Desperate times do not always call for ...

[MtnBuff]

I am soooo with you. I take deep offense to those ignorant narrow-minded ignoramusses who confuse toughness and leadership with being a socio-path. It is like saying that the armed forces should recruit more murderers because they are really good at killing. It totally takes the character issues out of the game. Coach Embree understands the difference folks. We need young men of character to get us out of this rut. Men of character are not sociopathic criminals. We will get our recruits out of big cities, suburbs, small towns and anywhere we can find tough young men with work ethics and moral standards. Coach Mac used to say that "football does not build character, it EXPOSES it."

Coach Mac has enough valuable quotes to fill a book but this is one of his best ones.

There are a lot of kids coming from the suburbs with parents who drive nice cars and wear the right brand of shoes that I wouldn't trust as far as I can throw them. At the same time there are a lot of kids from "the wrong side of town" who become the people you want moving into the house next door.

Falling into the habit of basing decisions on stereotypes and generalizations is the sign of a lazy thinker. Dan Hawkins was not a bad man (lousy coach but not a bad man) but it became clear that he let himself fall into some traps. He recruited based on a profile that he set in place including the famous two-parent family deal and emphasizing certain schools. Embree has thrown all that out and instead is looking at kids as individuals. We don't have a long history to go on but I am comfortable in saying that I will take the character of Embrees first class and what he has this year over what we saw from Hawkins any day.

People often forget these are still kids. They may look like young adults and most are bigger than most adults but when they get here they are straight out of high school. Take any group of =/-100 young people leaving home for the first time and you will have some bad decisions. My belief is that the steps Embree is taking which are not that different than Mac did will provide these students the best opportunity to demonstrate the best sides of their character.

I don't know details about the kids who got suspended from the team this week and frankly I shouldn't know. What I do know is that they are not Embree recruits but that Embree is defining a culture that will allow the program and the players in it to succeed. Any player is welcome to become a part of that culture or choose to make decisions that will result in leaving that culture. The team and the individuals in it will be stronger in the long run as a result of standing by the culture.

 

[Buffnik]

moett,

Thank you for bringing this up.

We're seeing an over-reaction from some CU fans based on the fact that we used to have some really talented players from places like Compton and Houston's 5th Ward. We have seen these guys do well here and go on to do good things with their degrees. But that's only because they were high character guys. Maybe their environments made them tougher and hungrier, but it wasn't that we were recruiting thugs and criminals.

Hawkins, as stated, alienated a lot of fans (and some folks claimed he was racist) for stressing the importance of 2-parent families in building the character of recruits. I won't get into that. But I will say that one of the reasons we love Coach Mac is that he had such fearless integrity. If he liked a kid, he did not hesitate to personally go into the projects to sit down and do an in-home visit out of respect for (usually) Mom and let the family know that he was going to do right by the kid if he came to CU.

That didn't just go for kids from the projects, but we went everywhere for talent and we created one of the strongest family environments at our program in all of college football. It is a big part of what made us great and it upset a lot of us that we lost that. It's a part of CU football that we're proud of. I see us getting that back under Coach Embree and that, more than anything, is why I'm willing to go to the wall for that man as he rebuilds.

 

[MtnBuff]

moett,

Thank you for bringing this up.

We're seeing an over-reaction from some CU fans based on the fact that we used to have some really talented players from places like Compton and Houston's 5th Ward. We have seen these guys do well here and go on to do good things with their degrees. But that's only because they were high character guys. Maybe their environments made them tougher and hungrier, but it wasn't that we were recruiting thugs and criminals.

Hawkins, as stated, alienated a lot of fans (and some folks claimed he was racist) for stressing the importance of 2-parent families in building the character of recruits. I won't get into that. But I will say that one of the reasons we love Coach Mac is that he had such fearless integrity. If he liked a kid, he did not hesitate to personally go into the projects to sit down and do an in-home visit out of respect for (usually) Mom and let the family know that he was going to do right by the kid if he came to CU.

That didn't just go for kids from the projects, but we went everywhere for talent and we created one of the strongest family environments at our program in all of college football. It is a big part of what made us great and it upset a lot of us that we lost that. It's a part of CU football that we're proud of. I see us getting that back under Coach Embree and that, more than anything, is why I'm willing to go to the wall for that man as he rebuilds.

Adding to this and I won't name any names, but I know that Coach Mac also had some very highly thought of kids who wanted to come to CU who he turned down after meeting the kids and their families because he didn't think they had the character he wanted. Again this had nothing to do with where they were from, some were from so called "good homes" and everything to do with the individual character of the kid. I hope and believe that Coach Embree is going that direction.

 

[moett88]

BuffNik and MtnBuff.......I truly understand the message behind what some where trying to say but you guys said it best. I've seen "both sides of the tracks" and not much changes with kids when you look into their heart no matter where they are from. Greatness will return just not at the expense of a profile.:nod:

 

[buffwoman526]

BuffNik and MtnBuff.......I truly understand the message behind what some where trying to say but you guys said it best. I've seen "both sides of the tracks" and not much changes with kids when you look into their heart no matter where they are from. Greatness will return just not at the expense of a profile.:nod:

Bolded and quoted for truth.

 

[Highlander27]

OK! You guys know you are family already. So it is here I am coming to vent as a fan only. WTF!

Was checking out the threads on another site and came across one with this title:

Talent = Thugs, Gangsters, Convicts, Felons...

As I dug deeper I saw there were not only one but 2 confused souls posting in this thread and I just had to comment. The thread took a turn south (didn't think it was possible) when the 2nd fan said that recruiting needs to get back to the ghettos and the not 2 parent households to pick up hungry kids that have talent. Now while I understand where this is coming from I can't believe that folks really think that the greatest athletes can only be thugs, gangsters, convicts, and ghetto children with single parent homes. I really thought were were in 2011! While I know fans are desperate to have this team get back to greatness going the ignorant route isn't going to cut it! There are talented kids at every level and walk of life. Looking for the best TALENT and the smartest player at their position should be the priority, regardless of where they come from. Just in shock that people have stressed themselves into making dumb statements. Especially, i'm assuming that they have never been to a ghetto.

Like with any part of society, there are the extreme .001% that don't speak for the masses which is clearly the case here. I don't even pay attention to idiots on the boards and hadn't clicked the link because of how stupid the thread sounded.

 

[Liver]

i want to win. but, i want for CU to win honorably. we're never going to be ou or bama or ohio state or any of the other football factories that are absolutely willing to put up with a huge scandal that damages their academic reps from time to time but allows them to maintain excellence in football more consistently.

that just isn't who we are. the times we've tried to cut corners, it has never worked out particularly well. [i guess i shouldn't talk about cutting corners right now-- we have so few of them left on the team]

i wish we would win as much as ou or the others, but we won't pay the price to do so. that is a fact. i'm not judging them. i envy their success. but, i have supported CU sports for my whole life and i just understand what is and is not possible in boulder.

what IS possible is a supportive faculty and administration that understands that a successful football program is a great ambassador for the school and that greatness in academics and athletics at the same time IS achievable.

if we model ourselves after cal, michigan, and texas, for example (all great public schools, and all very good in football too), we will do well. i don't care where they come from, but we need to have an environment that allows us to get the best athletes in and puts them in a position to succeed in life and in sports and in school. i think we've had that in the past. i think we can have that again. the rest of this is just noise.

 

[Wyo Buff]

“To the physically weak, football appears like a relic of barbarism at par with the Spanish bull fight, but, considering the course of training that the player must take, he becomes hardened and inured to danger, in serious casualties become few. The player develops physical strength and mental composure in the face of fierce and determined opposition, which enables him to better battle with the competition and business worries succeeding school life, of which the average student knows nothing and with which he usually buffets helplessly for years. A successful football team will advertise a University and attract as many male students as its educational facilities. This is avowedly admitted by Yale and Princeton authorities, hence the game should be encouraged by college faculties. It is not to the discredit of the American youth that he is thus attracted. It is indicative that he possesses hardihood and vigor and will not sink into lassitude and degeneracy which characterize the population of a degenerate nation.”
- John C. Nixon, Silver & Gold newspaper of December 16, 1898

 

[MtnBuff]

“To the physically weak, football appears like a relic of barbarism at par with the Spanish bull fight, but, considering the course of training that the player must take, he becomes hardened and inured to danger, in serious casualties become few. The player develops physical strength and mental composure in the face of fierce and determined opposition, which enables him to better battle with the competition and business worries succeeding school life, of which the average student knows nothing and with which he usually buffets helplessly for years. A successful football team will advertise a University and attract as many male students as its educational facilities. This is avowedly admitted by Yale and Princeton authorities, hence the game should be encouraged by college faculties. It is not to the discredit of the American youth that he is thus attracted. It is indicative that he possesses hardihood and vigor and will not sink into lassitude and degeneracy which characterize the population of a degenerate nation.”
- John C. Nixon, Silver & Gold newspaper of December 16, 1898

Hear, hear, ripping good stuff!

 

[Wyo Buff]

hear, hear, ripping good stuff!

remember the maine!!!!