University of Washington Cutting Swimming

stick your head in the sand Never tried that. Sounds fun! complain about them eliminating the M&W swim programs Hmm. No, I never did that. afterall, it would be unthinkable to actually go after the root cause and solve the problem along with bringing back the swim programs What is your proposal? I must have missed it. yep always easier for some :banana:

I think people tend to forget that their are a lot of division 1 teams out there with solid swimming programs (and a chance to grow/improve). Sure the Pac 10 conference has taken a huge hit, but take a look at the Big West conference in CA for example. UC Irvine, UCSB, Cal Poly, UOP, and CSU Northridge all of D1 men's and women's swimming. Sure, none of these schools get representation (not much at least) at the NCAA championships or anything of the sort. But, they are all quality schools (most of which have no football team) with swim programs that are on the verge of breaking through. If the "big time" schools don't want swimmers, send them to schools like this. They will improve the quality of the team and be taken care of and appreciated.

I've just been lurking here but I took "Bike's" post as an insider with information. Yes, it probably could have been worded better, but if the facts are facts... I didn't find it offensive. (Back to lurking)

The Seattle news (KOMO) quoted the athletic department as saying the main reason was the lack of sales of football tickets. The lack of football tickets sales is clearly the result of a history of recruiting incompendency...such as 1. recruiting a dumbo quarterback in jake locker, while turning thumbs down on the kid from Prosser who is now a All American with Boise State (and wanted to play for UW). 2. recruiting the ghetto busters from LA that USC or UCLA rejected as probable jailbait and usually end up in King County jail. 3. being politically correct hiring a washed up minority coach from the worst football program in the United States -Notre Dame...and then keeping him for five years so as to continue to be sensitive to minorities in Seattle. 4. letting Rick Neuhesel go because he wouldn't stand in line to bang tainted AD Barbara Hedges. i guess too many of the LA ghetto busters in front. Neuhesel was an absolute idiot. UW has had more than its fair share of problems however: www.seattlepi.com/.../155993_hedges09ww.html

We as swimmers should be careful judging other sports - or biggest current celebrity has already managed a DUI and a major drug related fiasco. The second biggest managed to gain attention posing for Maxim and Playboy. In a sport where I can count the "star athletes" on one hand, that not too good of a precedent!

Wow. I didn't know there were so many actors that can run a 4.5 sec 40 yard dash, leap 40 inches vertically, and dunk a basketball. Lots wrong with college football and basketball - but like with most things - you are full of hyperbole. A few years ago I would have 100% agreed that college football and basketball players were "actors" posing as students...and although there are still a lot of problems and BS going on gradutaion rates have improved: 2008 NCAA Graduation Success Rate for BCS Football Programs 1. Notre Dame 94% 2. Stanford 93 T3. BC 92 T3. Duke 92 T3. Northwestern 92 6. Vanderbilt 91 7. Wake Forest 83 8. Texas Tech 79 T9. Baylor 78 T9. Nebraska 78 T9. UNC 78 T9. Penn State 78 T13. UConn 77 T13. Indiana 77 T15. Colorado 75 T15. Iowa 75 T15. Syracuse 75 T15. Virginia Tech 75 19. Cincinnati 73 T20. Illinois 70 T20. Michigan 70 T20. Miami 70 T20. Rutgers 70 24. Florida State 69 T25. Clemson 68 T25. Florida 68 T25. Maryland 68 T25. Wash State 68 Basketball is still a disgrace...so i guess we can say that the majority are "actors' nbcsports.msnbc.com/.../ At least Maryland went from 0% in 2007 to 10% in 2008!

That's really interesting to me. I guess I have always been under the impression that athletes are disciplined and determined. Why wouldn't you finish college? (I realize that there are any number of circumstances that could keep someone from not finishing.) I just figured that athletes would have a higher graduation rate. Pollyanna, Jr. (b/c we all know that Ahelee means Pollyanna ; )

cantwait4bike: are you kidding? I really hope so. Even if you are I can't believe you'd post something like that. Wow. It's well known that college football and basketball players are nothing but hired actors who's function is to bring in $$$ and other than playing sports, they really don't have any business being on a college campus. Just look at how many professional sports figures ("O.J." for an example) wind up in a serious confrontation with the criminal justice system. Dolphin 2

Please do not follow D2's (rather inane) lead and paint with too broad a brush. The fraction of college bball and football athletes who truly hope to be professional athletes is tiny. The others are, in the main, no better or worse than other college athletes. (Though sometimes they suffer from a sense of entitlement, especially in big D1 programs. Not really surprising since they are often treated that way.) Sometimes they struggle with their studies because admission standards were lowered too much (IMO, one of the worst sins associated with college athletics, and it isn't just football and bball) and b/c training and games take an inordinate amount of time. But I've known a lot of football players who were disciplined and committed students, including one U of Richmond alum who got a degree in chemistry, played some pro ball, and is currently an astronaut.

It's well known that college football and basketball players are nothing but hired actors who's function is to bring in $$$ and other than playing sports, they really don't have any business being on a college campus. This is a downright offensive statement and completely inaccurate. For every OJ you can quote, I can quote hundreds of athletes who done good things with their education and sports background. The number of college players who go pro is closer to 0% than 1%.