I appluade Stoops for this. Having the balls to do this considering the program he runs. I know they might not be anything this year, but benching your Star (He's not starting but will play) sends a message, and this is the way it should be. Skip Bayless really is starting to be Hypocritical IMO. ESPN SKIP BAYLESS ARTICLE "...Opinion: If Bob Stoops punishes Adrian Peterson for missing class by not starting him in Saturday's game at UCLA, I'll be even more disappointed in Stoops than I already am. Stoops isn't the country's highest paid coach because of his team's academic achievements. No, Stoops makes upper-echelon NFL money because he has beaten Texas five straight times and finished the last five seasons by winning a Cotton and a Rose Bowl and playing for three national championships. As an OU fan, I don't care if OU players are required to attend a single class, and I don't want my coach jeopardizing our chances to win because of a ridiculously strict new attendance requirement...." Read the full article with the link provided
Peterson is going to sit out the 1st series, it's not a big deal, it won't be a matter of them losing the game or not. But if that's the policy, that's the policy. Ya'll have a young team and Stoops is just showing some discipline to the group, basically saying no one is exempt, not even AP. OU has a good chance of becoming 1-2.
Right my point exactly, not a big deal for one series. I am just puzzled at why would any responsible grown up not understand what Stoops is doing and why, fan or not.
I'm a UT fan and I say no. Skipping class is part of the college experience. Almost everyone does it occassionaly.
I can't believe this is such a big deal. The idea that Adrian Peterson not going to a few classes somehow compromises the "academic integrity" of OU or college athletics in general is an absolute joke. I don't have an opinion either way on this specific controversy, I just can't believe that people still get all worked up about the idea of a "student athlete." Now, I'm not saying that all athletes are idiots, or that they don't care about their education, one of my roomates was a scholarship long jumper AND an ELEC major. So, I'm not by any means saying that this applies to everyone. But the degrees that the majority of college athletes get are a joke. I went to Rice, a school that's always in the top 2-3 schools in athlete graduation rates and is known for not compromising academically for the sake of athletics. However, from firsthand experience I can tell you that even at programs like Rice the majority of the athletes are not EVEN CLOSE to the average student. They are given an academic advisor who helps them find all the easiest possible classes, e.g. History of the World through Food or Slavic Film Studies. These are classes widely known around campus as a joke. And then the major that most of them take under the Kinesiolgy department, Sports Management, is as watered down a business major as possible. One of the ways I was able to break the 4.0 barrier during my junior year was by taking classes like "Sociology of Sport" or "Performance Psychology." Botttom line, people should stop getting so worked up over this ideal of academics because the truth is that the "education" Peterson would be getting in the classes he's attending is a sham. P.S. - I'm not saying that I think that athletes taking easy classes is a bad thing, I'm just saying I wish people wouldn't be so sanctimonious about it.
As a Dad, OU or wherever Stoops is coaching would be high on my list for my kid. It is not a big deal, but if you have a coach that enforces the rules like this with his star player, you cant do anything but applaud it IMO.
I'm a UT fan/college student who skips the occasional class as well. However, the point that I found appalling was the fact that a grown adult who writes and appears in the public eye, would promote skipping class because they happen to be a good football player.
Hey we might not bench players for skipping at UT, but we will give you an H2 Hummer. Try beating that.
This dude is catching hell, but the quarterback who got busted for illegal possession of alcohol is still starting, and he sucks. WOW!
I see it in a different way. I highly doubt AP will stay beyond his 3rd yr. If he doesn't, then is the writer wrong for saying he "could be" using OU as stopping point on his way to the NFL? I haven't see the graduation rates for OU football players, but I'm pretty sure the majority of them don't leave with degrees. I don't think education should be forced on anyone. The school has him there to play ball...let's be real about it. I am assuming he is there because of their football program more than their academics (we don't know, but we will see if he goes pro early). If the school policy for ALL students doesn't have a stipulation on class attendance, then the rule is stupid. Even if it does, "regular" college students skip classes ALL THE TIME.
What's really sad is that this kid's name is getting dragged through the mud alongside athletes who commit violent crimes and drug violations. I agree that it isn't particularly wise to skip classes often, but there really aren't many college graduates out there who didn't at least skip a few in their day. The hypocrisy is ridiculous.
I feel you, but as a parent I applaud coaches who try to instill a sense of personal responsibility by not skipping class. You can do it all you want, but you will only hurt yourself in the end. Now if they kicked him out of school i would say it is a little extreme. But I am all for a coach who knows that his job status is based on Wins and Loses, but at the same time tries to keep kids going to their classes. Who knows, it could have been an agreement that Stoops made with AP's parents. I remember my parents telling my coaches not to give me a free ride. Back then I hated it, but now I understand why it was said/done.
I agree 100%...Hell, you have to be kidding me that no one has skipped a class or two before...IMO, I think athletes are held to a different standard starting from Junior High on up...
