Spoiled athletes need reality check
Michael Daly
Issue date: 4/22/09 Section: Opinion
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The special treatment some athletes receive at the Division I level has been well documented. Most people have heard the story of former Ohio State University running back Maurice Clarett accusing his former coach, Jim Tressel, of arranging for him to get passing grades, cars and money for bogus summer jobs. Clarett also once walked out of a midterm exam because he "didn't know a thing," and was later allowed to take an oral exam instead. He "passed."
The likelihood of such events occurring at UW-Whitewater is highly unlikely, if not impossible. But some Warhawk athletes do receive treatment their non-athlete peers are not afforded.
While I was in the Williams Center weight room April 10, three athletes from one of UW-Whitewater's elite programs attempted to work out, independent of their team, without handing over their student IDs. They had their IDs, they just simply didn't want to perform the laborious task of handing them over to the Williams Center employees. One athlete was cooperative, a second eventually forked over his ID, but the third refused until the police were called. That's right; the police were summoned because an athlete wouldn't take his ID out of his wallet and hand it to the employee. Nothing really happened, and all three were allowed to stay after wasting everyone's time.
Days later, the athletes didn't want to comment on it. The coaches didn't want a story about it, and the Williams Center employees-presumably due to the fear of singling out athletes-didn't want to talk about it either.
This particular athlete conducted himself in a way his coaches surely would not condone. Neither their demeanor, nor their language was respectful, but that's OK, because they're athletes. They're allowed to play the system. Next time I'm in the Williams Center, I'll keep my ID, wear my headphones on the bottom floor and bench press naked because I feel like it. Although when I break the rules and act like a goon, I won't have a coach or administrator who will go to bat for me.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 84
whitewater_11
Great Article
posted 4/22/09 @ 12:18 AM CST
Let's face the facts, it's D3 football we're playing here at Whitewater. You guys aren't going to make an NFL team, and many of you would be lucky to make it on an AF2 team (Yes, that is a lower division than the AFL). (Continued…)
John
posted 4/22/09 @ 12:21 AM CST
Mike "Maverick" Daly takin' on the man...I like it.
football players are special
posted 4/22/09 @ 12:22 AM CST
pretty ridiculous that they had call in the po-pos for one whiny football player. i wish i knew who it was.
this writer is also by far the best one the rp has, every time he writes a column it's either really funny or thought provoking, i really wish he would do them more often
siyavash motamedi
posted 4/22/09 @ 12:39 AM CST
I agree totally. If you cannot count on the administration (adults) in this situation to teach these guys a lesson on what I call common respect, down the road that lack of respect towards authority (or anyone for that matter) can eventually lead to bigger consequences. (Continued…)
Ryan
posted 4/22/09 @ 12:44 AM CST
In response to some of the comments, how can you be so sure it was a football player? The author just said they were athletes. Although I guess it is not that far of a leap to make. (Continued…)
Paul
posted 4/22/09 @ 8:20 AM CST
Right on the money with some of these guys - I bet this article won't make you popular with the football team. I would love to know which fool refused to pull out his id. (Continued…)
mary b
posted 4/22/09 @ 11:08 AM CST
unfortunately it goes beyond the world of sports - young people today are bailled out by parents/adults in all kinds of settings and are not required to follow the rules. (Continued…)
Shawn
posted 4/22/09 @ 11:09 AM CST
I don't know if you can blame these athletes...maybe they're still bitter that they weren't offered any scholarships out of high school and had to settle for a ton of free apparel instead. (Continued…)
Humberto Fuente
posted 4/22/09 @ 12:48 PM CST
Although I tend to agree with the people posting here and the article ... Not handing over an ID seems pretty trivial. Maybe if they got free parking or meals or something it would be more outrageous. (Continued…)
I wouldn't have integerity if I got free underarmer
posted 4/22/09 @ 1:44 PM CST
Majority of athletes (but mostly just one sport) are enjoying UWW with such a high power trip, incidents like the one of the weight room, probably have no effect. (Continued…)
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