M. Floyd, S. Henderson, W. Mobley, S. Maresh, WLA.....

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GoGophers2005

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What's up with these highly rated Minnesota kids either not cutting it in class or messing up outside the walls of their schools? Who else could be added to this list? Just seems weird.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
What's up with these highly rated Minnesota kids either not cutting it in class or messing up outside the walls of their schools? Who else could be added to this list? Just seems weird.
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Not withstanding the 'its college' defense...we all made our mistakes along the way...I think most of these Mn kids don't realize what a fish bowl it is at other schools...you go to ND or tOSU or AL or the like and you are in the game big time...no where to hide...LOTS OF PRESSURE...some similar things at MN but nearly the same pressure...IMO.
 

GoGophers2005 said:
What's up with these highly rated Minnesota kids either not cutting it in class or messing up outside the walls of their schools? Who else could be added to this list? Just seems weird.
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And what has Henderson done to get on that list?
 

Each is obviously a unique case. I hate to say it, but a big fish in a relatively small MN HS sports pond may find himself simply unappreciated to the levels they expect when they venture to bigger and better things.
I frankly blame the coaches and parents whenever I see a high profile athlete get into trouble.
So much hype and praise and worship can get heaped onto these kids to the point where they don't struggle through things and develop coping and life skills.
Guess what? You don't study for a class? You fail? Well then you have to miss a sports season or take summer school instead of going to camps. You got into trouble in school? You are suspended from athletics until your punishment is fufilled. It's the state championship? Too bad, you f'ed up, you deal with it.
It takes stones for a coach to do this, it takes a strong will for a parent to do this. I feel like kids simply aren't told no enough and aren't allowed to fail and work themselves back into success, especially when they have a desirable trait like being a really great football player.

BTW I'm 28 not an old fogie, and I currently coach HS sports.
 



Ole said:
Each is obviously a unique case. I hate to say it, but a big fish in a relatively small MN HS sports pond may find himself simply unappreciated to the levels they expect when they venture to bigger and better things.
I frankly blame the coaches and parents whenever I see a high profile athlete get into trouble.
So much hype and praise and worship can get heaped onto these kids to the point where they don't struggle through things and develop coping and life skills.
Guess what? You don't study for a class? You fail? Well then you have to miss a sports season or take summer school instead of going to camps. You got into trouble in school? You are suspended from athletics until your punishment is fufilled. It's the state championship? Too bad, you f'ed up, you deal with it.
It takes stones for a coach to do this, it takes a strong will for a parent to do this. I feel like kids simply aren't told no enough and aren't allowed to fail and work themselves back into success, especially when they have a desirable trait like being a really great football player.

BTW I'm 28 not an old fogie, and I currently coach HS sports.
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When I saw the headline of this thread, that is exactly what I thought. I don't necessarily blame the coaches or parents, though some may be deserved. The kids get into new environments where they come to realize they are not the only headliner and I could imagine it is quite a shock to the system.
 

If you want to extend the list out to include Twin Cities-based athletes who have had problems, the list can include:

Royce White
Anthony Tucker (kicked out of both IA and Winona St)
 

It's hard to say. There are those who got away with everything in high school, because no one dared suspend the star player. It's not just the fault of parents and coaches, there are often mobs with (metaphorical) torches and pitchforks who come after a coach or teacher who suspends the star player. This isn't really doing the player any good in the long run. People are generally lazy, and if they know they don't have to do any work to pass, they won't work, and won't learn anything. And they may get away with a lot because they are the star player, but sooner or later this won't work any more. Eventually, their playing days will be over, and there will be no one covering up for them, and they learn the hard way. Also, their behavior may escalate to the point where it gets too big and too public for people to cover up.

Then there are players who let fame go to their head. That bubble sometimes pops the hard way. And then, there are some people who just have problems, and need therapy.
 

They have to understand that they aren't kids, they are adults now and your actions have consequences. You're not going to get out of a screwing up in college like you could get out of screwing up in high school.
 



some of these kids should have stayed home because they are simply too immature to have been far from home.
 

What has Mobley doen other than transfer? How is Mobley different than Beal?
 

gopherjay said:
some of these kids should have stayed home because they are simply too immature to have been far from home.
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Staying at home obviously didn't help Maresh, Royce White, and Mbakwe keeps on having little run ins since he has came back to MN. Heck, if this list includes Seantrel, it should include Hageman and Al Nolen as kids who missed some time who stayed close to home.

I do think it is a bit strange to lump all of these kids into a similar thread though. I mean, Mobley hasn't really done anything, Henderson shouldn't be compared with WLA or Royce White, etc.

There are plenty of examples of MN kids who haven't gotten into any trouble whatsoever, some kids who have had tiny run ins, some kids with some red flags and some collosal failures. So, it seems like it's just like anywhere else.
 

sorry guys i am having a huge brain fart...who is WLA?? :confused:
 



Include whoever you want...

My point on the thread was that these Minnesota kids were either the #1 or #2 ranked kids in the state and pretty much all of them have screwed up pretty bad either in the class room or outside the class room. It's almost the norm.

Mobley had academic problems at OSU correct?
 

Yeah, Floyd's the only kid in the world who has ever been arrested for drunken driving. Sure it's stupid (and could have been tragic), but let's not put these guys on an unrealistic pedestal. They are human and they are going to make mistakes. By all accounts, Floyd is a pretty good kid. He just effed-up here.
 

tjgopher said:
If you want to extend the list out to include Twin Cities-based athletes who have had problems, the list can include:

Royce White
Anthony Tucker (kicked out of both IA and Winona St)
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To be fair, Tucker hasn't been kicked out of Winona St....yet
 

50PoundHead said:
Yeah, Floyd's the only kid in the world who has ever been arrested for drunken driving. Sure it's stupid (and could have been tragic), but let's not put these guys on an unrealistic pedestal. They are human and they are going to make mistakes. By all accounts, Floyd is a pretty good kid. He just effed-up here.
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I've also heard Floyd is a pretty good kid but this is his third alcohol related offense now. That's starting to become a trend.
 

50PoundHead said:
Yeah, Floyd's the only kid in the world who has ever been arrested for drunken driving. Sure it's stupid (and could have been tragic), but let's not put these guys on an unrealistic pedestal. They are human and they are going to make mistakes. By all accounts, Floyd is a pretty good kid. He just effed-up here.
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And all I am saying that there is a pretty weird trend going on with Minnesota's top ranked kids.
 


SMU GOPHS FAN said:
I've also heard Floyd is a pretty good kid but this is his third alcohol related offense now. That's starting to become a trend.
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Then he needs to get some help.

As for the trend, I don't think it can be attributed to any one thing.
 

SMU GOPHS FAN said:
I've also heard Floyd is a pretty good kid but this is his third alcohol related offense now. That's starting to become a trend.
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Given his age and already three offenses...it does send a caution flag, especially at ND. They can overlook only so much once it hits the papers. I don't remember any mention of the other two offenses.
 



There are thousands of great athletes that get into trouble all over the country. The issue is, Minnesota doesn't produce as many...so everyone talks about every single one.

If a kid who graduated in 2008 from Louisiana had gone to Notre Dame and then got a DUI...I don't think the LSU message boards would really care about it.....in Minnesota...great athletes are so few that all of the fans take an interest in each one even when they skip town. In Minnesota, if you were ever a great athlete is seems you are followed the rest of your life.
 

Rosemountian said:
There are thousands of great athletes that get into trouble all over the country. The issue is, Minnesota doesn't produce as many...so everyone talks about every single one.

If a kid who graduated in 2008 from Louisiana had gone to Notre Dame and then got a DUI...I don't think the LSU message boards would really care about it.....in Minnesota...great athletes are so few that all of the fans take an interest in each one even when they skip town. In Minnesota, if you were ever a great athlete is seems you are followed the rest of your life.
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Very good point.
 

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