[Farm93]

[quote author=Yvonne link=topic=6464.msg47796#msg47796 date=1347847025]
I agree. All fan bases get upset with coaches. I hope we wouldn't refer to our players as disgusting unless it was something unsportsmanlike. The coaches are paid staff. The players are college kids on scholarship. Yes, the NCAA is in many ways a minor league for the NFL, but if we fans want to also keep it as a place for scholar athletes, then we have to treat the players as such.

Agreed, except that for decades SC has in fact treated its players like paid staff rather than college kids on scholarship.  Their fan base has absorbed this ethos, and the ugliness shows through.
[/quote]

Well they treat the SC players like paid staff because that has been proven to be true.  Bush and McKnight were getting paid with cash, cars and family loans.  Who knows how many others were just clever or lucky enough not to get caught.

There is also an implied contract that the SC family will take care of the guys after their time with the program that seems to be mentioned commonly.  SC is also the best football team in LA and they play in a former NFL stadium.  They also draw better than the NFL teams that left town.  And because of that, and lots of other reasons, many in the stands view SC as their local professional football team.  Many of those fans in the stands and around town don't care about the academics.  And you know, I think those that commit to SC know and accept that the football first perspective will be prevalent in the stands. 

If one expects something different then there are other programs that would likely be a better fit for that student-athlete.

If they win they will be the toast of the second biggest city in the USA, but if they lose....

5 star recruits don't really expect that downside to become their reality.

[Farm93]

[quote author=Yvonne link=topic=6464.msg47796#msg47796 date=1347847025]
I agree. All fan bases get upset with coaches. I hope we wouldn't refer to our players as disgusting unless it was something unsportsmanlike. The coaches are paid staff. The players are college kids on scholarship. Yes, the NCAA is in many ways a minor league for the NFL, but if we fans want to also keep it as a place for scholar athletes, then we have to treat the players as such.

Agreed, except that for decades SC has in fact treated its players like paid staff rather than college kids on scholarship.  Their fan base has absorbed this ethos, and the ugliness shows through.
[/quote]

Well they treat the SC players like paid staff because that has been proven to be true.  Bush and McKnight were getting paid with cash, cars and family loans.  Who knows how many others were just clever or lucky enough not to get caught.

There is also an implied contract that the SC family will take care of the guys after their time with the program that seems to be mentioned commonly.  SC is also the best football team in LA and they play in a former NFL stadium.  They also draw better than the NFL teams that left town.  And because of that, and lots of other reasons, many in the stands view SC as their local professional football team.  Many of those fans in the stands and around town don't care about the academics.  And you know, I think those that commit to SC know and accept that the football first perspective will be prevalent in the stands. 

If one expects something different then there are other programs that would likely be a better fit for that student-athlete.

If they win they will be the toast of the second biggest city in the USA, but if they lose....

5 star recruits don't really expect that downside to become their reality.