No Alcohol Problem with Hawks

[clonedude]

Not exactly... Iowa's recruiting class is absolutely stellar thus far, and it's not even July! They just landed a 3-star DE out of Wisconsin with offers from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, Indiana and ISU. Hoch is deciding between Iowa and Mizzou on Monday and 4-star Andrew Donnal is rumored to have Iowa in the lead as well.

True. And that is why leading the nation in football player arrests is no big deal to the university, KF, or the fans.

As long as Iowa can still lure good football players to IC, and they still finish just above .500 on the field, nobody will care that the Hawkeyes are the new Miami Hurricanes from the 80's.

KF has already said that this is no big deal, it's only in the media because we live in a hell hole in Iowa with nothing better to do.... and now Mims confirms what KF says by saying it's no big deal. Hmmmm... and people wonder why they still have a problem down there???? Duhh.

 

[DJK15]

True. And that is why leading the nation in football player arrests is no big deal to the university, KF, or the fans.

 

[hawkfan]

True. And that is why leading the nation in football player arrests is no big deal to the university, KF, or the fans.

As long as Iowa can still lure good football players to IC, and they still finish just above .500 on the field, nobody will care that the Hawkeyes are the new Miami Hurricanes from the 80's.

KF has already said that this is no big deal, it's only in the media because we live in a hell hole in Iowa with nothing better to do.... and now Mims confirms what KF says by saying it's no big deal. Hmmmm... and people wonder why they still have a problem down there???? Duhh.

1.) Comparing today's Iowa football program to the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980's is like comparing a serial murderer to a person who speeds. The Hurricanes of the 80's are widely regarded as one of the biggest "Thug U's" of all time. Sexual assaults, theft, and drug use were weekly occurrences in that program during that time, Iowa is no where close to where Miami was in the 80's, even if they had an alcohol related offense every day for the next 2 months. Horrible comparison.

2.) Ferentz's statement wasn't that we live in a hell hole, it was that we live in such a great environment (i.e. safe) that kids getting busted for alcohol is front page news because we don't have to worry about serious crimes like murders very often.

 

[clonedude]

1.) Comparing today's Iowa football program to the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980's is like comparing a serial murderer to a person who speeds. The Hurricanes of the 80's are widely regarded as one of the biggest "Thug U's" of all time. Sexual assaults, theft, and drug use were weekly occurrences in that program during that time, Iowa is no where close to where Miami was in the 80's, even if they had an alcohol related offense every day for the next 2 months. Horrible comparison.

2.) Ferentz's statement wasn't that we live in a hell hole, it was that we live in such a great environment (i.e. safe) that kids getting busted for alcohol is front page news because we don't have to worry about serious crimes like murders very often.

Iowa is leading the nation in football player arrests. Florida just made big news recently for having 24 arrests in the last 2 years. Heck, Iowa has had 33 now. Florida's may very well be worse crimes, but Iowa still has more.

And Ferentz basically said that all these arrests are only in the media because we live in Iowa. Take that however you want to.

As I've said... if you guys are proud of your football team... then so be it. It says a lot about whether winning is more important than pride to Iowa fans?

 

[Cycloin]

1.) Comparing today's Iowa football program to the Miami Hurricanes of the 1980's is like comparing a serial murderer to a person who speeds. The Hurricanes of the 80's are widely regarded as one of the biggest "Thug U's" of all time. Sexual assaults, theft, and drug use were weekly occurrences in that program during that time, Iowa is no where close to where Miami was in the 80's, even if they had an alcohol related offense every day for the next 2 months. Horrible comparison.

2.) Ferentz's statement wasn't that we live in a hell hole, it was that we live in such a great environment (i.e. safe) that kids getting busted for alcohol is front page news because we don't have to worry about serious crimes like murders very often.

Agree with number 1, but moral equivalency is not a real solid defense.

No. 2 is open to interpretation. When I heard his quote, I detected a after the "great state" comment.

 

[Wx4Cy]

There's only so much a coach can learn about a kid through 4-5 visits and a couple phone conversations. It's not like the Citi Boyz had criminal records before coming to Iowa. By all accounts they sounded like great kids coming in and showed their true colors once they signed the dotted line.

I'd be fine with that explanation if you guys didn't play that card only when it was your guys. When stuff like this happens to another program it seems to be a much different story.

 

[JDDCy]

DJK15, do you have kids? Just curious since I know becoming a parent has made a big difference in how I look at things. I graduated at the tail end of the Walden years. Back then I would have taken as many thugs as possible if it meant we would put together some competetive teams. We had our first son in 1999 and I really started to be more concerned about how the players and coaches represented themselves and the University. I was really tired of all the negative baggage that was showing up during the last couple years of the LE era. My oldest son loves ISU even though we have stunk for most of the time he has paid attention to sports. I hope when we turn it around we do it the right way so I don't have to explain to him why a player hasn't received any punishment when they screw up off the field.

 

[clonedude]

DJK15, do you have kids? Just curious since I know becoming a parent has made a big difference in how I look at things. I graduated at the tail end of the Walden years. Back then I would have taken as many thugs as possible if it meant we would put together some competetive teams. We had our first son in 1999 and I really started to be more concerned about how the players and coaches represented themselves and the University. I was really tired of all the negative baggage that was showing up during the last couple years of the LE era. My oldest son loves ISU even though we have stunk for most of the time he has paid attention to sports. I hope when we turn it around we do it the right way so I don't have to explain to him why a player hasn't received any punishment when they screw up off the field.

If Iowa admitted they had a problem down there, it would hurt recruiting pretty bad IMO. So best to cover it up, put a good spin on it, keep things secret in court with payoffs, and let the recruits keep on coming.

Don't mess with football in IC folks. People have been fired from their jobs for wanting to do things the right way down there.

 

[swammi]

No, they want it stopped, they just want the public to ignore what is going on or treat it like it is no big deal, because this kind of thing goes on at every college, it really isn't that bad, a football player at XYZ university got arrested last night.....................:mask:

Yes. All actions are being pursued. That is, except actually confronting the problem and dealing with it. As my sainted mother used to say:"if everyone you knew was jumping off a bridge, would you?"

 

[jmb]

[ we don't have to worry about serious crimes like murders very often.[/QUOTE]

or rape, or credit card fraud...:mask:

 

[hawkfan]

Iowa is leading the nation in football player arrests. Florida just made big news recently for having 24 arrests in the last 2 years. Heck, Iowa has had 33 now. Florida's may very well be worse crimes, but Iowa still has more.

And Ferentz basically said that all these arrests are only in the media because we live in Iowa. Take that however you want to.

As I've said... if you guys are proud of your football team... then so be it. It says a lot about whether winning is more important than pride to Iowa fans?

Yeah, but you basically said that today's Iowa football program is the equivalent of what the Miami Hurricane program was in the 80's, and as I pointed out, that may be the overstatement of the year.

Most of Iowa's arrests are alcohol related, and of course I'd like to see them stop. If I were Ferentz I'd simply tell players that they are banned from going to bars. Tell players that they have to decide what is more of a priority for them: football or ped mall. If they go to the bars, they lose their scholarship and are kicked off the team...no exceptions. That would eliminate 80% of these arrests. If kids drink at house parties or in their dorm they don't have to drive back nearly as often and aren't around nearly as many police officers.

 

[hawkfan]

[ we don't have to worry about serious crimes like murders very often.

or rape, or credit card fraud...:mask:[/QUOTE]

And are any of the guys that committed those crimes still on the team? No, they were immediately suspended, then subsequently removed from the team. When a serious crime (like sexual assault or credit card fraud) is committed, KF deals with the issue immediately. Do you consider alcohol related offenses serious crimes? That is where pretty much all of Iowa's legal woes have come from since 07.

 

[CycloneErik]

Yeah, but you basically said that today's Iowa football program is the equivalent of what the Miami Hurricane program was in the 80's, and as I pointed out, that may be the overstatement of the year.

Most of Iowa's arrests are alcohol related, and of course I'd like to see them stop. If I were Ferentz I'd simply tell players that they are banned from going to bars. Tell players that they have to decide what is more of a priority for them: football or ped mall. If they go to the bars, they lose their scholarship and are kicked off the team...no exceptions. That would eliminate 80% of these arrests. If kids drink at house parties or in their dorm they don't have to drive back nearly as often and aren't around nearly as many police officers.

If he did that, he'd have a chance to make a real dent in the problem. I'd salute the man for doing it.

Since he says that there isn't a problem, I don't think it's going away.

In all seriousness, if he implemented your solution, put some teeth to it, and enforced it no matter the skill level of the player, it would turn around, and I know it would be the kind of thing that makes all kinds of Iowans proud.

 

[cyclonestate]

It is generally recognized that the first step in solving a problem is admitting that you have a problem. Until that happens, the situation is not going to improve.

Does Mims have any idea how foolish he looks?

 

[kgreeny]

Most of Iowa's arrests are alcohol related, and of course I'd like to see them stop. If I were Ferentz I'd simply tell players that they are banned from going to bars. Tell players that they have to decide what is more of a priority for them: football or ped mall. If they go to the bars, they lose their scholarship and are kicked off the team...no exceptions. That would eliminate 80% of these arrests. If kids drink at house parties or in their dorm they don't have to drive back nearly as often and aren't around nearly as many police officers.

This is true! And I agree with you it would work. So why has KF not done it? If he had said that three weeks ago and then kick off the starting tackle last week (can remember his name), the problem would most likly go away, just like you said.

So, why are you Hawk fans not pushing for that?

 

[Dryburn]

Wait until one of these players drinking drives a car and kills an innocent person, another player or themselves. Then maybe it will be a problem for Hawk fans, but maybe not.......not if they had a good year.

 

[TarHeelHawk]

Iowa is leading the nation in football player arrests. Florida just made big news recently for having 24 arrests in the last 2 years. Heck, Iowa has had 33 now. Florida's may very well be worse crimes, but Iowa still has more.

And Ferentz basically said that all these arrests are only in the media because we live in Iowa. Take that however you want to.

As I've said... if you guys are proud of your football team... then so be it. It says a lot about whether winning is more important than pride to Iowa fans?

Interesting...so even though Florida's are worse crimes, they're better off than Iowa because they haven't had as many?

 

[TarHeelHawk]

Wait until one of these players drinking drives a car and kills an innocent person, another player or themselves. Then maybe it will be a problem for Hawk fans, but maybe not.......not if they had a good year.

There are 25,000 thousand or so kids enrolled at Iowa, 85-100 of which are on the football team.

What if it's one of the other 24,900 kids? Will you be as upset and militant about it then?

 

[clonedude]

This is true! And I agree with you it would work. So why has KF not done it? If he had said that three weeks ago and then kick off the starting tackle last week (can remember his name), the problem would most likly go away, just like you said.

So, we are you Hawk fans not pushing for that?

That definately would work IMO. But you will NEVER see it happen. We're talking money people... the almighty dollar. What could be more important in life than that?

If KF implemented this plan, his recruiting would suffer immensely. What football player would come to Iowa if they couldn't ever go down to the ped mall? Next to none. And then Iowa would suffer on the football field as the talent level declined. Yes, there would be fewer arrests, but the wins would go down. When the wins go down, the fans become upset and stop going. Ticket sales decline and no money comes in from bowl games anymore. Get the picture?

It's the problem that schools like Iowa and ISU have to face. As much as Iowa thinks they are a top level program.... they are not. Kids do NOT want to come from Florida, Texas, and California to Iowa to play football if they can go somewhere else for the most part.

However... if you find out that you can go to bars when you're a freshman, you can live in subsidized housing so you have more money in your pocket, and if you get into trouble it will usually be handled "internally", then you can lure some of these players to your program. Simple as that.

Winning is usually greater than doing things the right way. And unless you are a top tier program... you usually cannot do both. Pretty simple folks.

 

[hawkfan]

This is true! And I agree with you it would work. So why has KF not done it? If he had said that three weeks ago and then kick off the starting tackle last week (can remember his name), the problem would most likly go away, just like you said.

So, we are you Hawk fans not pushing for that?

Unfortunately, fans don't have a whole lot of say in the matter. With the exception boycotting Iowa games, there really isn't much the fans can do (and boycotting games means that you don't support the 85% of the team that are hard working student athletes who don't get in trouble).

We could write all the hate letter we want, but the fact of the matter is that it comes down to cold hard cash...unfortunately that's what most everything in this world comes down to. If KF keeps getting Iowa to bowl games that pay out over $1 million a year, the administration at Iowa won't give two ***** about a few college kids drinking because he is making them a lot of money. Further, Ferentz receives performance bonuses when his team achieves at a high level, so he is also motivated to turn the other cheek on the alcohol related issues.

I GUARANTEE that if ISU were in the position of being a borderline top 25 football team year after year, and their football team brought in millions and millions of dollars from attendance and bowl games, their administration would be pretty lax on alcohol related offenses, just like the U of I is currently being. It would be financially stupid to come down hard on kids for doing something that most all college students do and potentially cost yourself millions of dollars in the process.

I'm not saying that it is right, but money makes the world go round, and money is the reason that these alcohol offenses aren't being taken THAT seriously. College kids drink, that is just the way it is, and though the chain of arrests look bad for Iowa, the offenses could certainly be worse. I'd be a huge proponent of banning football players from the bars (as stated above), but that probably won't happen because it all comes down to the almighty $$$.