Does the Udub work at recruiting smart athletes?
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![Everyone has an opinion on Richard Sherman this week. Immediately after sealing the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday's NFC Championship game, by deflecting a last-minute pass to Michael Crabtree, the cornerback gave an impassioned interview that you’ve probably seen by now. Some people called him a classless thug, while others laughed off his rant as an understandably emotional response to capping off the biggest game of his career with a play that will show up on NFL playoff reels for years to come. The reaction to the reaction has now become the story, with Sherman apologizing Monday for singling out Crabtree “and taking the attention away from the fantastic game by my teammates,” he wrote in a text message to ESPN’s Ed Werder. A lot of commentary focused on whether Sherman showed a lack of sportsmanship, but some carried a specific disdain for arrogance displayed by a gifted black man. We like to think that we live in a post-racial America, but it’s hard to ignore the disparity between Sherman’s treatment and that of many white athletes who have dared to be publicly confident. Nobody’s accusing Johnny Manziel or [insert name of a Duke basketball player here] of setting white people back 500 years, but Sherman and others who fit the construct of the uppity black athlete -- see Owens, Terrell, or even Williams, Serena -- are apparently a disgrace to their sport for bragging. Whatever your moral stance, one thing is indisputable: Big personalities and big controversies make for big business. Peter King wrote on Sports IIllustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback blog that the column Sherman wrote yesterday to explain the interview quickly became MMQB’s most-read post and drove the site’s highest-traffic day since it started six months ago. In fact, that’s the reason Fox Sports, ESPN and others shove a microphone in front of players’ faces in the immediate aftermath of a big game. Although most players end up saying next to nothing, shooting a cursory nod to their teammates and coaches and God, the hope is for just one interesting statement to build a story on. The sports media struck gold with Sherman’s interview, adding a conversation about race, sportsmanship and role models to the Super Bowl buildup. It’s the story that keeps on giving -- which is why, today, we’re much more focused on Sherman supposedly being an ungracious winner than on Bill Belichick or Tom Brady being sore losers.](http://handbill.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/capture1.png)
Bloomberg: After sealing the Seattle Seahawks’ win over the San Francisco 49ers in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, by deflecting a last-minute pass to Michael Crabtree, Richard Sherman gave an impassioned interview . Some people called him a classless thug, while others laughed off his rant as an understandably emotional response to capping off the biggest game of his career with a play that will show up on NFL playoff reels for years to come.
A lot of commentary focused on whether Sherman showed a lack of sportsmanship, but some carried a specific disdain for arrogance displayed by a gifted black man.
We like to think that we live in a post-racial America, but it’s hard to ignore the disparity between Sherman’s treatment and that of many white athletes who have dared to be publicly confident. Nobody’s accusing Johnny Manziel or [insert name of a Duke basketball player here] of setting white people back 500 years, but Sherman and others who fit the construct of the uppity black athlete — see Owens, Terrell, or even Williams, Serena — are apparently a disgrace to their sport for bragging.
Whatever your moral stance, one thing is indisputable: Big personalities and big controversies make for big business. Peter King wrote on Sports IIllustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback blog that the column Sherman wrote yesterday to explain the interview quickly became MMQB’s most-read post and drove the site’s highest-traffic day since it started six months ago.
The sports media struck gold with Sherman’s interview, adding a conversation about race, sportsmanship and role models to the Super Bowl buildup. It’s the story that keeps on giving — which is why, today, we’re much more focused on Sherman supposedly being an ungracious winner than on Bill Belichick or Tom Brady being sore losers.
The cam last Sundays football game. Like others watching the aftermath I watched Richard Sherman’s World Wrestling style remarks after the game. Sherman sounded like a professional wrestler, insulting Michael Alex Crabtree. calling him a mediocre player .. or some morte pictaresque term. From what the media are reporting these two guys have had at it before and it seem likely that this all a midia stunt of the Mr. Crabtree has a dirty mouth.
I really do not care. What did bother me was discovering that Richard Sherman played for Stanford. Not only did Sherman get into Stanford, he did so with 4.3 GPA from a decrepit, segregated high school in Compton California and, apparently did rather well as a student while at Stanford.
How come we do not see the likes of Sherman more often at the Udub? Do we go after this kind of kid .. one good enough to get into Stanford? Do we even look for these kids or work at selling them on the idea that if they come to the Udub and decide not to make a life as professional sport figure, we will be thrilled to see them use their talents to be become great students?
By the way, Mr. Sherman is not the only dark skinned Seahawk to raise the question of why the UW is not more competitive in attracting outstanding STUDENT athletes. Russel Wilson, the Hawks’ quarterback is was another outstanding STUDENT athlete. He chose to go the
other UW ..other University of Wisconsin.
Meanwhile here is some of what the Huff Post said after the interview:
Firstly, we’re talking about a 25-year-old who came out of the streets of Compton, California. Sherman graduated from one of the worst school districts in the United States, one that boasts a high-school graduation rate of 57 percent. In a country where 68 percent of all federal and state inmates are lacking a high school diploma, you could say Sherman avoided a horrifying fate. But to say he “got lucky” or “escaped” would be foolhardy. He didn’t “just graduate,” either. He finished with a 4.2 GPA, second in his class, and went on to Stanford University, one of the most prestigious places to get an education in the entire world. He busted out in a rocket ship. He went from a world of gang violence and drugs to everything that Palo Alto and Stanford University represent. … So now, America, …let’s talk about the Stanford graduate from Compton who has never been arrested, never cursed in a post-game interview, never been accused of being a dirty player, started his own charitable non-profit, and won an appeal in the only thing close to a smudge on his record.
Not saying he’s a prince among men, but it’s amazing to watch the racists freak and the so called “rags to riches” types also freak when a poor black guy does well. As the article put it “He taught us that we’re still a country that isn’t ready for lower-class Americans from neighborhoods like Compton to succeed.”
Is the Udub interested in competing for these kids as students?