Tennesee Players Arrested for armed robbery,

[Aeacus]

... and there are literally millions of poor people who *don't* rob people.  I don't care how hard his life is, the reason these guys robbed a store is because they're criminals, not because they're poor.

Also, of course, one wonders how poor somebody really is who gets free room and board.  Also, I believe student athletes are allowed to earn a certain amount of money (but not for football) during the year.

Heck, I was poor during college and law school.  Lots of my friends did.  None of us robbed anybody.

Yep, and they usually get jobs that are far easier for the money than the average student.  As long as they work the hours for a reasonable wage the NCAA doesn't care if the business pays them to sit in a cube surfing the web as part of the 'facilities' team.  You only get in trouble when you go over the money limit or don't actually work the hours on your timesheet.  Oklahoma had that issue with a car dealership/booster for this last season. 

I'd also like to say while players don't have a lot of money for entertainment expenses, none of that excuses robbing someone.  Many college students are living on a cheap budget and high profile atheletes get a heck of a lot more freebies and easy invites to parties than the normal students.  The sane thing to do is to realize even if you think you are a soon to be 1st round draft pick/all world professional, in the mean time you have to live life as a modest student.  You don't get to go around robbing people.

[Roy Hobbs]

... and there are literally millions of poor people who *don't* rob people.  I don't care how hard his life is, the reason these guys robbed a store is because they're criminals, not because they're poor.

Also, of course, one wonders how poor somebody really is who gets free room and board.  Also, I believe student athletes are allowed to earn a certain amount of money (but not for football) during the year.

Heck, I was poor during college and law school.  Lots of my friends did.  None of us robbed anybody.

Yep, and they usually get jobs that are far easier for the money than the average student.  As long as they work the hours for a reasonable wage the NCAA doesn't care if the business pays them to sit in a cube surfing the web as part of the 'facilities' team.  You only get in trouble when you go over the money limit or don't actually work the hours on your timesheet.  Oklahoma had that issue with a car dealership/booster for this last season. 

Also, from what I've heard about the SEC, it's pretty unlikely that two elite prospects weren't getting something under the table from boosters.

[Amonkey]

I don't want to add more quotes on top of quotes, but just know I replying to posts.

First Roy, you don't think there is a correlation of poverty and criminals?  Are you serious?  I come from Brazil and I know full well that the criminals in the slums don't do what they do for the pleasure of it, but because there are no jobs available and they choose the path that will get food in their plates.  Just look at Japan, one of the most economically sound countries in the world and the crime rate.  Now for this specific case, I say that considering that these guys were planning on robbing a convenience store, these guys weren't looking for a big payout.  They were looking for chump change.  Many of us haven't robbed people, but how many of us have sneak in to a movie theater, or snuck out noodles from Stop and Shop?  I know when I was in college and I had no money to buy food, I had to sneak in to the cafeteria or buy a pizza at Big Y without paying.  However, in my case I was only a student and I was the beneficiary of the education I received.  However, these kids give a lot more for the school that I had ever given and should not have to seek chump change.

Now for the other quote, granted that BC tuition is over $50,000, but how many of these athletes would be there based on their intelligence?  I remember at UMass there was a 3-credit class for athletes that was literally a study hall.  The athlete would go to a computer lab with tutors and study for other classes.  Now you tell me that these guys are really there for the education?  Besides, the reason that tuition are so high is because of all the money that sports raises goes towards other areas of the school, like research, infrastructure, professors... all things that raises the respectability of the university and therefore allowing them to raise tuition.  The better the school is, the higher the tuition is.  The more funds the school has, the better it becomes.  The more money brought to the school from sports, the more funds it receives, the better the school becomes, then it allows to increase the tuition.  They are interconnected.

All I am saying is that school makes a lot of money off athletes and the athletes deserve to receive some of that money for everyday activities.  Athletes should never be subjected to seek chump change from other means.  But regardless, any kid that tries to rob people are def wrong and should be punished.  Athletes def live a better life than college students and should suck up for a couple of semesters until the big money drops in.

[Atzar]

Nu'Keese Richardson and Mike Edwards have been kicked off the team.  Janzen Jackson is barred from the team until this is sorted out, but there's still a reasonable argument that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time - at any rate, he wasn't one of the ones demanding money.  Innocent until proven guilty at this point.

This was just a stupid situation.  They didn't rob a convenience store, let's get that clear.  They attempted a rob a car near a gas station, and there are some murky details about the whole situation.  Go sift through rivals.com if you're interested, they seem to have the best coverage that I can find.


edited for grammar

[Roy Hobbs]

First Roy, you don't think there is a correlation of poverty and criminals?  Are you serious? 

I'm saying that poverty doesn't justify crime.  Also, it's exceedingly unlikely that any University of Tennessee football player is in actual "poverty".

The issue of whether student athletes deserve a stipend is one thing, but to suggest that that led to this felony is completely off base, in my opinion.

[Rondo2287]

I don't want to add more quotes on top of quotes, but just know I replying to posts.

First Roy, you don't think there is a correlation of poverty and criminals?  Are you serious?  I come from Brazil and I know full well that the criminals in the slums don't do what they do for the pleasure of it, but because there are no jobs available and they choose the path that will get food in their plates.  Just look at Japan, one of the most economically sound countries in the world and the crime rate.  Now for this specific case, I say that considering that these guys were planning on robbing a convenience store, these guys weren't looking for a big payout.  They were looking for chump change.  Many of us haven't robbed people, but how many of us have sneak in to a movie theater, or snuck out noodles from Stop and Shop?  I know when I was in college and I had no money to buy food, I had to sneak in to the cafeteria or buy a pizza at Big Y without paying.  However, in my case I was only a student and I was the beneficiary of the education I received.  However, these kids give a lot more for the school that I had ever given and should not have to seek chump change.

Now for the other quote, granted that BC tuition is over $50,000, but how many of these athletes would be there based on their intelligence?  I remember at UMass there was a 3-credit class for athletes that was literally a study hall.  The athlete would go to a computer lab with tutors and study for other classes.  Now you tell me that these guys are really there for the education?  Besides, the reason that tuition are so high is because of all the money that sports raises goes towards other areas of the school, like research, infrastructure, professors... all things that raises the respectability of the university and therefore allowing them to raise tuition.  The better the school is, the higher the tuition is.  The more funds the school has, the better it becomes.  The more money brought to the school from sports, the more funds it receives, the better the school becomes, then it allows to increase the tuition.  They are interconnected.

All I am saying is that school makes a lot of money off athletes and the athletes deserve to receive some of that money for everyday activities.  Athletes should never be subjected to seek chump change from other means.  But regardless, any kid that tries to rob people are def wrong and should be punished.  Athletes def live a better life than college students and should suck up for a couple of semesters until the big money drops in.

So how many Umass students go pro?  I dont think very many.  Now think how many down the road make a great deal more money down the road because they have a college degree.  Colleges are paying these kids for the services, but they just arent giving them spending money.  This forces students to go out on the town in their prius's and rob people.  Makes alot of sense. 

[Amonkey]

I don't want to add more quotes on top of quotes, but just know I replying to posts.

First Roy, you don't think there is a correlation of poverty and criminals?  Are you serious?  I come from Brazil and I know full well that the criminals in the slums don't do what they do for the pleasure of it, but because there are no jobs available and they choose the path that will get food in their plates.  Just look at Japan, one of the most economically sound countries in the world and the crime rate.  Now for this specific case, I say that considering that these guys were planning on robbing a convenience store, these guys weren't looking for a big payout.  They were looking for chump change.  Many of us haven't robbed people, but how many of us have sneak in to a movie theater, or snuck out noodles from Stop and Shop?  I know when I was in college and I had no money to buy food, I had to sneak in to the cafeteria or buy a pizza at Big Y without paying.  However, in my case I was only a student and I was the beneficiary of the education I received.  However, these kids give a lot more for the school that I had ever given and should not have to seek chump change.

Now for the other quote, granted that BC tuition is over $50,000, but how many of these athletes would be there based on their intelligence?  I remember at UMass there was a 3-credit class for athletes that was literally a study hall.  The athlete would go to a computer lab with tutors and study for other classes.  Now you tell me that these guys are really there for the education?  Besides, the reason that tuition are so high is because of all the money that sports raises goes towards other areas of the school, like research, infrastructure, professors... all things that raises the respectability of the university and therefore allowing them to raise tuition.  The better the school is, the higher the tuition is.  The more funds the school has, the better it becomes.  The more money brought to the school from sports, the more funds it receives, the better the school becomes, then it allows to increase the tuition.  They are interconnected.

All I am saying is that school makes a lot of money off athletes and the athletes deserve to receive some of that money for everyday activities.  Athletes should never be subjected to seek chump change from other means.  But regardless, any kid that tries to rob people are def wrong and should be punished.  Athletes def live a better life than college students and should suck up for a couple of semesters until the big money drops in.

So how many Umass students go pro?  I dont think very many.  Now think how many down the road make a great deal more money down the road because they have a college degree.  Colleges are paying these kids for the services, but they just arent giving them spending money.  This forces students to go out on the town in their prius's and rob people.  Makes alot of sense. 

That's what I am saying, if UMass players who most likely won't go pro have joke classes like Study Sessions, do you think they'll have a good career?  You can wipe ur bottom with that kind of degree, but that's the kind of effort the school expects and receives from these big schools.  That's why so many end up right where they were before college.  Who was the college player that wanted to go pro before junior year?  He ended up losing his scholarship and I think he was arrested for dealing or something like that.  What I am saying is that sometimes these scholarships really arent worth anything because they really are not getting the education, they're just getting joke classes until they graduate.  Of course, it's not all people, but I think you get my gist.

[tenn_smoothie]

This is bad, but this also goes along with the discussion of college players getting paid.  No way should a college player, who is putting his heart and soul for the name of the school, have to rob a convenience store.

[Edited.]


the three players involved in this crime are thugs - plain & simple. no other explanation is needed.

kiffin kicked two of them off and kept the best player who had the least involvement. of course, by now, we know the lack of character that kiffin embodies, so keeping janzen jackson on the team, in retrospect, is no surprise. they should all three be gone from knoxville.

------------------------------

-No personal attacks, please.

[Amonkey]

This is bad, but this also goes along with the discussion of college players getting paid.  No way should a college player, who is putting his heart and soul for the name of the school, have to rob a convenience store.

you must really be a gavone to use the need for spending money as some kind of explanation for armed robbery.

you are part of the reason we have someone like Obama in the white house.


the three players involved in this crime are thugs - plain & simple. no other explanation is needed.

kiffin kicked two of them off and kept the best player who had the least involvement. of course, by now, we know the lack of character that kiffin embodies, so keeping janzen jackson on the team, in retrospect, is no surprise. they should all three be gone from knoxville.

Wow, somebody came late to the party.  First of all, I don't see the correlation with my comment or the issue with Obama.  If you could please explain, that would be greatly appreciated.  Now as I had said in other posts, of course these guys were wrong.  However, by just describing these kids as thugs and not looking into the motivation of such acts is doing a great disservice to our society.  How can we as a society improve if we are not seeking for the reason people make such choices?  By just labeling and placing such acts on the side, then more of these actions will happen again or worse.

To me, it is a bit puzzling why these college players, who are getting a free education and free food and housing (I am assuming) would choose to do such things.  To say it's because they are thugs is too simplified and doesn't solve the problem of campus violence.

Now, I bring the argument of college players not making enough money more for the case more for my personal belief that players are not making enough money.  I don't think this case has a direct correlation with my personal belief, but I wanted to bring up to have an intelligent discussion of the topic at hand.  I belief that college programs make a substantial amount of money off student's athletic abilities but the athletes are the ones that suffer due to the system since they are not receiving much monetary compensation.  I think it's an unfair system.

Lastly, I will welcome an intelligent conversation like we had when this topic was active a couple of months ago.  However, I will refuse to make any comments if you continue to point the fingers at somebody to make a point.

[Eja117]

This is bad, but this also goes along with the discussion of college players getting paid.  No way should a college player, who is putting his heart and soul for the name of the school, have to rob a convenience store.

you must really be a gavone to use the need for spending money as some kind of explanation for armed robbery.

you are part of the reason we have someone like Obama in the white house.


the three players involved in this crime are thugs - plain & simple. no other explanation is needed.

kiffin kicked two of them off and kept the best player who had the least involvement. of course, by now, we know the lack of character that kiffin embodies, so keeping janzen jackson on the team, in retrospect, is no surprise. they should all three be gone from knoxville.

  To say it's because they are thugs is too simplified and doesn't solve the problem of campus violence.

Oh Reginald......I disagree!



I forgot all about this thread. The funny thing to me is that when I read it the first thing today that went through my mind was "Gee. I wonder if they'll get in trouble."

How sad is that?

[hwangjini_1]

This is bad, but this also goes along with the discussion of college players getting paid.  No way should a college player, who is putting his heart and soul for the name of the school, have to rob a convenience store.

Eh...  Nobody was forced to rob a convenience store, one way or the other.  There are lots of people out there who make low wages who aren't committing armed robbery.

Yeah, but if you are a collegiate athlete you don't have time to work on these low wage jobs.  Division I athletes couldn't even work on these jobs (I am assuming) because the team (and in some cases, school) takes so much time.  I am not saying these guys aren't stupid, but I just don't see how Division I shouldn't get some chump change when playing for a big program.

No no no no a million times no.  There is absolutely no reason to rob somebody at gunpoint.  Especially not as a college student athlete who doesnt have a hard life no matter how you want to paint it. 

Well, obviously there is something since thousands of people are robber at gunpoint every single day.  I am not trying to make excuses for these guys, but I think there is something to be said about the compensation level in collegiate sports.  How does an athlete have to live on a lifestyle that is less permissible to the effort given to the school compared to the higher ups who makes thousands and even millions of dollars based on the performance of these kids.  You are assuming they don't have a hard life, so that is debatable, but regardless, you don't see professional athletes robbing at gun point.

hmmm... do you really think that if the university had paid them at say, the same rate as the folks who do work study ($8-$10/ hour) for 10 hours a week, they would NOT have robbed people?

i have trouble believing that poverty alone forced these players into robbery. they had free dorm rooms, correct? they were fed by the school, correct? they get to attend school for free, correct?

i dont see where enforced poverty by the university compelled them to take up crime.

that universities should pay athletes is another argument altogether and not germane to the stupidity of these players.