Interesting athletic link: USM/Vandy - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Sep 3, 2004

Interesting athletic link: USM/Vandy

Date: Sep 3, 2004

Interesting that I was listening to "Southern Sports Tonight" and they were talking about MSU and Ol Miss and saying that neither school would ever consistently challenge for the SEC title because Mississippi just doesn't produce enough national class athletes who can qualify for academic admissions . . . . in addition to the competition from outside the state, they also noted that the in state pool was divided up among three major football powers (USM). I found it a pretty interesting analysis and there was some hesitation over how to express it . . . you could almost hear them thinking "because Mississippi's education system isn't up to national stadards . . ." That seemed to be the subtext -- it was difficult to hear.

Date: Sep 3, 2004

Remember that part of the problem in athletics is not just that they receive sub-par public education but that this is a very small, rural state that is trying to field three competitive athletic teams. It is the same thing Mississippi runs into in the arts--in your area, Stephen, but particularly in music. A rural state like Mississippi simply cannot produce the quantity (never mind the quality) of young artists that a North Carolina, a Georgia, a New York, even an Alabama can.

Date: Sep 3, 2004

i'm amazed that Vandy would recruit a kid like that. He might make their football program better (kidding, but only a bit). if those guys on the sports show were thinking what Stephen said, they're right--education in the ms public schools is not up to national (or regional) standards, particularly in more rural schools like Taylorsville. i've seen some--they're pitiful.

Also of note in the article about Vanderbilt was the following: "Shain noted that first-generation college bound students often do not test well and that in certain exceptional circumstances non-athletes with low scores such as Thigpen's would be accepted." We get a lot of first generation students here--according to the Vanderbilt person, could account for our ACT scores.