DE Wilford Journet

[CajunShocker]

_ The individual is responsible. But the adults who know better also share some responsibility. This athletically gifted kid graduated from Acadiana yet could not meet the academic eligibility requirements to play D-1A ball. How then was he eligible to play high school ball? Something is wrong when we are passing kids and maintaining their eligibility to play high school ball but then when they graduate they are revealed to be lacking academically. Those teachers, coaches and administrators know the true academic status of that kid but somehow he gets grades just good enough to keep him on the playing field in high school. These adults are not doing this kid or any others like him any favors and the LHSAA is spineless for refusing to raise the standards and only requiring a 1.5 GPA to maintain eligibility.

Agreed Hammer.

A 1.5 GPA is a joke. But what it all boils down to is this. If he makes the eligibility requirements, he is allowed to play. The coaches and principals are following the rules laid out by the LHSAA. At the end of the day, the coaches main job is to take care of his own family. He has to do that by keeping his job. How does he keep his job? By winning football games. How does he win football games? By putting his most talented players on the field.

It is entirely possible for a kid to receive a sub par education, but have parents that won't accept failure. I know kids that have been in this situation at terrible schools with terrible teachers and have gone on to graduate from college and lead very successful lives. They achieved this because of their superior parenting.

So what does all this mean. Wilford Journet's fate lies in the hands of Wilford Journet's parents during his childhood and in his own during his adult life. Once you leave home for college, you are an adult and you must take accountability for your own actions. If he can't hack the schoolwork, then find some help and get it done. Don't fail and start to blame everyone but yourself. I'm not saying that he is blaming anyone, but a previous poster wanted to lay blame on everyone but Ricky Bustle.

So if you want to blame his parents, blame them. But don't come after educators that are responsible for hundreds of graduates each year. If he is their only failure from that year then, oh well. They did good.

[zephyr]

_ When ar efolks around Lafayette gong to start holding these hish school coaches and principals accountable for the poor academic abilities of their stud athletes? While I believe it starts with the athlete and his family these coaches and principals are also complicit in allowing these obviously athletically talented but academically underachieving kids to continue to play ball and rack up victories all the while knowing they will not cut it at the D1A level if at all in college. This is not an isolated incident but an all too common trend in Lafayette. You may not be able to force a kid to learn but you sure can hold them to higher standards if they want to play ball or participate in any other extracurricular activity. Its time to hold the administrators and coaches accountable. _

Don't think its just Lafayette or this school board. The problem is you have these athletes that are just not into developing into a student. Academics is not a big part of their life nor is it fostered at home. I think that in the end it is strictly the athletes responsibility to become eligible.

[zephyr]

_ The individual is responsible. But the adults who know better also share some responsibility. This athletically gifted kid graduated from Acadiana yet could not meet the academic eligibility requirements to play D-1A ball. How then was he eligible to play high school ball? Something is wrong when we are passing kids and maintaining their eligibility to play high school ball but then when they graduate they are revealed to be lacking academically. Those teachers, coaches and administrators know the true academic status of that kid but somehow he gets grades just good enough to keep him on the playing field in high school. These adults are not doing this kid or any others like him any favors and the LHSAA is spineless for refusing to raise the standards and only requiring a 1.5 GPA to maintain eligibility.

The really sad thing is that this kid could really play ball. But that chapter is now probably closed for him. So what happens to him now? I wish him the best and hope he can make a good future for himself. But he is starting off behind the eight ball now that he can't rely on athleticism and apparently doesn't have a solid academic foundation to fall back on. _

I hear you but you cannot force this kid to do what is required academically to continue playing. You can't go home with him every night and make sure he does his homework. From what I understand, he doesn't exactly have a scholar mind in the first place. It is sad to see him as gifted athletically as he is but I certainly don't blame administrators for his problems.

[Hammer58]

_ Agreed Hammer.

A 1.5 GPA is a joke. But what it all boils down to is this. If he makes the eligibility requirements, he is allowed to play. The coaches and principals are following the rules laid out by the LHSAA. At the end of the day, the coaches main job is to take care of his own family. He has to do that by keeping his job. How does he keep his job? By winning football games. How does he win football games? By putting his most talented players on the field.

It is entirely possible for a kid to receive a sub par education, but have parents that won't accept failure. I know kids that have been in this situation at terrible schools with terrible teachers and have gone on to graduate from college and lead very successful lives. They achieved this because of their superior parenting.

So what does all this mean. Wilford Journet's fate lies in the hands of Wilford Journet's parents during his childhood and in his own during his adult life. Once you leave home for college, you are an adult and you must take accountability for your own actions. If he can't hack the schoolwork, then find some help and get it done. Don't fail and start to blame everyone but yourself. I'm not saying that he is blaming anyone, but a previous poster wanted to lay blame on everyone but Ricky Bustle.

So if you want to blame his parents, blame them. But don't come after educators that are responsible for hundreds of graduates each year. If he is their only failure from that year then, oh well. They did good. _

But many of those same coaches and adminstrators are part of the road block to the LHSAA raising the 1.5 GPA eligibility requirement. I have a friend in the media (I won't be more specific since it might cause him problems) who has had area coaches state off the record in reference to some of their stud players that they are too stupid to ever make it in college. If that is how they feel about the players shouldn't they be trying to change the system so that it puts an end to this happening year after year? I truly believe that if the LHSAA would raise the requirements many of these kids would put in the academic work required to stay eligible. And while they may only be doing it so they can play football now it would help them after high school. I also realize that some administrators and coaches might falsify grades to keep some kids eligible. But the stricter requiremetns and adults doing the right thing would help more of these kids than the current system is doing. Its just time for this constant cycle of our high schools putting out these athletic studs / academic duds.

[Boomer]

_

You guys have a lot more problems with your own football program than to worry about ours. It has got to really hurt to get your collective butts constantly kicked by everybody you play - - including a bunch of academic underachievers that UL passed on!!

OOOH!! That's got to hurt. _

The key word of your statement is "passed"------They could not pass the requirements for entry at UL--ergo they look for a place to go ---McNeese is perfect---they get in school stay eligible and use their talent to win many games----Not denying that McNeese has many players that are more talented than those at UL---We just can't offer them!!!!

[AstroCajun]

You guys have a lot more problems with your own football program than to worry about ours. It has got to really hurt to get your collective butts constantly kicked by everybody you play - - including a bunch of academic underachievers that UL passed on!!

OOOH!! That's got to hurt.

No one asked for your opinion about this. Good Bye.

[rhineaux]

_ Agreed Hammer.

A 1.5 GPA is a joke. But what it all boils down to is this. If he makes the eligibility requirements, he is allowed to play. The coaches and principals are following the rules laid out by the LHSAA. At the end of the day, the coaches main job is to take care of his own family. He has to do that by keeping his job. How does he keep his job? By winning football games. How does he win football games? By putting his most talented players on the field.

It is entirely possible for a kid to receive a sub par education, but have parents that won't accept failure. I know kids that have been in this situation at terrible schools with terrible teachers and have gone on to graduate from college and lead very successful lives. They achieved this because of their superior parenting.

So what does all this mean. Wilford Journet's fate lies in the hands of Wilford Journet's parents during his childhood and in his own during his adult life. Once you leave home for college, you are an adult and you must take accountability for your own actions. If he can't hack the schoolwork, then find some help and get it done. Don't fail and start to blame everyone but yourself. I'm not saying that he is blaming anyone, but a previous poster wanted to lay blame on everyone but Ricky Bustle.

So if you want to blame his parents, blame them. But don't come after educators that are responsible for hundreds of graduates each year. If he is their only failure from that year then, oh well. They did good. _

I know what you're saying about the coaches having to win to keep their jobs, but let's be honest, this isn't the NFL or NCAA where their only job is to coach. Most of these guys are in the positions they're in because they are educators. Without being educators, they would never be coaches. I understand that they want to win, and in some cases they are being pressured heavily to do so by their administrators. But they are as responsible as anyone, if not only for the simple fact that they are sometimes the most influential people in these players lives, and the people they respect the most.

It's a combination of everything. It's the parent's fault for not doing their job at home. But, just because that doesn't happen, doesn't mean that the other factors can't make a difference. It IS the coaches job to win, but it is also their job to make sure that their STUDENTS are prepared for the future, whether that be as an athlete or a professional, just like with any non-coaching educator. If the coach doesn't do his part, then his principals need to do theirs and look past the winning percentage, and know that making sure a player, or any student, graduates with a good enough pedigree to be successful. Not all students will be cut out for college, but they deserve to be given whatever opportunities to be successful as possible in whatever avenue they choose to go down, by their school. Like I said, this isn't the BCS where winning and making it to a BCS game will earn you millions of dollars. The principals are ultimately responsible for the student's education, whether the student is an athlete or not. And if the principals aren't doing their job, then it's up to the School Board to hold them accountable, and on down the line.

The results of raising the minimum GPA are similar to many other social issues. While some folks work hard and know that they can succeed in anything they do, some folks know that they just need to do what they need to do to get by. They know that if they just do the minimum, while they won't be as successful as others, it's worth the trade-off to not have to put forth any effort. Raising the GPA, and don't forget strict enforcement of the rules, will force them to do more to be able to do what they enjoy to do. And the main benefit of this is that even though they've done the miminum to get by, they will still be more prepared for the future.

Raise it from 1.5 to 2.0, and in 10 or 20 years when we start to see these problems again, raise it again.

[spearchucker]

No one asked for your opinion about this. Good Bye.

Actually Boomer did open this conversation up...and the McNeese guy is right. Some of the best players UL has ever had have been these types of players. And the last time I checked, McNeese romped the Cajuns last year and Coach Bustle is on the hot seat for what?....graduation rates...no, I don't think so...Wins and Losses!

[Cowboy Up]

No one asked for your opinion about this. Good Bye.

Deal with it, Astro!! And the last I heard, this was a public board where opinions are like @$$holes. . . . .everybody has one!!

You can decide to be part of the solution or part of the problem!! Maybe you can stick your head in the sand like your administration and pretend it never happened.

And if you do not relish opinions, go start your own private board again, Astro! I really don't care. Hey, I'll leave you with an opinion by Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders. . . . winning, wow! What a concept!

You've got some "smart" guys on your football team, maybe they can figure it out!!

"Just win, baby. . . . !"

[ULtimateCajun]

Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.........I'm sure the coaches saw that he may be availalbe then saw his grades. Just because there wasn't a press release that we were looking at him, doesn't mean we didn't look at him. The kid isn't going to come to UL, he can't make the grades. end of story.

[Spydaman70507]

Well there will be room for him to play for the Louisiana Bayou Bulls,Hurricanes or the MudBugs Semi-Pro teams in Lafayette you do not need to go to school to play for them alot of our local kids are playing with those teams not to say it is bad but thats where they are.

[CajunSaint]

if we go back as recently as the spring regular legislative session, we will remember the proposed legislation by rickey hardy. that legislation would have raised the "bar" for high school student-athletes to at least a 2.0 gpa in order to be eligible to participate in athletics. do we remember what the reponse was? i do. just about every head football coach and school principal in this state started screaming like stuck pigs. rep. don trahan, education committee chair, came out against it. on the local level, no less a personality than steve peloquin (he said with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek) railed that it was not fair that regular students could graduate with a 1.5 gpa, but athletes had to maintain a 2.0. that's the attitude we are butting heads with. it's institutional. that's why it's so hard to change it. one of these days, when the parents are made to understand what their children are missing out on because they didn't have to try harder in high school, we may be able to change things, like minds. in the meantime, talent like journet has will just go to waste.