High School Bass Fishing

[sweetwater]

First off, I wasn't ridiculing anyone, merely making a point. Sports scholarships are self supporting, so they are not taking away from a single person that wanted to go to college.

If you knew people that couldn't go to college because of money, I have to wonder if they had any business there anyway. The less money you have, the easier it is to actually go to college.

You don't agree with awarding scholarships for something that actually brings money into the overall student body? Wow, I figure with your views you would be all about sports scholarships. After all, those people work as hard or harder than you ever did but most were not able to pay their way. If you want to do away with sports scholarships, than you should do away with all scholarships. After all, academic scholarships are nothing but a gift to reward someone for hard work, much like a sports scholarships.

One last thing on the subject, you do realize that scholarship athletes have a higher graduation rate than the regular student body don't you?

I don't know where you get your facts from about self sustaining athletic programs from, but according to the Lexington Herald your facts are wrong. See attached link. http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/01/2...at-a-cost.html As for graduation rates, does your numbers account for regular tuition paying students who can't afford to finish school or the ones that go to work before they graduate? Are these kids really a failure in school? Do you know that athletes generally have access to free tutors and free regular meal plans with free housing and other students do not? If you use NCAA numbers do you realize they consider an athletic transfer student a success at every school they attend and not just the one they graduate from? If all things were equal, which group would have the best grad rate?

[Tim_T]

I don't know where you get your facts from about self sustaining athletic programs from, but according to the Lexington Herald your facts are wrong. See attached link. http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/01/2...at-a-cost.html As for graduation rates, does your numbers account for regular tuition paying students who can't afford to finish school or the ones that go to work before they graduate? Are these kids really a failure in school? Do you know that athletes generally have access to free tutors and free regular meal plans with free housing and other students do not? If you use NCAA numbers do you realize they consider an athletic transfer student a success at every school they attend and not just the one they graduate from? If all things were equal, which group would have the best grad rate?

I gave the article a cursory glance, but I think it is including all colleges in the state, not the major universities. Also, the subsidies probably include women's swimming at Bellarmine and track and field at Berea. So techincially, my facts are right.

Graduation rate numbers are figured by the colleges i.e. the NCAA and count all athletes and all students. So if 40 % of all incoming freshmen get their degree in five years then the number is figured in based on who was a scholarship athlete and who wasn't. It still adds up that athletes graduate a a higher rate than regular students. In the mean time, the regular student HAS FAR MORE FREE TIME TO WORK ON ACADEMICS than an athlete in football and basketball.


" If you use NCAA numbers do you realize they consider an athletic transfer student a success at every school they attend and not just the one they graduate from? If all things were equal, which group would have the best grad rate?"

Uh, perhaps I am not as smart as a 'Bama grad, but I would think a graduate is a graduate, regardless of school. If that is the case, I would say the athletes (which has been stated time and again) would still have the better graduation percentage.

The Herald Leader article is using smoke and mirrors. Do you think the UK athletic program is getting general tax money to operate? What about U of L, a team that has the most profitable basketball program in the country? Instead of looking at a Herald Leader article, perhaps you should examine the budgets of the athletic departments at both UK and U of L.

[Katie]

love it!! i'm gonna be on my high school fishin team this year no doubt bout it!!!

[stripernut]

love it!! i'm gonna be on my high school fishin team this year no doubt bout it!!!

katie, good luck to you. we are looking forward to hearing how you do, keep us informed

[peter]

katie, good luck to you. we are looking forward to hearing how you do, keep us informed

Here Here!

[peter]

Is it time to break part of this thread off and sent it too the off the topics forum.

Titled something like...

High School and College sports vs academics and combination thereof.

Seems like we have two distinct discussions going on.

If so please send me a PM.

Thanks

Peter

[Tim_T]

Is it time to break part of this thread off and sent it too the off the topics forum.

Titled something like...

High School and College sports vs academics and combination thereof.

Seems like we have two distinct discussions going on.

If so please send me a PM.

Thanks

Peter

Sorry Peter, I got caught up in the discussion that was turned from off topic. I am done with it and my apologies.

[sweetwater]

Sorry Peter, I got caught up in the discussion that was turned from off topic. I am done with it and my apologies.

Ditto here. I too got caught up in a subject that is near and dear to my heart.

[hairball]

Is it time to break part of this thread off and sent it too the off the topics forum.

Titled something like...

High School and College sports vs academics and combination thereof.

Seems like we have two distinct discussions going on.

If so please send me a PM.

Thanks

Peter

Peter - If my original reply to this thread was seen as being polarizing or provocative, I am truly sorry. It's just that this is something I feel very strongly about. I feel like I'm watching my country go down the tubes for a number of different reasons and the sorry state of our education system is towards the top of that list. The technological advances we enjoyed in the past are eroding and there doesn't seem to be much effort to turn that trend around. The point I was trying to make is simply that I feel there is entirely too much emphasis on extra-curricular activities in general and sports in particular. I think we owe it to our kids to coerce them to get the best education they can and they would be best served by keeping distractions to a minimum.

[peter]

Not an issue. Just thought it might have been an option to split off.
Thanks for responding.

Have a good day.

Peter

[sweetwater]

love it!! i'm gonna be on my high school fishin team this year no doubt bout it!!!

You go girl!!! Show those boys how it's done.

[Dave Stewart]

No doubt I believe that Bass Fishing as a sport at the High School level is a great idea and gives many young folks a chance to compete in a sport which otherwise they may not have had an opportunity to do in other sports, but this would also ensure a growing interest and awareness in our sport for future generations.

The probelm that I do have with the advent of this sport as a sanctioned sport is that from what I have seen, it has already become politcal. From what I have been told by a number of folks both team members and coaches, during the hgh school championships held here at Kentucky Lake this past spring, the teams were allowed to recruit their Boat Captain. Boat Captains are adults that not only drive the boat, but they also are allowed to put the teams on fish and give them advice on how to catch them. So guess what, it is any wonder then that those teams from the schools around this area used their contacts to line up guides and professional tournament anglers that live here in the local community? Is it any wonder that a local team won the championship with a local guide as their Boat Captain?

My question is this: How can a team from say, an Eastern Ky school come here and compete with teams that have local guides and professionals telling them where and what to fish....??

Seems to me this has become a competition between Boat Captains...not between the high school team members....it is a competition to see which team, team member or family member has the best contacts to a professional angler to be recruited as a Boat Captain.

I have already had a couple of high school team members tell me they quit their respective teams because of this situation.

To me, having the rules of competition to allow the Boat Captains to put the young anglers on fish during competition and then tell them how to catch them, is paramount to having their varsity Basketball team be allowed to have a UK or UL player, play on their team during competition.

Where is the level playing field in these competitions if recruited Boat Captains are allowed to make the important decisions for these kids???

I do not see this sport surviving at the high school level unless this problem is corrected...certainly it will never be a competitive sport with a level playing field unless the Boat Captains are restricted to just driving the boat and nothing else.