Stats on the next level

Alex: I'll take 'One of these is not like the others' for $400?

Interesting and thanks for posting but I don't subscribe to the thought that we are comparing apples and apples here.

Circle the wagons coaches! Fight for the right to be abusive!

Yes Stats.  That is exactly what I'm all about.  Tell that to my players and they will laugh you into the next universe. 

(Apologies in advance to moderators)  In four years of regular participation, I've never been drawn to make such a statement on this forum but you are a complete nimrod.  And if I ever came close to making that statement before, I'm sure you were involved then as well.

 

I said the article was interesting and I do believe there are some things that can be taken from the conclusions they are drawing.

 

However...

 

In part, I was referring to the fact that they are comparing kids just out of HS, generally who have not yet entered the work force with groups primarily comprised of adults who have been in the workforce for some time.  The closest "other" group is the military but this also includes a large portion of lifetime military personnel. 

 

They are comparing a workplace employer/employee environment with the college athletic coach/player environment along with their separate sets of rules and regulations.  While there are some common rights issues at play, there are certainly some differences as well.   

 

Consider the following two scenarios...

 

1 - you are a parent of a 35 y.o. accountant who is working for a local firm.

2 - you are a parent of a 19 y.o. freshman college baseball player.

 

Under which circumstance would you expect the boss or coach to be more like a second father figure to your son?  Under which circumstance would you expect something more like a parental discipline environment to be in place?  Under which circumstance would you expect the coach or boss to be most helpful and directly influential with matters away from the field or workplace?  Not apples and apples.

 

Lastly, the testing/ test group that included the college athletes was done under a different set of circumstances and, perhaps, with a different set of questions than the rest.  It can be problematic to try to overlap such test results.  Not necessarily apples and apples.

 

Have I seen plenty of coaches act in a manner that is considered abusive by today's societal standards?  Yes.  Do I think this is wrong?  Sometimes yes, sometimes no.  If clearly abusive, absolutely wrong.  Do I think there are similar comparisons with the workforce environment and the college athletic environment?  Yes.  Should everything be the same?  No.  Although I often wish the typical workplace environment was run in a more similar fashion. 

 

One of the reasons so many employers seek out college athletes is that they are typically molded into stronger team players due to some of the differences between the way college teams are run vs the way typical workplace environments operate.  This happens most often, not under an abusive coach but under strong, authoritative, caring leadership.  Coaches who push hard to get the most out of their players, on and off the fied. 

 

 

I am with you on the nimrod comment.
Many people would agree.
Thanks

Isn't your son a HS coach, Stats? (JV pitching coach, according to your profile.)

 

Clearly, you're projecting.

 

Cabbagedad: Nice swat.

 

 

Notwithstanding your other points, under which circumstance would you expect an abusive relationship to be perpetuated by both parties involved? For a lot of people, in a lot of circumstances, telling their boss off when push comes to shove is relatively straightforward.  In the surrogate father/surrogate son relationship you're suggesting exists in a college athletic environment, that's going to be much more difficult, and it's likely to lead to a larger number of abusive relationships. Probably moreso when you consider the power divide between a college coach and his players versus the boss/employee relationships in a typical workforce scenario.

cabbagedad,

 

Obviously you hold me in such contempt that you missed the at the end of my post!

 

Because of that, rather than just taking it as bit of poking fun, you chose to come right out and get personal. No question about what I meant, just an outright personal attack because you don’t happen to like me. Well, to me it shows exactly who the COMPLETE NIMROD is, and I’ll leave it at that.

Originally Posted by jp24:

Isn't your son a HS coach, Stats? (JV pitching coach, according to your profile.)

 

He was, for 3 years until he found out earning a living had to take precedence over spend a lot of time doing something he loved but not getting paid for it. Thank you for reminding me to update the profile.

 

Clearly, you're projecting.

 

Exactly what is it that I’m projecting?

 

Cabbagedad: Nice swat.

 

Sure. Compliment him on taking a personal shot at someone for using a freaking emoticon and expecting the people seeing it to be intelligent enough to understand it was something said in jest!

The premise of your points have merit.  My initial assertion was merely that they are not comparing apples and apples in the piece... a far cry from "fighting for the right to be abusive". 

Don't even try, Stats.  We've been down this road many times before, as have many others here with you.  You take a hard stab and then try to thinly veil it with a winky eye or some other form of disguising the blow.  Had you not done so countless times in the past, my response would have been quite different, as it was the first twenty or thirty times I tried reasoning with you despite the warning of countless others that I was wasting my time.

Let me be perfectly clear.  With our history, your history here and your post coming immediately after mine, I can say with 100% certainty that your comment was not entirely in jest.  Not even close.  You know it and I know it.