Could you explain the plague reference?I don’t get it. I must have missed the back story on that.
James Williams interview, Spokesman
- Thread starter KingTrump
- Start date
Could you explain the plague reference?I don’t get it. I must have missed the back story on that.
Ummm...let me be a little more succinct. He was on campus a total of 3 1/2 calendar years. In terms of semesters by going to summer school he had enough time(most students do not go to summer school) to take credits and would have what amounts to 8 semesters of schooling or what I would consider "four years". But feel free to discount the summer schools and non credits. Assume he is going to the dunes or Boyer park instead of class during that time and those credits he was suppose to get never should have been counted.
Last edited:
There is no back story or front story, or any story. The story is me heaving crap back at Biggs. And if he is not careful I am going to summon Lonestar to toss Biggs around like he did circa 1998 when Biggs actually fit into his white pants.
Last edited:
You don't have to have kids that young either. But you can look back or move forward.
Ummm...the nonsense to me is saying his story is a tragedy when there are real tragedies out there, which was the point I was making.
Honestly man, what are you doing with this?
You're getting dug in on some really strange arguments in this thread.
Yes, "tragedy" is a term often misused in common discussion.
Again, this is such an odd point to make on a college football message board.
You and I are simply different. Plain and simple. I don't consider a kid who had the opportunity to get a college education for free, be the first in his family to go off to college, get to play in meaningful games, meet his future wife, make great connections a tragedy. You are correct, tragedy is a term misused and that was my point. Sorry you don't like how I make that point or any other point.
Simply pointing out he had the opportunity to get his degree, and that he came up short. WTF does it matter if he had 3 1/2 years and he gets a 9th or 10th semester. He had the TIME to have it done already. He said it so clearly in his article in the Spokesman. His dream was to play NFL football. College was a vehicle.
Anthony Gordon may play one season of D1 football. ONE. Williams played three. Who was "short changed"? Williams got what he wanted out of college. He got playing time, time to finish up his general studies degree, he met his wife, has a son he clearly loves. Please point me to the tragedy. On the other hand, Gordon may play one year of college ball. And yet he may get drafted.
1st of all they didn’t even allow juniors to be drafted until 1990s
https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/16/sports/nfl-set-to-allow-juniors-in-draft.html
Beginning in 2014, the NFL simplified the evaluation process. Prospects were given either a first-round grade, second-round grade or neither, which ostensibly is a recommendation to stay in school.
But even though that projection process has been refined, a record number of underclassmen have gone undrafted in the four years since it has been changed. It started in that watershed 2014 year with almost 40 percent of underclassmen (36 of 98) not being taken.
See above.
You're right. Just kind of an odd point to make.
This was a pretty innocuous thread until you started making this argument and the argument about whether or not Williams should have, or would have his degree.
Just feels like you're arguing for the sake of arguing. Which, I mean, knock yourself out, I guess.
Not "arguing" for the sake of arguing. But will confess stories like his I am pretty passionate about. Yes, I would have loved for him to get his degree, and i would have even liked it more if it was specific, like computer science, accounting etc. But to call what happened to him tragic, as you more concisely state is over used hyperbole.
Because of time and what he has said the degree didn't mean all that much to him. He had time to get it. But in no way does that define his life.
James was making slow but steady academic progress and was on track to graduate in Spring 2019 had he not dropped everything to try out for the NFL. He's now in a difficult spot. Hungry mouths to feed and no obvious opportunities pay for the expense. His situation is similar to a student who drops out of school a semester before graduation and is hit with a grand a month in student loan payments.
Except he doesn't have the student loans, but what you say has merit. What you describe also sounds familiar. Two woman in my office who are probably 27 now came out of the UW with student loans. One I think has a math degree of some sort and another general studies. They both have jobs they could have applied for when they were 19. One of them probably makes somewhere between 40 and 50 and works for someone who went to Shoreline CC, worked at clothing store for awhile before getting hired away and if I were to guess makes close to 400k a year. The point is there are no guarantees, that the degree is nice to have in the back pocket, but it isn't a death sentence.
Yes I would have liked to see Williams get his degree, get drafted and live happily ever after. But his story can still have that great ending just a different path in getting there.
Hmm i see where Falk will make $136.000 if he spends the entire season on the Jets practice squad.
Are you saying that thinking that is somehow big money living in NYC ? It is not.
What is this "he had time to get his degree" [in 3.5 years] nonsense? You think a football player who usually is taking a reduced load during the season, and who has a learning disability, had an "opportunity to get his degree" in less time than typical students taking usual loads ordinarily would take, when the points of most arguing with you is that he left before he realized much of the value of that (by getting the degree)?
This is like someone leaving a month before getting a huge, life-changing promotion, or reaching some kind of big sales goal with a massive prize, and saying "well, he had time to do it, he just didn't," when the point of everyone arguing with you is that if he just stayed for that month, he would have attained that prize or gotten that promotion.
Sure, you'll say this person learned some things on that job anyway, and can still earn a living and won't live out of a dumpster, but that's not dispositive.
Why do you discount the time he had on campus and the classes he took at least for three summers and the potential to get 12 credits per summer .
Second you are correct he left what has been reported a semester early . But why discount several things . First, it is clear school was a means to an end. The general studies degree was secondary to his want to play in the nfl. Second he did have a learning disability and maybe school was way more hard for him than we can imagine . Third his life changed when he was becoming a father .
There are enough stories that I believe he can be as successful as he wants , and a general studies degree was not going to catapult him into some great paying job .
Again we don’t know how close he truly was , and it is clear he didn’t have the desire .
You and your arguments based on "definitions". You have a different definition than the majority of the population (obviously) on so many things, you'd think you'd be used to this and be able to clarify things prior to these threads going off the rails. Oh well.
E.D. you bait people with the best of them. Is his CURRENT position "tragic"? Maybe, maybe not. Is he on the same road to an easy outcome that would be defined as "tragic"? Hell yes. And he has allowed an outcome that can be defined as "tragic" to come closer and closer to him AND his family. If he was all alone, that would be one thing. But his choices are affecting others. THAT is what is so easily considered tragic. And he has acquiesced control of his future to others by not getting his degree. NOW, if he applies for any given job, he is quite easily at the mercy of others because him not having a degree is an easy "opt out" for any employer.
Here's my perspective of this clown thread. Most of us are looking at Williams through a lens of fatherhood, almost. "Yikes dude! What position are you putting my daughter in?! My grandchild(en)?" kind of thing.
You, E.D., seem to be looking at it from a very high level, almost management style perspective. The 32,000 foot level. Your comments seem to echo the, "Odds are he's OK. Look at the 3rd world! Now that's a tragedy! But Williams, meh... he'll get this. He has in-laws for support."
My wife works heavily... actually exclusively, with homeless. One of the basic things they work towards so that their clients have a safety net is a GED (if they don't have one) and then some sort of continuing education certificate. Education is basic. Higher education, of some sort, is basic in today's world. It just is, E.D.. You don't have to believe it but everyone else does. And it seems an odd hill to die on, here. But whatever floats your boat.
Bottom line: He took his eye off the prize. I hope he goes forward and recognizes in this world, education is basic. Even higher ed. Skill trade, anything. His wife's influence should be heavier in his life, you'd think.
I wish and hope the best for him. He's a Coug, so my Crimson tinted glasses says he's a fighter and he'll be just fine, as E.D. has stated. But I'm not ignoring what others are saying (and what I agree with), either. He now needs to work double hard to get equal results. To many, that is tragic and I understand that. Compassion and diversity of thought, right E.D.?
And there is nothing wrong with construction work FYI. If you can get on with employers with "prevailing", they are currently making around 39.50 an hour depending on position and what kind of construction it is. Many positions are more. MUCH more. Nothing to sneeze at. And prevailing means overtime, many times. Hard work but solid money.
Similar threads
