concordtom said:
Quote:
Q: How many times has this happened in the history of Cal basketball? Forcing guys out without any behavior or academic reasons? Yeah, other guys have transferred because they could see the writing on the wall, but here were two guys who thought being at Cal was a really good thing, wanted to be student athletes, and end up alums-you know, kind of like most of us.
A: It's happened quite a few times, not just at Cal but at virtually every program. The difference is that players usually find it in their best interest to keep it on the downlow instead of putting the program on blast. Believe me, that didn't do them any favors when trying to find a new home, even with the program trying to endorse them.
In today's political debate arena, this is what's referred to as Moral Equivalency. "It's t's okay, because it happened elsewhere."
No. This practice is not acceptable. Conference rules require a scholarship offer be granted for 4 years.
Let's not use faulty arguments to white wash the wrong.
I'm sorry, but you can't make this moral equivalency accusation when it rides on a much more massive moral equivalency that you are accepting. Basically that the academic scholarship is irrelevant and that is okay.
It is clear from your last line that you are never going to understand that the conference rules require an academic scholarship is offered, not a spot on the basketball team. I get that you think not offering them a spot on the team is wrong, but that is not the conference rule. It is not the letter of the rule or the spirit. So stop saying it is the conference rule.
But your whole argument rests on the idea that because everybody does it, it is acceptable for universities to give away highly coveted academic spots to guys who are not academically qualified and/or don't give a damn about the academic offering. Let's not romanticize these two guys. They weren't dying to be student athletes at Cal as mb says. They wanted to play basketball at the best team that would have them. If they cared about the student portion of being a student athlete, they would not leave an education at one of the top universities in the world on the table to play basketball at CCSF where they may or may not ever get another scholarship from anyone, and it is a dead certainty they will not get a scholarship at a school remotely close to like Cal. I'm perfectly fine with their decision. They have a right to their priorities and to take advantage of the offers given them. As far as I'm concerned, if basketball is their highest priority, have at it. But let's not try to claim that anything else was their priority to make us feel better. Because at base, it is pretty much crap that two guys who place this level of priority on academics (zero to little) were given scholarships and spots because of a supposed special talent that was frankly not even special. And worse is the fact that people think it is okay to give slots to guys that do not care about academics and in fact people pretty much expect them not to. Your whole argument presupposes that lack of value of the academic opportunity. I think that is a moral equivalency that is not acceptable so I find your accusation of Moraga to be massively hypocritical.
As for going to CCSF and coming back to Cal for their degree - no. They were given the scholarship due to their perceived value to the university. That value has dropped to zero. As is appropriate, the scholarship was still there for them (rule or no rule I would be seriously upset if it had been withdrawn}. They made their choice. They chose basketball. I've known several people who had the option to play college sports (including basketball) at a lower level school, some under scholarship, who made the sacrifice to pay for their college education. (I knew one guy in my high school who had offers in basketball who told me "c'mon, I'm not going to the NBA. I'm going to give up a great education so I can play a little longer?" Those are the people that should be given spots at an academic institution. You don't get to have your cake and eat it too. Personally, I wish
I know others are very glad they left. I would have been fine if they stayed and chose academics because at least it would have said we chose guys that belonged at Cal. I'd be happier if they went on to some good school that gave them the opportunity to play basketball and get a good education (obviously wasn't available). However, their decision tells me that the decision to offer them was a disaster all around. We gave spots to two guys who neither cared about academics or added anything to the basketball side of things.