Twitter and our Players

Quote from: desco80 on July 16, 2013, 05:52:29 PM

 
And I for one do have a problem with the twitter-ban.  It sends a poor message.
Guys should be able to say what they want.   They're students, not full time employees, and not yet even adults.   College should be an open forum of ideas, and in almost every other respect universities go out of their way to promote dialogue and allow even the most outrageous ideas to be voiced - whether it be on campus, in student publications, art exhibits, whatever it may be.    The athletic department shouldn't be above that.

Colleges should be an open forum of ideas but are not. They are instead monoliths of liberalism and political correctness: more than half have speech codes that force students to conform to "progressive" ideas about civility and society. It is to me strange considering the licentiousness with which college students live that the one thing academics think they need to be protected from is ideas; stranger still that the students take it. That said, I agree that there should not be - and possibly cannot be - official restrictions on the players speech, even if they, like Obekpa, counsel the murder of those whose behavior offends them. In his defense CO lived most of his life in Nigeria, a socialist totalitarian shithole, and probably has only the barest understanding of the implications of living in a free society. It must be overwhelming for him to live in a society that does not amputate the limbs of those found guilty of theft and where women have intact clitorises, so perhaps he should be forgiven for his over reaction.

Maybe I'm missing something in the exchange, but I thought the "twitter ban" was imposed by Lavin and the coaching staff, and not the University.  If the ban was imposed by SJU, then I agree with a lot of what Desco said in his last post.  I thought if a player fails to adhere to the ban, the consequence is limited to affecting his standing on the basketball team, and not as a student at SJU.  As such, I'm not that bothered by the coaching staff's attempt at suppressing "free" twitter speech as a means to block out unnecessary distractions and avoid potential controversies during the season.  Just my opinion.

Quote from: Foad on July 17, 2013, 08:30:28 AM

Quote from: desco80 on July 16, 2013, 05:52:29 PM

 
And I for one do have a problem with the twitter-ban.  It sends a poor message.
Guys should be able to say what they want.   They're students, not full time employees, and not yet even adults.   College should be an open forum of ideas, and in almost every other respect universities go out of their way to promote dialogue and allow even the most outrageous ideas to be voiced - whether it be on campus, in student publications, art exhibits, whatever it may be.    The athletic department shouldn't be above that.

Colleges should be an open forum of ideas but are not. They are instead monoliths of liberalism and political correctness: more than half have speech codes that force students to conform to "progressive" ideas about civility and society. It is to me strange considering the licentiousness with which college students live that the one thing academics think they need to be protected from is ideas; stranger still that the students take it. That said, I agree that there should not be - and possibly cannot be - official restrictions on the players speech, even if they, like Obekpa, counsel the murder of those whose behavior offends them. In his defense CO lived most of his life in Nigeria, a socialist totalitarian shithole, and probably has only the barest understanding of the implications of living in a free society. It must be overwhelming for him to live in a society that does not amputate the limbs of those found guilty of theft and where women have intact clitorises, so perhaps he should be forgiven for his over reaction.

Maybe I'm missing something in the exchange, but I thought the "twitter ban" was imposed by Lavin and the coaching staff, and not the University.  If the ban was imposed by SJU, then I agree with a lot of what Desco said in his last post.  I thought if a player fails to adhere to the ban, the consequence is limited to affecting his standing on the basketball team, and not as a student at SJU.  As such, I'm not that bothered by the coaching staff's attempt at suppressing "free" twitter speech as a means to block out unnecessary distractions and avoid potential controversies during the season.  Just my opinion.

I didn't even know there was a Twitter ban. The only 18 year old strangers I follow on Twitter have enormous breasteses or a jolly sense of humor - not attributes prevalent on the BB team, although Chiles has a bit of a jiggle - so if there was one I missed its effect. Certainly Lavin can do what he likes: he suspended Harrison for muscle movements for which he did not care and IIRC he also has a no facial hair policy. I echo the poster the sentiments of the poster^^^ who wonders why (or whether) Lavin can't teach his players to act like gentlemen, whether in public or private. You know, like this guy

Quote from: DFF6 on July 17, 2013, 08:59:02 AM

Quote from: Foad on July 17, 2013, 08:30:28 AM

Quote from: desco80 on July 16, 2013, 05:52:29 PM

 
And I for one do have a problem with the twitter-ban.  It sends a poor message.
Guys should be able to say what they want.   They're students, not full time employees, and not yet even adults.   College should be an open forum of ideas, and in almost every other respect universities go out of their way to promote dialogue and allow even the most outrageous ideas to be voiced - whether it be on campus, in student publications, art exhibits, whatever it may be.    The athletic department shouldn't be above that.

Colleges should be an open forum of ideas but are not. They are instead monoliths of liberalism and political correctness: more than half have speech codes that force students to conform to "progressive" ideas about civility and society. It is to me strange considering the licentiousness with which college students live that the one thing academics think they need to be protected from is ideas; stranger still that the students take it. That said, I agree that there should not be - and possibly cannot be - official restrictions on the players speech, even if they, like Obekpa, counsel the murder of those whose behavior offends them. In his defense CO lived most of his life in Nigeria, a socialist totalitarian shithole, and probably has only the barest understanding of the implications of living in a free society. It must be overwhelming for him to live in a society that does not amputate the limbs of those found guilty of theft and where women have intact clitorises, so perhaps he should be forgiven for his over reaction.

Maybe I'm missing something in the exchange, but I thought the "twitter ban" was imposed by Lavin and the coaching staff, and not the University.  If the ban was imposed by SJU, then I agree with a lot of what Desco said in his last post.  I thought if a player fails to adhere to the ban, the consequence is limited to affecting his standing on the basketball team, and not as a student at SJU.  As such, I'm not that bothered by the coaching staff's attempt at suppressing "free" twitter speech as a means to block out unnecessary distractions and avoid potential controversies during the season.  Just my opinion.

I didn't even know there was a Twitter ban. The only 18 year old strangers I follow on Twitter have enormous breasteses or a jolly sense of humor - not attributes prevalent on the BB team, although Chiles has a bit of a jiggle - so if there was one I missed its effect. Certainly Lavin can do what he likes: he suspended Harrison for muscle movements for which he did not care and IIRC he also has a no facial hair policy. I echo the poster the sentiments of the poster^^^ who wonders why (or whether) Lavin can't teach his players to act like gentlemen, whether in public or private. You know, like this guy

LOL!  I need to purchase that book!

Quote from: Foad on July 17, 2013, 09:41:52 AM

Quote from: DFF6 on July 17, 2013, 08:59:02 AM

Quote from: Foad on July 17, 2013, 08:30:28 AM

Quote from: desco80 on July 16, 2013, 05:52:29 PM

 
And I for one do have a problem with the twitter-ban.  It sends a poor message.
Guys should be able to say what they want.   They're students, not full time employees, and not yet even adults.   College should be an open forum of ideas, and in almost every other respect universities go out of their way to promote dialogue and allow even the most outrageous ideas to be voiced - whether it be on campus, in student publications, art exhibits, whatever it may be.    The athletic department shouldn't be above that.

Colleges should be an open forum of ideas but are not. They are instead monoliths of liberalism and political correctness: more than half have speech codes that force students to conform to "progressive" ideas about civility and society. It is to me strange considering the licentiousness with which college students live that the one thing academics think they need to be protected from is ideas; stranger still that the students take it. That said, I agree that there should not be - and possibly cannot be - official restrictions on the players speech, even if they, like Obekpa, counsel the murder of those whose behavior offends them. In his defense CO lived most of his life in Nigeria, a socialist totalitarian shithole, and probably has only the barest understanding of the implications of living in a free society. It must be overwhelming for him to live in a society that does not amputate the limbs of those found guilty of theft and where women have intact clitorises, so perhaps he should be forgiven for his over reaction.

Maybe I'm missing something in the exchange, but I thought the "twitter ban" was imposed by Lavin and the coaching staff, and not the University.  If the ban was imposed by SJU, then I agree with a lot of what Desco said in his last post.  I thought if a player fails to adhere to the ban, the consequence is limited to affecting his standing on the basketball team, and not as a student at SJU.  As such, I'm not that bothered by the coaching staff's attempt at suppressing "free" twitter speech as a means to block out unnecessary distractions and avoid potential controversies during the season.  Just my opinion.

I didn't even know there was a Twitter ban. The only 18 year old strangers I follow on Twitter have enormous breasteses or a jolly sense of humor - not attributes prevalent on the BB team, although Chiles has a bit of a jiggle - so if there was one I missed its effect. Certainly Lavin can do what he likes: he suspended Harrison for muscle movements for which he did not care and IIRC he also has a no facial hair policy. I echo the poster the sentiments of the poster^^^ who wonders why (or whether) Lavin can't teach his players to act like gentlemen, whether in public or private. You know, like this guy

LOL!  I need to purchase that book!

Plenty available.

Quote from: MaineQB on July 14, 2013, 04:41:13 PM

Quote from: Foad on July 14, 2013, 04:09:39 PM

Quote from: MaineQB on July 14, 2013, 04:00:54 PM

Sweet kid who said something stupid.  Nobody here has ever said something they regret at 19...

Why do you find him sweet? I find him pretty chippy and hate his stupid phony grin. Sweet doesn't enter into it. What evidence is there that he thinks what he said was stupid or regrets saying that someone should be "shot in the head"?

I've had three interactions with CO.  Including one where he let my 2yr old ride on his shoulders for about 5 minutes.  He is a delightful, genuine kid who tweeted something reprehensible. 

The fact you hate how a 19 year old smiles is sad, and mostly pathetic.

Sweet and now delightful, you sound quite smitten.

Any run of the mill pedophile would happily let your daughter ride on his shoulders, I wouldn't read too much into it.

I didn't say anything about how he smiles. I said something about the stupid phony grin he plasters on his face every time he gets called for a foul. It's lame and he should stop.

I can't figure if that smile is a defensive mechanism or he's saying the call was funny bad. Whatever it's about, you right, he should lose it. 

If players aren't prohibited from speaking, what we percieve as 'situstions', will have a way of working themselves out.  Players who drop the n-word too often or otherwise make an ass of themselves are going to find they won't win as many accolades from the media, theyll get a bad reputstion, coaches will be pissed at them, and their draft stock will suffer.
Sooner or later word will get around, and players will evolve.  Not all of them, but most. 

Plus, prohibiting them from speaking deprives them from, you know, actually learning something.  For all the undeserving praise we give coaches for "molding young men", this is a circumstance where there is an honest to goodness life skill that can be taught; how to speak up and conduct yourself in public.   

And it doesn't mean a coach can't discipline a player for something he says, like cursing or criticizing officials or the coaching staff.  You break a team rule, you pay the price.  But the rule can't be you're not allowed to talk period.  That's a wee bit too broad for me. 

Quote from: Foad on July 17, 2013, 08:30:28 AM

Quote from: desco80 on July 16, 2013, 05:52:29 PM

 
And I for one do have a problem with the twitter-ban.  It sends a poor message.
Guys should be able to say what they want.   They're students, not full time employees, and not yet even adults.   College should be an open forum of ideas, and in almost every other respect universities go out of their way to promote dialogue and allow even the most outrageous ideas to be voiced - whether it be on campus, in student publications, art exhibits, whatever it may be.    The athletic department shouldn't be above that.

Colleges should be an open forum of ideas but are not. They are instead monoliths of liberalism and political correctness: more than half have speech codes that force students to conform to "progressive" ideas about civility and society. It is to me strange considering the licentiousness with which college students live that the one thing academics think they need to be protected from is ideas; stranger still that the students take it. That said, I agree that there should not be - and possibly cannot be - official restrictions on the players speech, even if they, like Obekpa, counsel the murder of those whose behavior offends them. In his defense CO lived most of his life in Nigeria, a socialist totalitarian shithole, and probably has only the barest understanding of the implications of living in a free society. It must be overwhelming for him to live in a society that does not amputate the limbs of those found guilty of theft and where women have intact clitorises, so perhaps he should be forgiven for his over reaction.

Maybe I'm missing something in the exchange, but I thought the "twitter ban" was imposed by Lavin and the coaching staff, and not the University.  If the ban was imposed by SJU, then I agree with a lot of what Desco said in his last post.  I thought if a player fails to adhere to the ban, the consequence is limited to affecting his standing on the basketball team, and not as a student at SJU.  As such, I'm not that bothered by the coaching staff's attempt at suppressing "free" twitter speech as a means to block out unnecessary distractions and avoid potential controversies during the season.  Just my opinion.

I'm sure it is a staff imposed rule, and not university-wide.  Although if we were a public university Im not sure that distinction would matter, I tend to think UCONN wouldn't be able to have that same policy.

And I do hear what you're saying, but there's a difference between coach imposing rules on his team to eliminate distractions and banning something so fundamental as being able to speak.
If Chris O wanted to write an op-Ed in tomorrows paper, he should be allowed to, and saying something on twitter shouldn't be looked at differently. 


If what someone is saying is so terrible, then convince them why they're wrong, or how to better express themselves.   In college of all places, that's a value that should be protected. 

I can't tweet work stuff from work. Strict controls. Not that I tweet anyway but I couldnt if I did tweet. I'm fully in favor of twitter ban during the season. Nothing good can come of it for the kids