Disgusting ESPN/High School Story

craigblitz · #1 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 10:21 AM

I found this story in the local paper and found it interesting since the school is about 15 minutes from my home. Reader beware, it will make you sick!!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05198/539071.stm

BuckBackHome · #2 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 10:37 AM

Great! Nothing like screwing with the lives of high school kids for their own entertainment. I really hope the community throws the school board out on its collective ass.

gregorylee · #3 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 10:44 AM

That is just hilarious, way to go ESPiN. "Let's [censored] up some high school kids lives". How pathetic can you get.

RugbyBuck · #4 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 10:52 AM

I must have missed it. What was the problem with this?

ysubuck · #5 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 11:21 AM

The problem is just what the story said. Dick Butkus is not a coach. He is a personality. He was once a great football player, but many of these kids won't even know who Dick Butkus was. He'll be some old guy up there screaming and yelling.

The story was also correct in stating that the reason that people tune in to reality shows is to see conflict between people. We all know that espn is not above creating drama to suit their own agenda.

Finally, they have a coach who sounds like a good one, but they won't let him do what he was brought in to do: try to build a winning team. Oh, he'll be making the decisions, doing the game plans, running the practices, but he'll also have Dick Butkus running around and cameras following his kids around school and practice.

espn has hit a new low. I feel especially bad for the seniors. They should have great memories of the their senior season. This will be the last football many of them will ever play. Instead of remembering a special season they'll remember a circus.

IMO, espn is messing with the educational process at that school. I would hope that some parents are prepared to take action against the board and, possibly, espn.

martinss01 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Conflict between Butkus and the man -- it now can be revealed -- who lost his job to Butkus.

Butkus, a legendary tough guy, deals in his own special way with meddling parents.

Butkus deals in his own special way with meddling administrators.

Butkus deals in his own special way with snotty senior quarterback.

wow... this should be a very positive experience for the kids :rolleyes:. why can't cerro stay the coach??? why not have butkus play the role of a narrator of sorts? yeah... lets artifically introduce unneeded controversy and drama for a bunch of teens. god knows kids that age are starving for such things anyway *sigh*. id boycott espin over this but... yeah.. kinda already.

tyrus · #7 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 11:26 AM

I am not sure if this is the same show, but I assume it is. I am an assistant at Philo HS (10 miles S of Zanesville--45 miles E of Cbus) ESPN contacted our AD and HC about ESPN doing a reality TV show on schools who are a traditionally good program and have had some bad years lately. In the 80s and 90s we had several League champions and a handful of playoff appearances. The last 3-4 years have been down and we now have a new HC and staff. We were 1 of 20 schools contacted to participate, but after our HC met with the SRs and the staff, we decided not to do it for some of the reasons mentioned in the article. We have a strong team returning and didn't want any unnecessary distractions.

I am not 100% sure if this is the same show, but it definitely sounds like it.

ysubuck · #8 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 11:39 AM

tyrus,
Your staff should be commended.

BuckWrestler141 · #9 (**permalink**) 07-18-2005, 11:41 AM

I'm not seeing it as that much of a problem. Sure it will cause some distractions, but it also opens up some opportunities for the kids that otherwise would not be there. I would love to have professional camera crews there to capture most of my senior season and all the games. It might cause some confusion at first but the kids will eventally see through it and will be able to tell that Cerro is the head coach I don't think you're giving the kids enough credit. Plus while Dick may have not coached before I have a hard time believing that he doesn't have plenty of tricks and tips he could teach the students especially while they are able to keep Cerro there for gameplanning.

It has potential to be a really special season for them, it could also have its set-backs; i love football as much as everyone, but i also love other sports nearly as much. In my area funding for other sports are horrible right now and many communities are having to get rid of other programs because of it. So if it means one awkward season, that I'm not willing to write off as a bad-thing just yet, for the football team then I'm not going to argue against what the school is doing.