Whether we like Whiting or not

Baseball
23

Well, I have SIX degrees; earned at ages 22, 25, 37, 38, 44, and 51; may still get one or two more before all is said and done (still using up ed benefits).

Two are from AAU schools, and two are from law schools; five are Masters and above. In five of those six, I made a 3.2 or above GPA, so I definitely know what it takes in order to achieve that, and it’s not a walk in the park; and I can say that I have degrees in business, law, military history, and sports, as well as engineering and foreign language minors, so I have a pretty broad number of schools and subjects covered.

Guess what?

I won’t try to call making a 3.0 or 3.2 above “easy” in any context; if it were then more people would achieve that distinction. Playing a d1 sport while doing so is even tougher.

And if someone achieved such a distinction, I’d be praising them for it, not trying to belittle it by presuming it is easy and calling it such.

As for the fact that over 1100 students achieved it, that’s out of about 5,000 or so student athletes.

That puts these athletes among at least the Top 25% of their peers, if not better.

So no. If it were easy then why don’t 75% or more of their peers achieve it?

Obviously, it’s not as easy as you say.

24

Nobody cares about you or your degrees….

Good for you for restating the exact thing you said over again….

image

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The sparkle in the dog’s eye really rounds it out. I’m just talking aesthetics here. Not wanting to argue over artistic nuance.

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Nor does anyone care about yours.

Didn’t stop you from mentioning them though.

So I figured I could as well.

You were first, after all, to mention your degrees on this string, and not only that, you also mentioned when in life you got them, without solicitation, so, if it was OK for you to do so, then it was obviously Ok for me to do the same!

Right?

Hint: RIGHT!!!

Two can play at that game, eh?

And if you don’t care about my degrees, then I’d have to wonder why you took the time to comment on them. Obviously they were of some interest to you. People generally don’t comment on things that they truly don’t care about.

Just sayin’!

In any event, my point remains valid.

Making this list puts these athletes in the Top 25% or better of their jock peers, so obviously gaining that distinction isn’t easy, as you contended.

More than 75% of their athletic peers couldn’t attain that same distinction.

It is indeed, as such, something they should be commended for, and not belittled for.

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The reason I mentioned mine was because it was that I got the first one while playing baseball !!!

I wasn’t bragging!!! Good lord, there is something wrong with you man….

Everything goes over your head, your comprehension skills suck and you think you are an expert in every subject in the entire world….

Even in things you know nothing about you always have to have the last word, no matter how wrong you are….

You need some help man……you have serious issues you need to work out….

The fact that you thought I was actually bragging about my degree shows how clueless you are….everyone on this site has a degree or multiple degrees or is working on them……you think I was bragging?! How freaking stupid.

Even dumber was that you came back listing yours to show how much more educated you are than me….you could have a hundred degrees but you still don’t have common sense.

I actually played four years of ball and was simply saying that I managed to get a degree without much effort….you couldn’t even figure that out?

Take about a hundred chill pills, get a hobby, and shut your damn mouth about things you know nothing about….

This will be my last minute of wasting time on your ridiculous posts……

So go ahead and flame away now, get in those really good digs since I won’t respond……

Almost forgot, I didn’t “belittle” anyone, you just don’t know what the word means….

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Then you should know that over 75% of those baseball players and other d1 athletes DON’T achieve that distinction.

Were you one of the 75% that didn’t or something?

Not sure why this seems to be an emotional issue for you.

Right up there with how only the types of TV shows that YOU like should be considered good and worthy of discussion on a TV series string. Whatever man.

Given that more than 75% of those players don’t achieve that milestone, it’s obviously not as easy to achieve as you say.

Which, of course makes it impressive, indicates that it’s NOT an easy thing to attain (as YOU suggested), and that makes it something worthy to commend people for achieving, as opposed to belittling those accomplishments as you did, by saying, “oh if you knew how easy it was to gain that distinction, then you wouldn’t be impressed,” or whatever words to that effect you said.

Yes, you were belittling that distinction and those that earned it when you said that.

You can claim otherwise if you wish, but I call it like I see it. Feel free to disagree if you like.

And I clearly wasn’t the only one on this string that saw it that way, so you might want to listen.

Your having played college baseball in no way invalidates the FACT that more than 75% of those players won’t achieve something that you claim is “easy” to achieve. Not sure how or why you think that having played gives you a leg up here. It doesn’t. Facts like that are stubborn things that your experience doesn’t refute. If it were easy to do what those guys did, then why don’t/why can’t many people achieve it?

As for wanting to have the last word, look who’s talking.

My guess is that you’ll post another rant like the last one you did here in an effort to get the last word in.

We’ll see.

Trust me. I know what it takes to make a 3.25 or better, because I’ve done it many times in multiple fields at multiple schools. That’s why I mentioned it. It ain’t a cakewalk, even in less demanding fields of study, and even if you don’t play sports. Playing sports makes it even tougher. Don’t try to minimize it.

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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

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All I know… is my undergraduate was the hardest degree to get at UH when I was there… BSEE!

There was one athlete that took engineering courses in the spring semesters when I was in the engineering school… that’s it.

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Oh yeah. I know.

All one has to do is look down the list of players in football, basketball, etc. and see what their majors are. Obviously, most aren’t Engineering, Architecture, or hard science majors.

That said, getting a 3.25 or above, which those first team all-conference people did, isn’t easy in ANY major.

I know that as someone that has done exactly that in FIVE different fields of study.

Obviously, getting a 3.25 or above in Recreation, Sports, and Tourism with an emphasis in Sports Management (my Illinois Master’s degree), was easier than getting a 3.25 or above in Intellectual Property Law (my Yeshiva U. LL.M degree).

But making a 3.25 or above, even in a sports degree, still took some pretty serious work, and if you are a D1 athlete that has to devote time to a sport that I didn’t have to, then it’s even harder.

That’s why fewer than one-fourth of those athletes achieved such a distinction. Because it AIN’T easy.

And that’s why they deserve some commendation and recognition. They don’t deserve any of this “if you knew how easy it was you wouldn’t be so impressed” ga-ga.

That’s MY point.

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Right… I just had to work full time and go to school full time… :crazy_face:

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Same deal.

YOU deserve commendation and recognition as well!

KUDOS!!!

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34

I get it in my salary… :wink:

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35

It would require going to class, which a lot of these prima donna’s in sports don’t do.

Good for Whitting to recruit solid players.

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36

Exactly sir.

It’s not that it’s some sort of miraculous feat….the guys that made it went to class, stayed on top of their assignments and studied….these are these guys I would hire first coming out of school.

Many more guys could make all-academic if the simply had the work ethic to make it happen.

It has already correctly been said that most of the players did not have difficult majors, you agreed that some guys simply don’t go to class or put in the effort.

So yes, as I ve said before a few times, it is great for the guys that achieved that distinction……they put in the work.
But it is not as though more guys don’t make it because it is too difficult academically.

That is a fallacy.

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Now guys in D2, D3 and NAIA don’t have all of the academic support that the D1 guys do, and they often have less accommodating professors. It’s a grind to pull a 3.0+ with 15 hours while taking cross-country bus trips in the spring. I would say it definitely requires more than showing up for class.

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38

Listen folks, you could make the same “work ethic” arguments about non-athletes as well as athletes. Likewise, you could make the same arguments REGARDLESS of major; I’ll allow that some fields are more demanding than others, but you don’t make a 3.25 or above in ANY field in higher education without busting your ass a bit more than average. I say that as someone who has done that in less demanding fields like Sports/Recreation, more demanding fields like IP Law, and in between fields like business and military history.

That’s true of ALL students in ALL contexts. Those that put out the effort (which is NOT “easy,” regardless of major) are highly successful, and those that don’t…generally aren’t. For the ones that put out that NOT EASY amount of work, success and the RECOGNITION and COMMENDATION that comes with it should follow. This occurred for these academic all-Americans. What should NOT happen … is DISMISSAL (oh it ain’t so hard; if you knew how easy it was/what they took, then you wouldn’t be impressed, yada, yada, yada).

You don’t get a 3.25 GPA or better in any field without doing some significant work, and it’s even harder to manage that if you have the commitment of D1 sports.

As such, we SHOULD be impressed when students achieve that distinction, as these guys did, and should commend them appropriately. We should NOT dismiss or downplay their achievements as being merely the product of easy scheduling, etc.

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I don’t know why you’re throwing a word salad at me, but the commitment to D1 sports is no different than any other level. I think it’s actually tougher at smaller schools because you don’t have the schedule flexibility because of less course offerings.

40

Oh yeah, I concur.

My post was really directed more at other posters here, and not you.

Although, to be fair, I attended a D3 undergrad college, and those athletes don’t have nearly the same time demands that a D1 athlete would have (or at least, they didn’t 30 years ago when I attended). The off-season programs, in particular, aren’t nearly as demanding (they are often 100% voluntary, and much less regimented), and the students are given fairly great leniency if they have to miss a practice here and there for academic reasons.

Also, there’s no spring training in football that I recall.

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D3 programs are all over the board, from what I’ve seen. Off-season is much like D1 with respect to fall baseball, and the weight training is typically only limited by facilities, but a lot of coaches replace that with stupid amounts of running.

D2 baseball is almost the same both in the fall and spring, and some conferences play 4 game weekend series every week, in addition to a mid-week game here and there. And they’ll start playing (in Texas at least) at the beginning of February.

If coaches can get away with having their players working out under the rules, they’ll do it, regardless of what division they’re competing in. The non-D1 athletes just don’t get the nutrition and educational support benefits to go along with it. D1 athletes have it comparatively easy.

Both of my kids are/have been college athletes, and one of them has worked in S&C programs at multiple levels covering all sports.

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I’m sure it is much more difficult circumstances for kids that do not play D-1 for the exact reasons you said….
The original conversation was about UH who is D-1 and a program that has a very nice setup for baseball players….that was the point with which I was speaking from.
But I also know I don’t need to explain anything to you because you have common sense and knowledge….

And a 3.25 is three “B”’s and one “A”.
It’s good for an athlete in season but not exactly groundbreaking academics.