Big Ten commissioner equates speed and dark skin to lower academics

[RB TexLa]

Unreal.


Big Ten bitterness
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports
February 17, 2007

Dan Wetzel
Yahoo! Sports
In a statement more loaded than Florida's recruiting class, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany this week claimed that when it comes to procuring football players his league is more ethical and academically minded than the Southeastern Conference.

Here's what it sounded like he was saying: His league won't compromise its supposed high academic standards to sign a bunch of fast, dumb guys, especially at a position that in the SEC is overwhelmingly played by blacks.

....

"I love speed and the SEC has great speed, especially on the defensive line, but there are appropriate balances when mixing academics and athletics," wrote Delany on the Big Ten website.

Forty-two of the 48 defensive linemen who started in the final week of SEC play were African-American. Of the 61 defensive line recruits the SEC signed last week, 51 were African-American. Just 23 of 43 Big Ten starters at those positions were black.


http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug=dw-delany021707&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[DU9598]

1. Yikes

I would consider changing your title. I don't see Mr. Delaney saying anything of the sort. I think what Mr. Delaney was saying is that the Big Ten is made up of institutions that uphold certain academic standards and that there have been well-documented instances of SEC schools recruiting kids to play football and forego and education. It has nothing to do with race. Unsure why you would imply that as it is an SEC reporter who brings up race.

I would suggest the moderaters take a look at this post.

[chelsea0011]

3. I agree. I read it exactly like you did.

[marmar]

4. Why should he change the title? That's columnist Dan Wetzel's interpretation of Delany's comments...

And it seems pretty spot-on to me....

[MADem]

7. The title is BIG TEN BITTERNESS, not that race shit. NT

[DU9598]

9. Then say Mr. Wetzel says

Don't say Mr. Delaney is a racist in a title when Mr. Delaney does not mention race. Goodness, I would be furious if I were Mr. Delaney to be called a racist for not mentioning anything about race.

[marmar]

10. But if that's the way Wetzel interpreted what Delany had to say, ......

which is the way I interpreted it too, why does he not have a right to say it? And according to the column, Delany "was not made available" to respond to it.

[DU9598]

13. But Delany did not "equate" race and speed/intelligence

It's slander in the title.

[marmar]

15. Perhaps it should read: Columnist Wetzel asserts that Big Ten Commissioner equates.......

n/t

[DU9598]

22. Thanks

That was my point in my first post.

What's next ... Delaney says woman are inferior gender ... because obviously in his comments he pointed out that nobody will recuit a woman to play on the line.

[RB TexLa]

19. So if he goes to Baton Rouge and literally points at the LSU defensive line

and says "that is not an appropriate balance when mixing academics and athletics," that would still not be enough for you to understand what he is saying?

[DU9598]

25. No

I think he is talking graudation rates, admission standards, and the history of the SEC. Making this a race issue is what Mr. Wetzel wanted to do. That's unfortunate.

Are you now asserting that the Big Ten does not have minority players? Bizzare

[RB TexLa]

30. No, but according to Delaney they must have what he considers

a better mix of defensive linemen, you know "academically."

[ieoeja]

33. What if he goes to Bloomington, IN and literally points at the IU defensive line.

and says, "this *is* an appropriate balance when mixing academics and athletics" would that be enough for *you* to understand what he is saying?




Those are IU's only defensive lineman among this year's signees (and the commish was talking about the recent signees). If you'd rather include those already in place then look below.

[RB TexLa]

34. He might get on to them, remind IU they need to keep an appropriate mix

you know "academically" of course.


As he said "Not every athlete fits athletically, academically or socially at every university."

[ieoeja]

36. You do know that IU is in the Big Ten, don't you?

These are the ones he said that do fit, "athletically, academically or socially".

I will admit "socially" does send up a red flag. But I'm not going to jump on the guy for one word in his entire letter. I'd need more evidence than that to go along with what otherwise appears to be a purely invented accusation here.

[RB TexLa]

37. Yes, that is why I said he might get on to them and warn them

I think his little talk was as much a warning toward Big Ten schools to be mindful of just who they bring to campuses.

[PVnRT]

40. Quite a leap there

Seems to me you just want an excuse to call him racist when no support for calling him that really exists.

So, if we apply your logic that Delaney is racist, are you saying blacks are too dumb to get into Big Ten schools?

[RB TexLa]

41. He did say everyone might not fit socially

"Not every athlete fits athletically, academically or socially at every university."

As in, sorry Mr. Smith, you fit with our school athletically, academically but not so much socially.

[PVnRT]

43. And the ONLY thing he meant was race, of course

It must be right, since you want to believe it's right.

[DU9598]

45. Cheerleader Sex Scandal

I thought he was making light of the scandals in the SEC where "social hosts" - commonly cheerleaders - entertained recruits. If you want to interpret it to be race, good for you but it says more about you than Mr. Delaney.

[ieoeja]

26. How do you (and the columnist) make that interpretation?

Delany says the Big Ten has higher academic standards. That is it. Period.

It so happens the SEC has a higher percentage of Africa-Americans, but Delany does not mention that. He may not even be aware of the percentage. There is no evidence cited in this article to indicate that he does know that fact. Wetzel just ... makes it up.

Noticeably absent from Wetzel's column is any comparison between the two leagues academically. He compares their football scores and the racial makeup of their defensive lines, but he does not cite a single statistic about academic scores or graduation rates.

[redqueen]

18. It's the *journalist's* term...

he's escalating the shit, and should be called on it.

[RB TexLa]

5. "I love speed and the SEC has great speed, especially on the defensive line, but there are

appropriate balances when mixing academics and athletics," wrote Delany on the Big Ten website.


SEC D-Linemen 42 of 48 starters African-American
Big Ten D-Linemen 23 of 43 starters African-American

He is saying that does not fit with their appropriate mix.

[DU9598]

Why does race have anything to do with it?

The SEC schools are in states with higher populations of African Americans down south and the kids go to home state schools. Right? Of course there are differences of rates in recruiting. But I still see nothing from Mr. Delaney's comments where he says African American kids are less intelligent or faster than white kids. The reporter has said that, Mr. Delaney has not.

[frogcycle]

2. damn this is tiresome

he may well have been thinking that, but the quote says NOTHING about dark skin.

The stats are what they are.

If, in fact, higher academic standards result in a different racial mix, it is not racist to levy them.

The more likely reason for the different racial mix, though, is more African Americans in the South who qualify for college.

I frankly don't believe his elitist contention that the Big Ten is any more selective when it comes to recruiting big dumb guys. They just have a larger pool of big dumb white guys in their territory.

He's a prick, but not necessarily a racist. Why try to find the "hidden meaning" in everything. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

[MADem]

6. The title of the article is BIG TEN BITTERNESS.

What a flame. There is not a mention of race in the entire article.

Shame on you.

[marmar]

8. No?

Here's what it sounded like he was saying: His league won't compromise its supposed high academic standards to sign a bunch of fast, dumb guys, especially at a position that in the SEC is overwhelmingly played by blacks.

Race might not be in the headline, but it's in the article, and it's kind of the premise of it.

[ecstatic]

11. I hear ya... some things don't have to be said

The tone and the context says it all. I think a lot of people understand what he's really getting at though, but he will get a pass because he didn't say it outright...

[DU9598]

12. If not said, it should not be attributed

Mr. Wetzel is the one who brought up race.

I do not know anything about Mr. Delaney, but I hate to see DU'ers call people racist who did not "equate" race with speed or intelligence. This is just wrong, disturbing, and slanderous.

[marmar]

14. I'm not calling Delany a racist....but as an African American, I gotta tell you....

for me, that statement is loaded with subtext. Do I think Delany is trying to spew racism? No. Do I think the statement is subconsciously racist? Yes.

[DU9598]

16. But I am complaining about the title

You can agree with Mr. Wetzel if you choose, but to say that it is Delaney who equates race with intelligence and speed is simply untrue. If you want to turn everything to race and overanalyze, I am sure we can find plenty of people to call racist. I just have better things to do with my time.

If I start a post that says you equate race with speed and intelligence would that be fair? You just said enough in your last post that I could spin it that way. Next do I get to post that you imply one race is better than another?

[marmar]

20. Well perhaps the post should be retitled....

to indicate that Wetzel, the colunist, asserts that Delany is equating race and lower academic achievement. And it's not a matter of "turning everything into race." I guess I don't understand why any attempt to point out why a statement might be considered racist gets dismissed as "over-analysis" and hypersensitivity.
Understand that not everyone interprets these things the same way, and to some of us, it is a big deal.

[MADem]

31. My sentiments precisely. It's either bullshit (maybe based on one of those

southern accent assumptions--if you say something with George Wallace's accent, why, you MUST be racist?) or the guy is just a lousy reporter. He does not close the loop and pull the string between what Delaney said and what he thinks Delaney meant. Were there nudges and winks involved? If there were, he didn't report them.

[MADem]

23. All of the tone is coming from the author...but whatever. NT

[MADem]

21. Not a mention by DELANEY--there's an interpretation by the author of the piece

but you smear the guy when it's the author who is saying what he thought it "sounded like."

He might have asked what the guy meant, rather than relying on what he thought it "sounded like."

But hey, the fire is started and the flames are shooting high. Guess that was the goal.

[marmar]

28. According to Wetzel, he attempted to talk to Delany but got no response....

And quite frankly, it "sounded like" that to me too. Not everyone interprets things the same way.

[MADem]

32. To me, it sounds like the author is irritated by the guy getting up on his high horse

about the entire academic issue, at least in the context of paragraphs like these:

Look, both leagues are filled with great schools. But this is college football and fans care about winning first, winning second and then, perhaps, winning with players who are good students.

A coach who graduates 90 percent of his players and wins 40 percent of his games will be fired. A coach who graduates 40 percent of his players and wins 90 percent of his games will have the stadium named after him. If a player can deliver a national title, most fans don't care if he can spell "C-A-T" two out of three times.

It's that way in the SEC. It's that way in the Big Ten. It's that way just about everywhere and you'd have to be Carl Lewis fast to be so dumb to pretend otherwise like Delany.

[ellacott]

17. I'm African American and don't see it as racist

What I got from what he was saying is that those schools would compromise on academics just to get a good athlete.

It sounds like he trying to set himself up as more principled but it's not saying that he is racist. That are some fast, smart African American athletes in the Big Ten. There are also some fast dumb white althetes in the Big 10.

[DU9598]

27. Well said Ellacott

[MADem]

29. Yep. I think it's absurd to think that any group owns the franchise on

either fast or dumb. Or fast and smart. Or slow and smart, or slow and dumb, for that matter...though in those cases they'd not be recruited to be the team water carrier, even.

And I didn't understand the source of any of the "inference" that the author got either. Of course, I wasn't there when Delaney made his remarks. Perhaps there was a "tone" to them, but the author did a lousy job of reporting if that's the case, because to me, it just reads like a little bit of an accusation with no real back-up to it.

[PVnRT]

38. Amazing, a voice of logic

One that will quickly be drowned out by the SEC fanboys, but nice try.

[KharmaTrain]

42. Bingo...It's The Color Green That They See

In college I ran the student radio station...one day I got a call from the Athletic Director. He asked me if I'd give an airshift to one of his players...a running back on the football team who was a Communications major in his Junior year. He needed the shift to fulfill a one hour "practicum" credit, and I was happy to have another body on board.

The young man came in and we gave him an audition...and we were shocked that this guy couldn't read. He couldn't even make it through reading a simple 60 second script. I called the AD back and told him I couldn't put him on the air cause of his reading troubles and I was called racist and other names and was threatened with having our university funding cut. I felt bad...especially for this kid...as he was a real nice guy and really, really wanted to learn what we were doing. Several of us took him under our wing...and got to know him.

He was from a very poor inner city family...the first in his family to be able to attend college and he was frustrated. He had had an injury his freshman year and almost was bounced off the squad...and back into the projects...but was able to "play through his injury" and felt he was kept around cause the team had lost its other running back...that's when I got the call from the AD. When I spoke to the AD I asked if this person had encountered academic problems with his reading difficulties and I was told "we have him with a tutor" (which we later found out was a fraud and cost the AD his job...nearly 10 years after I and this player had moved on).

This young man really appreciated us taking an interest in him...laughing that we were some of the few people on campus who knew him by name, not by his number. One of our staff members...who was part of the mentoring/peer mediation program worked with him and we gave him all types of jobs to do around the station...which he gladly did...until he could master his own airshift. We were all so proud of his progress and looked forward to him staying with us for his final year.

That summer, in drill before the season, he blew out his ACL in practice...ending his "career" and value to the Athletic Dept. and was dropped like a bad habit. When he was dropped, he lost his scholarship and was turned down for student assistance to finish for his degree due to "bad performance" and low GPA. To this day I stew thinking about how this person had been treated and wonder what's become of him.

[Rosemary2205]

24. I can't see the racism here either.

The guy may or may not be a flaming racist but you can't tell it from this.

[Clark2008]

35. Dweeb

The reason there are more black starters in the SEC is that there are, statistically, more black people PERIOD in the South than in the North.

Many of these players grow up knowing teams like Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU. They WANT to go to school in the South.

Duh.

[PVnRT]

39. So, all we have to do is scream RACISM now

and it applies, no matter what?

There is nothing in Delaney's statement that indicates that he wants to keep the black kids out. On the contrary, both you and the columnist are asserting that black athletes must obviously be less intelligent than whites, but they sure can run fast, and that sounds racist as hell to me.

When the SEC is bragging about TRYING to be "probation-free" by next year, what does that tell you about ethics? When a former SEC coach (Zook) uses recruiting practices that other Big Ten coaches find questionable, what about that? Sounds to me that Delaney is on to something about the slime that infest the ranks of the SEC and their methods used to get new players.

And if we want to talk about race and schools, let's talk about the SEC, shall we? How many federal troops did it take to get those wonderful colleges to let the darkies in? Want to talk about that, or is that all in the past now that those dumb, fast blacks win football games?

This columnist is nothing short of the typical SEC football fanboy who thinks that the world revolves around that conference, that all other conferences are jokes, and will use any excuse possible to justify their idiotic beliefs. It's amazing that the mods are letting this asinine flamebait continue to stay.

[Igel]

44. The first question I have has nothing to do with race.

It has to do with veridicality. Wetzel points out that both leagues go for money over academics, but the question remains: Does the Big Ten have a higher graduation rate and higher average GPA (with the standard deviation reported, of course) than the SEC? Are the courses, on average, more academically rigorous?

[Fenris]

46. Locking.

Your headline is misleading. If you want to repost without editorializing in your headline, feel free.