarships should be pulled. In the third scenario, where a person simply isn't dedicated to being his best for the team, I am in support of pulling that scholarship and giving it to someone more deserving.
Scholarship athletes should be evaluated on their body of work (effort, consistency, dedication), not simply their stats on game days.
Scholarship athletes should be evaluated on their body of work (effort, consistency, dedication), not simply their stats on game days.