when asked whether discipline and character were t

[ChiTownBull]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/local/orl-bianchi20a06dec20,0,5262506.column?coll=orl-sports-headlines

The great philosopher Bobby Bowden put it all in perspective years ago when asked whether discipline and character were the keys to winning.

"If they were," Bobby replied, "Army and Navy would be playing for the national championship every year."

UCF Football Team Achieves High Marks In The Classroom.

That was the headline atop a news release sent out this week by UCF's sports publicity department. The release went on to tell us UCF's football team posted its second-highest fall grade-point average since the move to Division I-A. In all, 41 Golden Knights had a GPA of 3.00 or higher and nine athletes graduated this fall.

Now, for the bad news:

Nobody cares.

We can talk and write about how important it is to recruit smart kids with high character, but, in the end, the only numbers people are going to remember about UCF's 2006 season are these: 4-8.

Yet another example of reality trumping ideology.

You fans and we columnists, much like university presidents, verbally embrace the ideal of "student-athlete" with the emphasis on "student." But the reality is the football team must win, and to win you must recruit many "athlete-students" with the emphasis on "athlete." And so today we climb down from our ivory tower and agonizingly admit that if you want to win and win big in college football, you must take some academic and character risks.

"The best teams always have some talented kids who aren't great students and really aren't even college material when it comes to academics," says J.C. Shurburtt, a recruiting analyst for Rivals.com. "And if there's a question about a great player's character, the coach is usually going to give the player the benefit of the doubt."

Translation: Championship teams are always going to be filled with great athletes but not always great people. Just look at the two teams that will play for the national title -- Florida and Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are where they're at because of Heisman-winning quarterback Troy Smith, who was allowed back on the team after breaking NCAA rules by taking money from an Ohio State booster two years ago.

Meanwhile, the Gators are playing for the national championship in large part because they took a chance on perhaps their two most talented players. Senior defensive tackle Marcus Thomas helped the Gators win a tough stretch of games in the middle of the season but has since been booted for drug and disciplinary problems. Then there's fab freshman flanker Percy Harvin, who was banned from competing in high school athletics during his senior season because of a series of anger issues.

Every year, championship rosters are littered with such players. Ohio State's last national title was won four years ago on the legs of star running back Maurice Clarett, who's now in prison. Florida's last national title was won 10 years ago on the bankroll of notorious sports agent Tank Black, who's now in prison.

Funny, but nobody mentioned the name Tank Black this season when the Gators commemorated the 10-year anniversary of their first national title. Nobody remembered that some of the biggest stars on that UF title team had their hands out like they were members of the Expressway Authority. No, all that mattered is they won the title.

Likewise, nobody is cheering UCF Coach George O'Leary this season for refusing to sign academic non-qualifiers just as nobody is booing USF Coach Jim Leavitt for signing nine of them. Not when UCF is 4-8 and USF is going to a bowl game. When given the choice, fans would much rather win with characters than lose with character.

The great philosopher Bobby Bowden put it all in perspective years ago when asked whether discipline and character were the keys to winning.

"If they were," Bobby replied, "Army and Navy would be playing for the national championship every year."

Mike Bianchi can be reached at mbianchi@orlandosentinel.com.

[USFan]

Oh man...

This should create some "buzz"

[E.T.]

The problem is that many read this and take it for gospel  :-?

It's amazing how many times I read on UM's board regarding to us as a "renegade" program  :

And since he tied in USF into his story, where was the mention of Smith missing our game this year and the reason.

I agree that he wants to get a rise outta people and that's why I stopped emailing him for his trash. I do send emails to the editor though.

[mutt]

We've had our share of "bad seeds" but we also gotta remember, they are just kids...   Personally, I've achieved a boat load of stupid crap when I was 18-20ish too.           (And still going like the energizer bunny)

[Who'sYourData?]

Do I recall correctly that some of USF's "non-qualifiers" met NCAA standards but not USF standards?  If so, are USF's standards higher than UCFs?

[E.T.]

And so what he is stating is that kids that may not grade higher, have less character ?

[SANJAY]

The "non-qualifiers" signed letters of intent but never were on scholarship nor did they ever play.  The insinuation is we let kids who did not qualify under the NCAA play and it's not true.  USF and the Big East do not allow non or partial qualifiers to play.

[smazza]

usf needs more talent and more discipline

leavitt needs to raise bar on his level of recruit

[Guest]

usf needs more talent and more discipline

See also: Clarett, Maurice or Phillips, Lawrence.  

Sometimes you can't have both talent and discipline.

---

Then again... sometimes you can:

See: Grothe, Matt or Hall, Andre.

[Guest Rueben_Horowitz]

Taking a group of troubled 18yr olds and turning them into a team of winners is a very honorable thing imo.

Sadly, the whole 'student-athlete' spiel is typically justification for losing programs, or plain useless chatter.

If your name isn't Coach K, then you're going to have to take some risks...Just ask Bobby Huggins. Oops, I just said Bobby Huggins.

Happy Holidays,

Rueb