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...During the game, I counted 66 kids in Cardinal red and white. In their media guide, more than half -- 36 -- were listed in the National Honor Society. More than a dozen were Merit Scholars in high school. Ten are now academic All-Pacific 10 Conference. Eight are studying for advanced degrees....</p>
<p>Recently a busload of USC athletes were found trying to pump up their grades by taking a class at Los Angeles Trade Tech College that was later discredited. That's not happening in Palo Alto. Cardinal players don't take Underwater Fire Prevention. This year, Stanford has 15 players majoring in engineering. They cannot take an easy coarse load. There isn't any.....</p>
<p>"The reality of college football is that it is big business," says Richard Lapchick, director of the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. He has made a career out of studying this stuff. Too often, he says, kids are brought in "more for their ability to score touchdowns than to get engineering degrees. Do these schools need to do a better job? Absolutely."
<p>Admissions for athletes have gotten a lot tougher in the last few years, much to the distress of athletics coaches. The admissions standards were raised a few years back, under the previous director. Now you have to be a scholar-athlete, not just an athlete, to have a chance at acceptance at Stanford.</p>
<p>It was always my understanding that Stanford's football team was made up of true students. I took great pleasure in their victory over USC. Remember when Matt Leinart was in his final year as QB and he only had to take one course to remain on the team --- Ballroom Dancing?</p>
<p>Even USC has some scholar atheletes. Everyplace does. It is really unfair to paint kids with such a broad brush. We tend to focus on the 1% that get into trouble and decide the other 99% are cut from the same cloth. I would think that sterotyping says more about us, then them. </p>
<p>This is not to support USC, I couldn't be happier when a big dog falls. It's what makes college atheletics fun to know on any given day.....</p>
<p>I'm very old school. I liked bowl games. That way dozens of schools could claim to be the best... Another advantage, was getting out of honey do's during bowl season. I could have almost 8 consecutive weekends without doing anything because I could honestly say "honey, don't you know this (fill in the bowl name) is for the national championship bragging rights?" "I'll do it later.." A pox on you BCS people.... Now more things are done :(</p>
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That was because he (ML) had all the credits he needed to graduate.
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He should not have been playing football as a college student if he was not taking a reasonable courseload. One ballroom dancing course does not a college student make. That's what a suburban mom does at nightschool to get out of the house once a week. At Stanford or Notre Dame he would have to be admitted into a graduate studies program or at least pursue a double major in order to continue on the team.</p>
<p>Good for Stanford and ND. That's not the NCAA rule and are you even sure of that fact? It would be no problem to register for 15 credits and never go to a class as the season is over before grades even come out. At least ML was honest.</p>
<p>Honest??? I don't think it was honest of ML to stay at USC to boost his draft position if he never intended to be a student. It's college football, and the players should be attending classes at the college. At any school that gives a hoot about their athletes' academic progress, the athletes MUST be making progress toward a degree and attending classes. So it certainly would be a problem to never attend class. Several ND football players gaduated in 3 1/2 years last season. They took full loads in the fall, however, and used the spring semester to prepare for combines. The fifth year seniors are in grad school. Thiis is how the ND program operates. No junior college transfers, and no phoney majors or undelcared juniors. I imagine if a player had a year studying abroad, or some extraordinary circumstances for being a fifth year without an undergrad degree completed, it would be considered, but I'm not certain. Not every player who has eligibility remaining is accepted into grad school either.</p>
<p>I don't think lienhart was a 5th year senior. I think he had enough credits to go early if he wanted to. Had he gone out his junior year, he would have either been the 1st or 2 second selection. He stayed for one, because he enjoyed his college experience and really was in no hurry for it to end. </p>
<p>SS it may be a bit unfair to wrap your arguement, which in some cases reasonable, around this kid. He didn't fit that mold. He played football and got his education at the same time. His family was not in need of his earnings, so he really didn't have to come out early. </p>
<p>While you could point out kids that don't graduate, but use up their four years at just about any place, including the golden dome. I think you may not know enough about ML to place your valid arguement here. It isn't wrong, it just doesn't fit him. </p>
<p>Godbless him, he wasn't in a hurry, it cost him millions ( and I do mean millions) to enjoy that last year at school. How often do you run across a kid that basically lets 10 million in salary go by the wayside for one last year of college life. </p>
<p>(You could say as the old joke goes, he couldn't afford the pay cut to go pro....)")</p>
<p>Leinart didnt come back to boost his draft position. He was the consensus number 1 pick if he had come out after the win over LSU in the title. He came back because, get this, he liked the college experience and knew he would regret not maximizing his eligibility. Many called him an idiot for coming back and in reality, he did make a bad decision (was drafted with the 10th pick a year later).</p>
<p>Hold up. Matt Leinert was just as great, if not, greater his senior season as he was his junior season. The draft is about the combines and individual workouts, and that would have put Leinert further down regardless of which year he left (he certainly wasn't ever going #1, but #10 ain't half bad either).</p>
<p>I can't believe the Jets let him slip by. That's a hard luck franchise if I ever saw one. Leinert also had a pretty good rookie season and contributed to what may go down as one of the best drafts in a very long time.</p>
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Leinart didnt come back to boost his draft position. He was the consensus number 1 pick if he had come out after the win over LSU in the title. He came back because, get this, he liked the college experience and knew he would regret not maximizing his eligibility. Many called him an idiot for coming back and in reality, he did make a bad decision (was drafted with the 10th pick a year later).
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He beat OU for the national championship, not LSU.</p>