The other day someone i was talking to an aquaintance about collegiate athletics. his comment was that i was given my degree and that i always knew the answers to my tests before hand in college. So dumbfounded I had to explain to him that being an athlete i had to actually work harder to stay on top of grades and could not miss class unless we called in sick with a note. I actually never missed a day of class while i was on the track team at Tarleton State. Who else out there went to college and was a part of a collegiate team and what experiences good or bad and how did it shape your life?
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The only thing that changed shape in my life while I was at Tarleton was my liver... I'm sure my mom's visa card made the folks at M&M REAAAALLLLY think at 17 that I was really 21.. hmmmmm... -
if you are a star then it is handed to you.Comment
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MC,
I was also a track athlete in College. Shot put, hammer and disc for Western Michigan University. Graduated in 2001.
Your friends comments are pretty asinine, if you ask me. I graduated with a finance degree and earned every grade I got from studying, not from being given answers. For the most part, athletes DO NOT get things served to them on a platter. The ONLY exceptions to that rule would be SOME football and basketball players at the bigger schools. You could have called me a "STAR" athlete in college. That's my fame to claim, but who gives a $%^@ about a track athlete. It's a "NON-REVENUE" sport. Trust me.... star or not, nothing was handed to us.
JLast edited by justhrowit; 05-20-2007, 08:56 AM.Comment
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justthrowit. i never thought i would've been in track but it was awesome and i'm actually really glad i went to a smaller school to start off.Comment
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In high school I played football, baseball, basketball, track, and golf. I turned down several smaller schools in baseball and football to attend to the University of Texas. I had recruiting trips to two big 12 schools in football. I was offered a preferred walk-on spot at UT and given a spot on the roster. I had to have a job in college to help pay for it, so football was put on the back burner. When I told UT that I would be not walking on due to finical reasons, they offered me a job as a student equipment manager/student coach. It was the best decision of my life.
I worked for the team for 5 years and it helped pay my way through school. I received every benefit as a scholarship athlete plus more. I got to register for classes before the normal students and I could have a tutor when every I needed it paid for by the University. It was a lot of hard work as it was 7 days a week, 50 hours a week. I would leave on Thursday night for an out of town game and get back on Sunday AM. I traveled to games from California to New York. I have 5 Bowl Rings and 7 Watches from Big 12 Championship and Bowl games. I learned a lot of the inside workings of a major college sports team and I made a ton of contacts that I still use daily to help me out. Without UT I would not be where I am today in my career. It has opened up a ton of doors that would never have been open if not for my job at UT. Mack Brown wrote me a letter of recommendation when I applied for my first job out of college. Now that I am out of school I still continue to receive the benefits of being a part of the program. I get free tickets for life to Texas football, still get to visit the locker room on game day, member of the T-man Association (UT Football Letter Winners Club), tickets to most any sporting event, friends in the NFL and MLB, and the ability to get help from the support staff at Texas if I need anything.
Mack Brown and Texas are a family. I still get the support and have the ties to the program. I know a lot of people like to crack on Mack, but he is as solid as they come and will do whatever he can to help out.
Running out of the smoke on Senior Day
Me playing with balls before a game
VY and Me. He is tall
Me, Major Applewhite, and my high school coach
10 days at the College World Series in Omaha, Ne
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Originally posted by mesquitecountry View PostIf hauling back LOADS of beer from Proctor was a Collegiate sport count me in too.Originally posted by helibow View Post
My 5 years at college were the best years of my life so far but there was sure alot back then I would have done differently. I could have played football there for them. I was asked to walk on but after playing football since the time I was in 3rd grade I was really tired of it so I didn't. Looking back I wish I would have. 
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man i love proctor and i miss dublin dr. pepper jaspro. i could have made the trip to proctor with my eyes closed. i bought beer from ray (i think his name was) at the river bridge store when i was just 18. i'd bring him deer sausage and he'd give me bottles of whiskey. I'll never forget one day i went in to the liquor store and no one was in there i was looking around and i figured ray went around back to the bathroom or something. I opened the door to the cooler to get some beer and someone started talking to me from inside. scared the **** out of me. Lmao. man tarleton was some great times. lots of good memories that i'll never tell anyone about for fear they might get out
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I actually got a $275 ticket for bootlegging one night coming back from proctor. I went to get a keg by myself and when I got stopped it was more beer than one person was allowed to carry back into a dry county.
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thank goodness i never got one. I knew tarleton was a great school when the first day of orientation they explained to us all the drinking laws.
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Travis, this is sad but true and you must have seen this situation more than once.
I was not a collegiate athlete. I was however exposed to the inter workings of "revenue generating" collegiate sports. Most don't like to talk about it but when I have to work my butt off just to get by and someone else is handed a degree or given money and grades because of their athletic ability, it chaps my butt. It happens and it happens everywhere. It isn't in all sports. Football and basketball are the biggest culprits. College football and basketball generate millions of dollars for the top tier programs. They want the best athletes and want to keep them on the field. Football and basketball players that can't manage a complete sentence in proper English and are at a 6th grade reading level receiving their "degree" from a "Top 20" university is a JOKE! This didn't start in college either. They were pushed through the system in high school to keep them eligible- ticket sales, school recognition.
I do have to state that not all great college athletes are given grades to keep them eligible. Not all need the help but for those that do......That being said...........Super star athletes who don't have the "smarts" to cut it, typically stay general studies or "undecided" for much of their college career. They are given watered-down class schedules taught by athletic-friendly professors. When and if they declare a major, they are still taken care of so that they may generate more money. It doesn't take a genius to listen to these men to figure out they wouldn't be where they were without their athletic ability.
Allowances are made for them right off the bat. "Jr., your SAT scores are 300pts. below minimum acceptance level for XYZ U. but thats OK. We can overlook that because we really want you to play for us. We have some really great tutors and professors that will help you with course work."
This is why so many are calling for student athletes to be "payed" up front, on the table instead of under it. It happens. It happens at all major levels with all "big money" sports. The NCAA is a joke. They couldn't find their butt with a map and a guide....or maybe they turn a blind eye to it all. It all comes down to money. "you are dumb as a rock, can't spell your own name, but can run a 4.2 40....you are in and don't worry about that classroom part!"
It is sad but true. If you haven't seen it, you either don't want to or haven't looked hard enough. Personally, let them play football or basketball, its great entertainment. Pay them, don't make them go to class if they don't want to and don't given them the same degree I busted my butt for for little or no effort.Comment
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i agree with all that jason. i was lucky enough to be in a program (track) that did not have that large of a revenue and only gave out scholarships. I was lucky enough to get one for a couple of years. It was great but i'd say football and basketball definitely get their "perks". being on the track program we were always getting pushed to the bottom of the pile. That's why i never played football. had offers to SWT UTEP, SFA and Tarleton but Track is where I wanted to be.Comment
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Dang Heath! What an awsome college experience!
Major Applewhite always amazed me. He didn't look anything like a quarterback but had the football mind as if he knew what the other side was doing all the time.Comment
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Played Basketball at St. Mary's University in San Antonio from 2000-2004. I was never given anything, except the usual meal money on game days. I could not miss class at all. We had to sign in at the coaches office every morning at 8 am no matter what time our first class was. We had one week off per year. It was the week after Spring break. We were still "encouraged" to go thru "non-mandatory" workouts during that week though. We routinely ran Mon, Wed, Friday, at 6 am til we threw up! It was more of a job than a enjoyable experience. But I don't regret it at all! I made some of the best friends by attending St. Mary's and it made me become a more strong willed, confident person.
I didn't learn how to drink and still go to practice, until my Junior and Senior year though! Then college was really fun! We got to travel the country, go play in Hawaii. Good times, my entire tuition was paid every year, met life long friends! However, I wish I could have played at Texas and gotten the "perks" that they were given!Comment
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I was on the Texas Tech beer drinking team.
Sad part of that is that I only made the second string.
I bet if they would let me back in I could at least get All American Honorable Mention now.
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