Oh, those uptight pricks from the Ivy League are just ruining everyone's education-exploitating fun. ;-)
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2006-08-29-text-message-recruiting_x.htm
What a bizarre proposal. Why not ban phone calls, too?
Texting would be fine if a coach asked, "You have any final questions before you decide between us and Colgate? Shoot me an email." I think it's more like daily - hourly for hot prospects - texting for however many years the coach can contact the prospect.
No way can you enforce a ban, though, unless the prospect wanted to rat you out.
[quote billhoward]No way can you enforce a ban, though, unless the prospect wanted to rat you out.[/quote]
How is that different from 90% of the other stuff the NCAA bans in recruiting?
The proposal (at least the NCAA one) seems pretty reasonable to me. Very difficult to enforce, but that's not necessarily the point.
I don't think there's anything reasonable about arbitrarily banning certain communications outright, while allowing others. If the point is to limit harrassment of recruits, then just impose a limit on communications: you may only communicate with a recruit X times, by any method, over any timeframe. After that, you're cut off. Trying to distinguish between email and cell phone and text messaging and landline and snail mail is irrelevant to the point of the regulation.
I disagree. Text messaging is by it's nature a more intrusive means of communication than landline or email. I think it is reasonable to draw lines of distinction between them. Whether and where to draw lines is not obvious though.
Of course, I write this as someone who does not have a cell phone or text mesaging for precisely the reason I cited above - I don't want to be that reachable. So undoubtedly this colors my opinion.
[quote KeithK]I disagree. Text messaging is by it's nature a more intrusive means of communication than landline or email. I think it is reasonable to draw lines of distinction between them. Whether and where to draw lines is not obvious though.[/quote]
"Whether" is determined by the NC$$ and universities' scam of pretending to be looking after the academic interests of "student"-athletes, while gobbling up the immense revenue generated from the marketing of those athletes. They have to posture like this to keep up the appearance of holding aloft the lamp of benevolence beside the golden door of amateurism. It's particularly sad / funny in the wake of the expansion of the season to 12 games.
[quote Trotsky][quote KeithK]I disagree. Text messaging is by it's nature a more intrusive means of communication than landline or email. I think it is reasonable to draw lines of distinction between them. Whether and where to draw lines is not obvious though.[/quote]
"Whether" is determined by the NC$$ and universities' scam of pretending to be looking after the academic interests of "student"-athletes, while gobbling up the immense revenue generated from the marketing of those athletes. They have to posture like this to keep up the appearance of holding aloft the lamp of benevolence beside the golden door of amateurism. It's particularly sad / funny in the wake of the expansion of the season to 12 games.[/quote]
Well, Greg, seriously - if you come at it with the attitude that nothing the NCAA does can possibly be motivated by any level of beneficence at all, of course you're not going to care or agree with their decisions. But I happen to agree with Keith - drawing the line at a means of communication that actually involuntarily costs the athlete and his family money every time a coach uses it is a pretty reasonable thing to do.
[quote Trotsky][quote KeithK]I disagree. Text messaging is by it's nature a more intrusive means of communication than landline or email. I think it is reasonable to draw lines of distinction between them. Whether and where to draw lines is not obvious though.[/quote]
"Whether" is determined by the NC$$ and universities' scam of pretending to be looking after the academic interests of "student"-athletes, while gobbling up the immense revenue generated from the marketing of those athletes. They have to posture like this to keep up the appearance of holding aloft the lamp of benevolence beside the golden door of amateurism. It's particularly sad / funny in the wake of the expansion of the season to 12 games.[/quote]
NPR's Marketplace did a story on the expansion to 12 games yesterday. Their "business of sports" reporter Diana Nyad was not very happy with the extra game and the major I-A programs scheduling I-AA teams for the 12th game.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2006/09/07/PM200609076.html
Last week Purdue played I-AA Indiana State University for one of their "cupcake" games and won 60-35. This week an actual I-A opponent from the mid-major ranks, Miami of Ohio.
[quote Rita]Last week Purdue played I-AA Indiana State University for one of their "cupcake" games and won 60-35.[/quote]
The I-AA opponent didn't work out too well for Colorado, though. :-D
[quote Beeeej]if you come at it with the attitude that nothing the NCAA does can possibly be motivated by any level of beneficence at all, of course you're not going to care or agree with their decisions.[/quote]
That doesn't follow. The NC$$ is a criminal organization, but we are stuck with it (for the time being), and their rules should be evaluated not on the basis of their motives but on the results. See also: the federal government.
In this case, by all means, if you're interested in sheltering the student-athletes, regulate not only texting but all communications. Or just throw it open to a decision between the ADs and the athletes and end the pretext. But selectively regulating certain communications is moot, IMHO, to the root problem of harrassment of recruits.
If the root problem is running up the recruits' parents phone bill, then the ruling makes sense. But that isn't the way the rule is being marketed.
[quote Trotsky][quote Rita]Last week Purdue played I-AA Indiana State University for one of their "cupcake" games and won 60-35.[/quote]
The I-AA opponent didn't work out too well for Colorado, though. :-D[/quote]
That was a nice result to see. Time will tell if the new Colorado coach, Dan Hawkins, has his act together and can clean up the program or will he be another slime-ball like Gary Barnett and Rick Neuheisel.
[quote Rita][quote Trotsky][quote Rita]Last week Purdue played I-AA Indiana State University for one of their "cupcake" games and won 60-35.[/quote]
The I-AA opponent didn't work out too well for Colorado, though. :-D[/quote]
That was a nice result to see.[/quote]
Patrick Dunn's I-AA Update used to have a secxtion called something like "My school bagged I-A team".
Of course those games aren't supposed to count anyway.