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Can you see why I hate Alabama?

G

GlideCat

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2013
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Link to completely unshocking article

Nick Saban is just a saint for giving this troubled young man (Jonathan Taylor) a second chance. The UA administration is noble for backing him up.

I wonder how many second chances are given to young men and women that are not rated with 4-stars.

A list of his accomplishments:




Taylor was one of four players arrested in March on possibly strangled by the offender.'”

Say what you will about OSU... wow.

If that is not enough, enjoy this one. It included an impassioned plea from Nick Saban:

Another less than surprising article



This post was edited on 1/7 5:19 PM by GlideCat

This post was edited on 1/7 5:23 PM by GlideCat
 
Originally posted by Hungry Jack:
I was both glad and relieved when Gary Pinkel kicked DGB off the Tigers last summer.
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Pinkel and Richt appear to be trying to run pretty decent programs by SEC standards.

I hope that they don't become irrelevant in wins and losses. I know that Richt (although he has solid seasons every year) is regularly in a seat that is if not hot then very warm many years since he really has not contended for the SEC championship in a few years. Of the SEC coaches, he seems to be the one that is trying to do things at least mostly the right way.

I do not know as much about Pinkel as Missouri is still getting settled in to the SEC.
 
Originally posted by LookGoodInPurple:
Glass houses, man. Glass houses.




I don't understand the context of this.

1. Is it that I or one of my kids could make a mistake like this and I would want a second chance? If so, then I understand the viewpoint but the University of Alabama would not give me or my kids such a second chance unless we were 4-star athletes.
2. Is it that any day now NU could have a situation like this wherein one of our players does something of this caliber and NU brings them back? I don't see that unless the university and coach change a lot more than I think they are going to be changing anytime soon.
3. Is it that NU is not above having our own player character issues (a la Dennis Lundy). In that, you are correct. And I believe that NU did give Dennis a second chance as he graduated from NU in 1995 with a BS in Organizational Studies. But the second chance that NU gave Dennis was for the good of the young man not for the good of the football team.
4. I am not particularly bright and could have missed your point altogether.

Yes, I am being holier-than-thou. But when "thou" is Alabama, that is not a high bar.
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NU gave Braden Jones a second chance after he assaulted (punched) a campus police officer. This was after he started a fight with a Vanderbilt LB and suffered a serious head injury the summer before coming to NU. He had outstanding grades at NU. Later, he was charged with assaulting a taxi cab driver but charges were dropped. Then he finally got tossed after he assaulted (punched) a security guard at a football game. His problem was he became violent after consuming alcohol. He eventually gave up drinking and is now a medical doctor.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-04-26/sports/0704251117_1_northwestern-randy-walker-scouts
 
If they really wanted to be altruistic they could kick him of the team but maintain his scholarship. Giving the kid a chance to get an education and straighten out his troubled life but not allowing him to represent them on the field. My guess is he is not that interested in the education part.

The OSU tattoo , ring , thing was really minor relative to other issues that probably exist there and at many other programs.
 
and just because we effed up doesn't mean it's ok that the others do.

I once heard a coach say something like - compare any randomly selected group of 17-22 year old males with similar demographics to a college football team, and see how their behavior compares. In other words, if there are 100 kids on a football team and 5 of them get in some sort of scrape every year, he was saying that the general population was at least that high, and that we shouldn't feign shock and disappointment every time a 17-22 year old kid does something stupid
 
Originally posted by phatcat:
and just because we effed up doesn't mean it's ok that the others do.

I once heard a coach say something like - compare any randomly selected group of 17-22 year old males with similar demographics to a college football team, and see how their behavior compares. In other words, if there are 100 kids on a football team and 5 of them get in some sort of scrape every year, he was saying that the general population was at least that high, and that we shouldn't feign shock and disappointment every time a 17-22 year old kid does something stupid
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You are 100% correct, they may even have a lower incidence of problems then the general population due to their more structured environment.
The questions arise when the repercussions from those incidents varies in direct relationship to their "value" to the program.
 
Originally posted by Bwm57:
The questions arise when the repercussions from those incidents varies in direct relationship to their "value" to the program.
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+1. Kids making mistakes and getting second chances is one thing. It is when second chances are handed out to star athletes that are not available to other team members.

Case in point, Florida State -

In March 2014, FSU kicked injury-prone offensive lineman Ira Denson off of the team when he was arrested for illegal credit card use. Put that into context.
 
Originally posted by phatcat:
and just because we effed up doesn't mean it's ok that the others do.
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I don't think we effed up by giving Braden a second chance. He was a bright kid who had a problem that we hoped we could help him with. It turned out he had to be tossed out of school before he faced his alcohol problem and entered rehab. Now he's a medical doctor.

I have some sympathy for Saban's comments. Do we toss aside anyone who gets in trouble. Where do we want them to be? On the streets, or in college working toward a degree? Fortunately, like Braden went through, other schools will take in kids after they have served time or sought help.

People on the boards here wanted to toss Trevor Rees out of college for doing what dozens of kids at NU get busted for every year without any repercussions from the school. Athletes are expected to live by a higher standard, even though their lives are highly regimented, just because alums, many of whom got in plenty of trouble themselves in college, don't want any embarrassment to their school.
 
He is from Harrisburg, IL. I have driven through that town many times on way to go camping in the Shawnee Forest region. It seems like the type of town where everyone knows who you are, and if you mess up, everyone will know. I can see how going to SIU Carbondale helped get Braden on the right track.
 
Originally posted by Gladeskat:

I have some sympathy for Saban's comments.
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If Saban's comments are completely sincere and not primarily self-serving rationalizations, then so do I.

That seems like a pointed statement and it, of course, is (since I do hate Alabama). I do not know Nick Saban and cannot judge his character and motivations. I will - as a fan - put the worst possible spin on his actions because I hate Alabama.

Entertainment is drama. Drama is conflict. And conflict requires bad guys. I choose my bad guy to be Alabama (did I mention that I hate Alabama?). And the face of Alabama is Nick Saban.

When we have discussions like I began with this thread, we are putting actual names and faces to our entertainment. This works both good and bad. The reality of this discussion is that I am not trying to focus on individual young men and whether or not they are men of character who have made a mistake and deserve a second chance. I am talking about the system of the Alabamas of the world.

One the one hand, we have a 4-star athlete that was released from Georgia. Saint Saban has given him a second chance. On the other hand, we have the fact that Alabama traditionally offers more scholarships than they actually have available. This means that to add this "second chance" player to the roster, Saint Saban is going to withdraw the scholarship offer from another young man who is now denied a "first chance."

So, the question comes up, if the player needing the second chance were rated lower on the coaches' ratings than the next guy to get bumped, would the second chance be offered?

I cannot see into Coach Saban's heart and therefore do not know his true motivations. As a fan to whom college football is entertainment and to whom Alabama is the ultimate "evil empire", I will choose to assume the worst.
 
Originally posted by GlideCat:
Originally posted by Gladeskat:

I have some sympathy for Saban's comments.
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If Saban's comments are completely sincere and not primarily self-serving rationalizations, then so do I.

That seems like a pointed statement and it, of course, is (since I do hate Alabama). I do not know Nick Saban and cannot judge his character and motivations. I will - as a fan - put the worst possible spin on his actions because I hate Alabama.

Entertainment is drama. Drama is conflict. And conflict requires bad guys. I choose my bad guy to be Alabama (did I mention that I hate Alabama?). And the face of Alabama is Nick Saban.

When we have discussions like I began with this thread, we are putting actual names and faces to our entertainment. This works both good and bad. The reality of this discussion is that I am not trying to focus on individual young men and whether or not they are men of character who have made a mistake and deserve a second chance. I am talking about the system of the Alabamas of the world.

One the one hand, we have a 4-star athlete that was released from Georgia. Saint Saban has given him a second chance. On the other hand, we have the fact that Alabama traditionally offers more scholarships than they actually have available. This means that to add this "second chance" player to the roster, Saint Saban is going to withdraw the scholarship offer from another young man who is now denied a "first chance."

So, the question comes up, if the player needing the second chance were rated lower on the coaches' ratings than the next guy to get bumped, would the second chance be offered?

I cannot see into Coach Saban's heart and therefore do not know his true motivations. As a fan to whom college football is entertainment and to whom Alabama is the ultimate "evil empire", I will choose to assume the worst.
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Nothing wrong with hating Alabama. I hate them, too, but not as much as I hate Georgia.
 
These are two young men at Alabama who are not getting a second chance. They were guilty of the unforgivable sin of not breaking into the two deep. They need to be tossed out to make room for the wonderful second chancers of Saint Nick Saban.

Link: Alabama Players Tossed
 
Another young man that does not appear worthy of a Saban second (actually first) chance. Once again guilty of the only unforgivable sin... not making the two deep.

Strange that it happened right before Saint Nick had to make room for signing day. Amazing coincidence.

Link
 
Surprise, surprise....this "troubled young man" who was given a second chance by Nick Saban was arrested again yesterday on domestic violence charges. Here's guessing his tenure at Alabama will be short-lived....


Again?
 
Previous quote from Nick Saban on this player:

"We recruited this young man out of high school," Alabama coach Nick Saban said in February, via AL.com. "We felt that what we knew about him, what his high school coaches said about him, from what people at the school he was at said about him and where he came from in junior college that he was the kind of guy that deserved a second chance."

He left out the part about Alabama's depth at defensive end which was surely the primary reasoning behind St. Nick's benevolence.
 
Alabama is actually deepest of any position at DL. Among other more important reasons, that's why not even Alabama fans thought this was a smart move by Saban. It would be nice if Taylor had made the most of this undeserved second chance. But he predictably did not, and Saban and his employer deserve all the scorn being heaped upon them by media. And in a story with no winners, Taylor will not get the help Alabama had offered him to overcome his problems, and he'll likely never become a trustworthy and productive member of society. I pray I'm wrong, and especially that these women and others he has abused find the healing they need.
 
Originally posted by beetlemania74:
Surprise, surprise....this "troubled young man" who was given a second chance by Nick Saban was arrested again yesterday on domestic violence charges. Here's guessing his tenure at Alabama will be short-lived....
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Technically, his 3rd chance, since he had 2 strikes at UGA.

And while I'm all for giving people a 2nd chance (if they truly show remorse), it's one thing for giving someone a chance after double-cashing meal reimbursement checks and another for aggravated assault and attempted strangulation (why would a school want to bring that kind of threat on to their campus?).

Well, speaking of the aforementioned, the joke is that a 'Bama spokesperson stated this.

"Jonathan Taylor was admitted to the University of Alabama following the
same procedures that the UA Admissions office uses to evaluate any
student who has dealt with legal issues," Lane said in a statement. "The
admissions process includes representatives from academic, legal,
student affairs, student conduct, UAPD and counseling."


Right - I'm so sure non-star athletes (esp. FB players) who want to transfer into UA get admitted all the time despite having 2 counts of felony assault and one count of misdemeanor theft still facing them.
 
Originally posted by Katatonic:

Originally posted by beetlemania74:
Surprise, surprise....this "troubled young man" who was given a second chance by Nick Saban was arrested again yesterday on domestic violence charges. Here's guessing his tenure at Alabama will be short-lived....
Click to expand...
Technically, his 3rd chance, since he had 2 strikes at UGA.

And while I'm all for giving people a 2nd chance (if they truly show remorse), it's one thing for giving someone a chance after double-cashing meal reimbursement checks and another for aggravated assault and attempted strangulation (why would a school want to bring that kind of threat on to their campus?).
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Take all of that out of the equation and you still have the fact that Alabama offers more scholarships than it has positions. Therefore, they had to let another young man go to make room for this individual. There are two likely players that got released immediately after this second chance hit the media. Both had solid reputationS and no negative marks on their records. They just had not cracked the two deep.
 
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