You know, no matter what you do and how well it goes over with the majority of fans there are always going to be some blowhards out there that find a reason to suggest that the new system is bad even though it is evident to almost everyone that the new system is far superior to the old one. These people are not very widespread in their opinions and normally they base their arguments on hypothetical situations that may or may not actually exist.
In this particular case they are stating that the extra 3-weeks to a month are negatively affecting student members of certain football programs since they now have to be away from their studies for several more weeks.
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The complainers talk mostly about the marching bands, which tend to be rather huge for teams that have a good football program, but they also touch base on the student support team that work in various things like logistics, medical, or even assignments surrounding equipment such as uniforms and pads. They bring up hypotheticals about how these doting students are now subjected to an additional 3 weeks of missed education because the football team is on the road for all the post-season games and therefore are missing class.
This is a really stupid argument because as someone that actually did travel with his college soccer team for the full season which takes place during the academic year, nobody on the team gives a damn about if their grades are going to suffer. It is an afterthought for the athletes and I can say from first-hand experience that most of the students that are involved in athletic scholarships as well as the support staff and especially members of the marching band, are given a "free pass" as far as their grades are concerned. This is why you almost never hear about any athlete or part of an athletic program getting suspended from their positions for lack of academic performance.
I can tell you first-hand that these students are not held to the same standards that other students are. Some of the guys I was on teams with and other athletes that I would meet at events were barely literate, let alone someone who was truly hitting the books every night in preparation for the upcoming exam.
The band members are probably focused on in this criticism of the extended season because it is just presumed that they are not going to get this "free pass" that the actual players get but this simply isn't true. If it was true, then I would kind of agree with the criticism of the extended season but it simply isn't true.
While this is by no means the official standpoint of any university because they would not be allowed to make that sort of statement, the enthusiasm that a University feels when one of their teams in is the national championship picture supersedes any sort of enthusiasm that a university would feel if a big group of students accomplished something in the academic realm. Even though I attended a university that didn't really give a damn about their soccer program, it was understood with my professors that I was to get good grades and that the professor needed to see to it that this happens. The same is extended to the support staff.
Is this controversial? Absolutely! But that is the way that it is because for schools with big names in college sports, they can charge more for everything that the college does if they are in the national spotlight. Because they are there in the picture, their "brand" is far more worthwhile than it would be if they were to force everyone to focus on their studies. Stating that the extended season is negatively affecting the academic performance of the people involved is just plain ignorance on the part of whoever is claiming that.
They obviously are targeting the band because if they were to say that the athletes were affected by this the public would just laugh because I think most people know that the athletes on huge money-making teams like Notre Dame and Ohio State (the only 2 teams remaining at this point) probably NEVER go to class. I know that when I was in college that I was put into a group with a high-profile basketball player that just happened to be in the same class. This guy NEVER attended any of our group sessions and it was explained to us by the professor that he would not be (in private of course). Without stating it explicitly, the professor just basically ensured us that we needn't worry about our grade because of this group work and how one member definitely wouldn't be contributing.
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I think what is really going on here is that the online publishing industry is so competitive that people who do this sort of thing really struggle to come up with original ideas and therefore every imaginable viewpoint will be covered in some degree even if it has no merit.
Everyone enjoys having a true national champion and nobody involved with the teams are complaining. If they actually were, than someone would have dropped a quote for these articles. This one would actually have someone on the record talking about how tough their academic life is because of the extended season. Yet, they don't have one because nobody involved is actually complaining.
Stop making problems where they do not exist!