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Urban Meyer will be home for dinner
ESPN--The Magazine ^ | August 20, 2012 | Wright Thompson

Posted on 09/07/2012 1:02:56 PM PDT by cdga5for4

Before you join Urban Meyer, who is walking toward the exit of the Ohio State football office, there's a scar you need to see. A few years ago in Gainesville, his middle child, Gigi, planned a celebration to formally accept a college volleyball scholarship to Florida Gulf Coast University. It was football season, so she checked her dad's calendar, scheduling her big day around his job. As the hour approached, she waited at her high school, wanting much, expecting little. Some now-forgotten problem consumed Meyer, and he told his secretary he didn't have time. He wasn't going. His beautiful, athletic, earnest daughter would have to sign her letter of intent without him. Meyer's secretary, a mother of four, insisted: "You're going."

Eighty or so people filed into the school cafeteria. Urban and his wife, Shelley, joined their daughter at the front table, watching as Gigi stood and spoke. She'd been nervous all day, and with a room of eyes on her, she thanked her mother for being there season after season, year after year.

Then she turned to her father.

He'd missed almost everything. You weren't there, she told him.

Shelley Meyer winced. Her heart broke for Urban, who sat with a thin smile, crushed. Moments later, Gigi high-fived her dad without making eye contact, then hugged her coach. Urban dragged himself back to the car. Then -- and this arrives at the guts of his conflict -- Urban Meyer went back to work, pulled by some biological imperative. His daughter's words ran through his mind, troubling him, and yet he returned to the shifting pixels on his television, studying for a game he'd either win or lose.

(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: chat; sports
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To: Mase

Show me the SAT scores of the football team vs the rest of the student population.


21 posted on 09/07/2012 5:48:53 PM PDT by nascarnation (Defeat Baraq 2012. Deport Baraq 2013)
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To: EDINVA

Yup. At Stanford, you either pull the weight or you find another school, football star notwithstanding. Good friend from high school went to Stanford and played football. I got to spend a few minutes with him when Stanford came to play PSU. All he could talk about was how tough it was to balance sports and academics. He graduated with a degree in Engineering. There are lots of schools like Stanford, even though, unfortunately, there are many more unlike them.


22 posted on 09/07/2012 6:33:21 PM PDT by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: nascarnation

Are you serious? The football team has to meet the same requirements for admission as everyone else. They turn some of the best athletes away every year because they don’t meet the grade. Even so, Stanford consistently fields solid teams in many sports every year. I’m guessing you also don’t know much about the Ivy League or schools like Duke either. But here you are offering your opinion anyway.....


23 posted on 09/07/2012 6:37:51 PM PDT by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: Mase

I have first hand knowledge that the admission requirements are lower for highly desired athletes. At Ivy league and other top schools.


24 posted on 09/07/2012 6:45:34 PM PDT by Aurorales (I will not be ridiculed into silence)
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To: Aurorales

All things being otherwise equal, being a star athlete is a distinct advantage to any competitive admissions school, whether Ivy, Duke, Stanford, or the military academies. But the athlete cannot deviate greatly from the school’s norm. The Ivies and other competitive schools are not going to take a kid with very low SATs or GPA. The highly competitive schools will only go so far as to take an athlete who’s at the low end of the school’s mid-range. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter how good an athlete the kid is.


25 posted on 09/07/2012 8:05:27 PM PDT by EDINVA
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To: Aurorales

All things being otherwise equal, being a star athlete is a distinct advantage for entry to any competitive admissions school, whether Ivy, Duke, Stanford, or the military academies. (same is true for band at schools where that is important).

But the athlete cannot deviate greatly from the school’s norm. The competitive schools are not going to take a kid with very low SATs or GPA. The highly competitive schools will only go so far as to take an athlete who’s at the low end of the school’s mid-range. Beyond that, it doesn’t matter how good an athlete the kid is.


26 posted on 09/07/2012 8:08:37 PM PDT by EDINVA
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To: Aurorales
I have no doubt that desired athletes are treated differently than other students when it comes to admission requirements. It's a sad reality of today's collegiate economics.

I used Stanford as an example of what college athletic programs could and should be as I have first hand knowledge of just how stringent their admission standards are, and that they are applied evenly. I would also offer Duke as a similar example.There are many others that can also be cited, Ivy League included - although I'm sure exceptions are made, especially for minorities who come from difficult environments. Even so, it's near impossible to go to Princeton if you're a dummy.

But let's not forget the comment I was originally responding to:

I've found that people who make broad and sweeping generalizations like this one usually don't have much of an understanding of the subject. Your mileage may vary.

27 posted on 09/07/2012 8:09:55 PM PDT by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: Mase

Let me rephrase and not be so general with my statement...
I have first hand knowledge of Stanford and Princeton and my list could be much longer if I cared, very actively recruiting and lowering their standards to let in highly desirable athletes.


28 posted on 09/08/2012 1:02:35 AM PDT by Aurorales (I will not be ridiculed into silence)
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To: cdga5for4

For the record, I have NO relation to Urban Meyer.

I am more loosely tied to the suburban Meyer klan.


29 posted on 09/08/2012 1:09:57 AM PDT by meyer (It's 1860 all over again - the taxpayer is the new "N" word)
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