I personally think this is absolute garbage. Certainly, Tennessee has had its share of troubles but to make the some of the assertions that Freeman does here is a little reckless, IMO. Read for yourself.... http://cbs.sportsline.com/columns/story/10666687/rss
Well that is a pretty hard shot he takes at Tenn, maybe not as hard as the one where SI called for Miami to get the Death Penalty, but pretty hard. I wonder why he didn't take a shot at Alabama while he was at it, they may have had more off the field problems since Saban arrived than Tenn in the same time period. Then there is South Carolina which has had its share of problems since Spurrier took over. I predict that now that Spring is around the corner and Spring Drills will be over at a lot of places by mid April that we'll see an upsurge of college football players getting in trouble, mostly bar fights, MIP's, etc but they will have too much time on their hands and they will get into trouble. Personally I don't know what the answer is for programs, you can't baby sit the players 24/7, you could say that you should only recruit "high character" types but that didn't work for Mack Brown who supposedly has made an effort to only bring in high character kids, yet he's had more problems recently than ever. We haven't had many problems at ND, recently, but we've have not been immune to having some embarassing incidents. Terry
Also he seems to think players getting into trouble with the law is a NCAA problem, but he needs to read the rules. Those players are not a NCAA problem they are a school problem and it's up to the school to deal with them, not the NCAA.
The only times I read something written by this guy is when it posted on this board. His writing style is very egotistical. It crys out, Look how smart I am by how many plays on words I think up. He is long on harsh criticism but short on substance to back it up. In this article, he is beyond comparing apples and oranges. At least those two have something in common. They are both fruits. He is comparing two situations (Sampson & Fulmer) that have no similarity whatsoever, as Terry explains above. It's a shame guys like him get away with such trash, but it's a byproduct of the world we live in.
Bait and switch <r>The writer makes the assertion early that the crimes are serious then describes typical college stuff. $400 dollars worth of damage to an automobile may be a tail light. Don't get me wrong, I am not condoning these things. DUI is a serious offense, but it happens to a lot of folks and some of them are actually good people who make a bad mistake. They learn from it and move on. Hopefully that is what happens to these players. I am not a Fulmer fan, but I am not sure what the football coach, in the off-season especially, is supposed to do. Alabama had a player rob another student (for $26 dollars no less) with a pellet gun. The player is gone from the team and the university. Apparently the kid had never been in trouble before. What else can you do? Whatever it is, giving the NCAA more discretionary power is not the answer. <E>:roll:</E></r>
Freeman is a jerk who while he was with the Jacksonville Times Union wrote that Urban Meyer was a liar because of a Chris Leak injury. Meyer didn't say Leak was not injured, he just held a press conference and answered questions. No questions asked about Leak, and Meyer didn't say anything that would make his QB a target on game day. This guy also falsified his resume about his educational background when getting the job with the Times Union. His credibility was shot and he moved on eventually ending up with Sportsline. One of his first articles then was to write an article accusing Meyer of being racist because he brought Tim Tebow into the game in goal line situations maybe costing Leak the Heisman. Bottom line calling him a jerk is an insult to jerks. Tennessee fans just need to ignore this ass and move on. I don't even bother to click on one of his articles when linked any longer. He is pathetic. Did I say I don't care for him?? :cry: :cry:
Tenn has had it's fair share of scofflaws but really...other than the brute who cold cocked a student during a basketball game what have these guys done to merit such a sanctimonious criticism? I do agree that in the past Fulmer seemed a tad soft on discipline but he seems to be catching up to speed these days I think. That may not be good enough for Tenn fans who are a few big blowouts away from giving Phil the boot anyway.....right Tom?
I wonder <t>if Kelvin Sampson was a white guy... would this guy be so up in arms looking to deflect blame by starting a fire elsewhere. I doubt it, but then again I am a cynic who tends to see the layers of things.<br/> <br/> I've got my own opinions on Tennessee and I formed those opinions discussing the program with former players and their parents. That being said, this author ALMOST made a good point but lost it in his huff and puff.<br/> <br/> Something does need to be done about some of these issues... Some of the answers to these situations actually stem from a lack of stable family, and does this writer really want to open the can of worms? Shhheeet... <br/> <br/> I eagerly await his scathing article calling out the men in the african-american community to stay home and raise their families... but until I see that, I'll be back over here d*cking around waiting for pigs to fly.</t>