Collegiate Times

I wish that I could throw/catch a football so that I could take a class that I don't belong in and get better grades than everyone else.

"First off, the NCAA only allows each Division 1-A team 85 scholarships for players on the roster. At the start of the fall season, there will be 126 players on the roster, meaning 41 players must pay their own way. Those on scholarship do get financial aid, but at a price." How is "not getting a scholarship" evidence for the fact that sports players don't have it easy? What about the other ~20k student paying there way through without any form of scholarship? 85 out of 126 is a blessing. "On a team that has three Eagle Scouts, a Freemason and many members heavily involved with religious groups on campus, I find it hard to even begin to talk about a lack of class." Could this have been written with any more lack of substance? You noted 4 specific cases on a team with, as you noted earlier, 126 players. 4 out of 126 is hardly basis for proving a group has "class." Assuming that religious people have class is an entire article worthy of its own discussion. -Not Convinced

All that I am trying to bring to light is that this more to the football team than the papers talk about. Student-Athletes at Virginia Tech Constantly coordinate volunteer efforts with United Way and work with less fortunate kids during the holiday season. But I guess you wouldn't know about that because nobody was punished in the process. People judge our team character by the people we remove from the team, not by those who remain.

I appreciate Mr. Davis' letter. As someone who has taught several student-athletes at Virginia Tech, I can say that his assessment of the time committments made by athletes is absolutely underrated by the general public. Student-athletes are among the most disciplined students I've ever taught because they've had to learn how to manage their time.

Not only do I agree with Eric Davis, but Im also a member of the team and I think that it's very odd that the same people that tend to praise football players in the fall, bash them when it is not football season. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and im not blaming you all for what you believe because your ignorant and you dont know any better. I think that teachers understand the difficulty in being a student athlete but some students on this campus are either jealous, would love to be a football player or just dont get how hard this business is. In my opinion there is nothing more that needs to be said, so to all you people out there who feel that we have it easy and you may dislike us because we play on the football team, im sure that we will see your faces when we play Furman for the season opener in the fall. Take care, have a blessed day. GO HOKIES!!!

Like Eric said you guys try waking up at 6 a.m and not seeing your room again until 9 at night. This is hard work being a student athlete and if it was that easy then everyone would have a damn scholarship. And if it was not for the football team there would NOT be any excitement around here anyway so before you guys criticize try thanking us.

Eric, your comment below that, "People judge our team character by the people we remove from the team, not by those who remain" is one of the most eloquent arguments Ive seen. Really made me reconsider my thoughts about student athletes being overprivileged. Then Ima Player posted his arrogant comment and put me back at square one.

Eric, I applaud you for speaking up for the student-athlete population at Virginia Tech. I myself wrote an article a few years back when all the Marcus Vick stuff went down. People due tend to judge football players for the actions of just a few, like you said there are 100+ of you and the actions of 5-10 people should not make people form judgments against the whole team. Being a student-athlete is very hard work, which some people may never understand because they feel as though we are given so many "privileges", when we are given the same opportunities as other students who do not use them.

It is true that there has been some disciplinary action recently, but you cannot deny that Beamer plays favorites. All my friends at other schools make fun of Tech and consider us as some "Thug-U" just because of Mike & Marcus Vick, Branden Ore, William Wall, and so on. When Beamer goes and kicks off a kid like William Wall off the team, it's probably because he has other options at his position. He gave a kid like Ore so many chances, and you have to think its because he probably values Ore more than Wall. But Eric Davis is right, the football players on the team work damn hard and they deserve respect. I am going on the assumption that most of the players don't get any compensation for their hard work other than the free education. You can argue that the NCAA is giving an unfair trade, because they get hundreds of millions of dollars off of these players. But look at some of the cars the players drive, and you know some of them are doing REAL WELL. Look at Kenneth Page, a Clemson signee for 2008 whose picture has surfaced online with him holding thousands of dollars. Being a big time football recruit has its perks!

Thank you for writing this, Eric, and shining the light on the real difficulties of being a student athlete. Its easy to cast anonymous insults, such as those of "a real student", but you lay your name and reputation on the line to let in some sunshine on the facts of the matter. These men and women lay it on the line and bust their hind-ends to make us proud on gameday, and make a future for themselves in the classroom. Thanks again for writing this, Eric. I for one cannot wait to see this 2008 squad take the field. GO HOKIES!

Discipline is Misinformed. William Wall had more NFL potential than nearly anyone on the team at that time. He was not dismissed because he was less valuable than Ore, but because his offenses were more offensive.

Nor will he be the last. Hmm, remember Brandon Flowers and the pictures he had posted on facebook? Also, I agree with whoever said the thing about Beamer playing favorites. You break the rules, you should be gone, no ands, ifs, or buts. It's ridiculous. Marcus Vick got wayyyy too many chances. I do believe being a student athlete is a hard job, but you are def. compensated for it (not monetarily, but go to school for free) and it's a rare opportunity that SOME take for granted. Also, it is only a couple of players that make the whole team look bad, but that's all it takes unfortunately. Personally, I'd rather see us look more @ character than talent because the character goes a lot further. And many players come out of high school average, but turn out to be much, much better (Stephen Curry).

I am not trying to argue with you, because in general I agree with Eric's article. I just think Beamer does play favorites when it comes to giving athletes second changes, like Marcus Vick. About Wall, I think it's obvious there were other very good D-Ends like Nekos Brown and Orion Martin, so his loss wouldn't have been felt as much. If Ore left last year, there would have been no running game. What did Wall do that was worse than Ore? I thought Ore was basically suspended from the team and had to work at 7-11 for a semester. Then he didn't workout with the team in the summer. He was in the news for some case involving cocaine. Even if he was a witness, you know he is involved with the wrong crowd. The last string was probably him missing some 6 AM Workouts. I never heard any reason for Wall getting kicked off the team. Did he have legal issues? No beef, just want to know.

Eric - I think this article is well written and shows an excellent side to the student athletes. I was not a student athlete, but I did become very close friends with a member of the football team in my classes. I will say he worked hard for his grades, we studied together frequently, and he graduated from VT before even attempting to joint he NFL. Living in Atlanta now, I think the bad seeds from Virginia Tech over shadow the good. Yes, there are some Hokie Football Alum with bad records and bad attitudes (the Vicks are probably the prime example) but what about the good? What about players like Bryan Randall, Lee Suggs, Jeff King, Kevin Jones, Daryl Tapp, etc. who were all stand out players at Virginia Tech with no disciplinary problems (that I am aware of, so feel free to bash me if I am wrong)that now play in the NFL and you don't see them on the news or ESPN for how many times they've been arrested. I have no problem with pointing out the bad and wanting to see a difference, but please don't discredit the good guys on the team who do their work and stay out of trouble.

Some people seem to only focus on what they think is negative, and these people are everywhere. Being a student athlete at any level is difficult, specifically on the collegiate level. Your letter shows a side of things that many people seem to skip over when talking about VT athletics. Keep on doing your thing and don't worry about those that are ignorant. They aren't worth the time anyway. Those applauding your efforts greatly outnumber the select few who seem to ignore them. That and the fact that I haven't seen Shapiro write a positive article about Virginia Tech in anything he's written in the CT.

As an alumni, a season ticket holder, and the parent of a Junior non athlete I am very impressed by this letter and our sports teams. The amount of time that goes into your sport all year is incredible. I think you earn every bit of your scholarship and more with your sacrifices! I think you will find "thugs" in the general student body as well. Our athletes have represented us well. Thank you for your well written letter.

Eric I am proud that you chose your response so eloquently, however I am not sure that you needed to do so. The author of the prior article in which you respond does not understand the taskings that go on in the life of a student athlete everyday. As a physician, I have the same problem, however if I choose to justify the idiosyncrasies of some moron each and every time they complain, then I would waist more time than I am allotted. It is obvious that the author sets at home each night, watches TV with the general population and then thinks of ways to get responses to a news article by bashing VT players. Just remember that most people are good and that almost all of VT alumni, faculty and students appreciate the student athletes. If we did not, then 70,000 people would not travel each and every weekend in the fall to watch you play or send in checks to the athletic department to support the programs.

Awww....boy this is very heartbreaking. Most people in the world should get special treatment from the rest of us because they can catch a ball and run from here to there faster than some other people on a small field. The rest of us have to settle on having skills that are actually productive in society. Wow...impressive. Get real jobs!

Student Athletes do well in the real world and real jobs because they show leadership abilities and responsibility...being a student athlete helps your resume, it doesn't hurt it as long as you have the diploma and grades to go along with it. You can be smart and athletic.

"I wish that I could throw/catch a football so that I could take a class that I don't belong in and get better grades than everyone else." Perhaps you should do as the author suggested, and join the team for one of their workout sessions, it might help you learn how to catch that ball. I might also suggest spending your time studying for the classes you are having difficulty in, rather than bashing Eric for his article. To put it in terms of the World of Warcraft: "Less QQ, more PEW PEW".

You're right Jeremy, except that I bet that if I had spent all of late middle school to senior year of college lifting weights and catching a football it wouldn't be that hard. If you do anything you enjoy it gets easier with time. Too bad I don't get free tuition and better grades to play those videogames though.

This is directed toward "A Real Student". I thought it would be nice to let you know that your wrong about saying that "If you do anything you enjoy it gets easier with time" thats wrong. Aint nothin easy, and the things I enjoy doing have not gotten any easier, as the longer I do them the more time and effort I put in to become better at what I do, therefore it doesnt get "easier with time" its gets harder.

This is a really great article. I have great respect for the VT student athletes. I struggled in school as a high school athlete, which doesn't even begin to compare. Your commitment alone amazes me. With that said, remarks like ima players "And if it was not for the football team there would NOT be any excitement around here anyway" makes me cringe...and they wonder why athletes are stereotyped in the first place.

A real student is just a jealous punk that wishes he played sports. I bet he's some little pencilneck dweeb that probably hasn't even had an opportunity to get laid yet, and it's his 4th year in college!!

Forgive me if I don't take your article seriously, but you are a business major, I mean you don't even have to show up to get your degree. Also the majority of student-athletes major in communications or business, which are both majors that only require apes like you to drag your knuckles on the ground and tell your teachers that you need to pass to play in a bowl game. I am a student who gets a partial scholarship and some financial, who works 36 to 40 hours a week and takes classes like organic chemistry, physics and calculus 2 in the same semester alone. I get up earlier than 6 every morning to finish up homework before I start my day that lasts until around 1 am everyday. So yeah I am sure your workouts suck but other than that your life is easy. You get a free degree, free food, free books and free room and board. I, like many other students, have to pay rent, car payments, insurance, tuition, books and food. So please stop whining about how much you have to do because I would trade places with you in a heartbeat.

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