FCS Fans: A Call To Action

[LehighGuy]

First, I'd like to apologize for yet another RS thread, but I feel this is important. As humans beings, too many times we find it easier to vent or complaint than to actually take action on impacting our world. Today, I challenge members of this board to break that cycle.

Whether you support or oppose the actions of the NCAA, I encourage you to offer them feedback. Too often, decision makers are completely insulated from reality and surrounded by "yes" people who advocate their every thought. They become oblivious to the positions of the people they were hired to serve (see: politicians).

I implore you to take 2 minutes of your morning to email James O'Day, Chair of the FCS Championships. He can be reached here:

[email protected]


Thank you for your time,
LG

[MTfan4life]

And would you say that creating a b.i.t.c.h fest twitter account is taking action?

[NoDak 4 Ever]

I just emailed him to thank him for his decisive action! Someone needs to teach these dopes a lesson.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Time for the mods to step in and clean things up.....this is absurd.

[LehighGuy]

I just emailed him to thank him for his decisive action! Someone needs to teach these dopes a lesson.

Thank you for putting some skin the game. Although I doubt you actually emailed him, I respect you if you did.

[RichH2]

Please, a few posters have made a bad siuation absolutely bizarre with multiple threads,it is becoming a troller's paradise. I do wish they would all shut up and lets get on with the game. We've all said our piece by now, repeating it ad nauseum serves nopurpose other than to feed the trolls

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

Please, a few posters have made a bad siuation absolutely bizarre with multiple threads,it is becoming a troller's paradise. I do wish they would all shut up and lets get on with the game. We've all said our piece by now, repeating it ad nauseum serves nopurpose other than to feed the trolls

Yup, time to move on and figure out how Lehigh can keep the NDSU defense honest. If I'm anything like the players on the team they should be in the right mindset. It's just time to play and prove a point.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Thank you for putting some skin the game. Although I doubt you actually emailed him, I respect you if you did.

From my sent folder:

I understand that it was a difficult decision suspending Ryan Spadola. I understand that something needed to be done and your committee had few other options, I'm glad you were able to make the decision. In the interest of full disclosure, I am an alumnus of North Dakota State but before that I am a human being who believes that a bright line needs to be drawn between what is acceptable behavior and what is not. In this case I find the words used by the young man were deplorable and have no place in our society. As an educator, it is your duty to make sure lessons are learned. In this case, I sincerely hope you succeeded.

Again, thank you.


xxxx xxxxxxxx,
Columbus, OH

[catbob]

While I don't know whether a suspension or not was necessary, I do want to sent O'Day an e-mail letting him know that the college football world will be watching to make sure that these suspensions are fair and balanced across the board. This is a slippery slope in my opinion, and the NCAA is acting without having any policy in place for social media.

That being, said, please, please, stop making new threads about this. I've only been on AGS for 5 minutes today and I'm already sick of it.

[LehighGuy]

From my sent folder:

I understand that it was a difficult decision suspending Ryan Spadola. I understand that something needed to be done and your committee had few other options, I'm glad you were able to make the decision. In the interest of full disclosure, I am an alumnus of North Dakota State but before that I am a human being who believes that a bright line needs to be drawn between what is acceptable behavior and what is not. In this case I find the words used by the young man were deplorable and have no place in our society. As an educator, it is your duty to make sure lessons are learned. In this case, I sincerely hope you succeeded.

Again, thank you.


xxxx xxxxxxxx,
Columbus, OH

I applaud you. I'm glad you've taken the stance that the words used by Ryan Spadola are deplorable and have no place in our society. I happen to agree with you, which is why I am advocating the suspension of all of the other NCAA participants who use such reprehensible language. http://twitter.com/#!/NCAA_Fairness/status/144931662097154050/photo/1/large

[NoDak 4 Ever]

I applaud you. I'm glad you've taken the stance that the words used by Ryan Spadola are deplorable and have no place in our society. I happen to agree with you, which is why I am advocating the suspension of all of the other NCAA participants who use such reprehensible language. http://twitter.com/#!/NCAA_Fairness/status/144931662097154050/photo/1/large

Maybe I have a different perspective since my degree from NDSU is actually in Speech Communication but words do not exist in a vacuum. While I am shocked by that language, I understand that there is a cultural context that exists in which that language is allowable by some and not others. I do not understand it, neither do you simply because we are not of that culture (there are many things which we do not do that are perfectly acceptable in other cultures). Stop playing the victim. As Homer Simpson said "I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are."

There is a difference, you know it, I know it and RS should know it. Hopefully he learns as much.

[LehighGuy]

Maybe I have a different perspective since my degree from NDSU is actually in Speech Communication but words do not exist in a vacuum. While I am shocked by that language, I understand that there is a cultural context that exists in which that language is allowable by some and not others. I do not understand it, neither do you simply because we are not of that culture (there are many things which we do not do that are perfectly acceptable in other cultures). Stop playing the victim. As Homer Simpson said "I'm a white male, age 18 to 49. Everyone listens to me, no matter how dumb my suggestions are."

There is a difference, you know it, I know it and RS should know it. Hopefully he learns as much.

Why does everyone on this board assume I'm a white guy? Confirmation bias.

[bisonnation]

I applaud you. I'm glad you've taken the stance that the words used by Ryan Spadola are deplorable and have no place in our society. I happen to agree with you, which is why I am advocating the suspension of all of the other NCAA participants who use such reprehensible language. http://twitter.com/#!/NCAA_Fairness/status/144931662097154050/photo/1/large

Seriously if you actually believe that you are the biggest ****ing moron in the history of this board. And this place has had it's share of idiots too. Your just a whiney bastard who is pissed off because your racist player got suspended and now your blaming it on NDSU and wasting your energy trying to get get their entire team suspended. Sore loser.

[LehighU11]

North Dakota: the homogeneous home of simple-minded idiots.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Why does everyone on this board assume I'm a white guy? Confirmation bias.

I said "of that culture", that doesn't necessarily mean race. Reading comprehension.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

North Dakota: the homogeneous home of simple-minded idiots.

I can't believe you said that. Have you ever been there? It is fairly conservative but your comment is way way off base and quite frankly pisses me off.

[gotts]

I can't believe you said that. Have you ever been there? It is fairly conservative but your comment is way way off base and quite frankly pisses me off.

Thank you!

[RichH2]

North Dakota: the homogeneous home of simple-minded idiots.

What's wrong with you? Allowing yourself to sink to the level of a few numbnuts.You embarrass yourself and lehigh

[LehighGuy]

Seriously if you actually believe that you are the biggest ****ing moron in the history of this board. And this place has had it's share of idiots too. Your just a whiney bastard who is pissed off because your racist player got suspended and now your blaming it on NDSU and wasting your energy trying to get get their entire team suspended. Sore loser.

I obviously don't advocate the suspension of NDSU players or any other players for that matter. My views are consistent. I personally find that word reprehensible. It embodies a spirit of hatred and oppression my ancestors worked hard to move beyond. That being said, I am a countryman first. Many men better than you and I have given their lives to allow us to stand as equals. Racism in all forms, including reverse racism, is wrong. Holding one individual to a standard different that his peer only widens the inequality gap it seekss to fill.

[FargoBison]

Seriously if you actually believe that you are the biggest ****ing moron in the history of this board. And this place has had it's share of idiots too. Your just a whiney bastard who is pissed off because your racist player got suspended and now your blaming it on NDSU and wasting your energy trying to get get their entire team suspended. Sore loser.

I know a few of their fans are annoying but lets not call their player racist. The kid just made a dumb mistake.

[LehighGuy]

I said "of that culture", that doesn't necessarily mean race. Reading comprehension.

It is outside the bounds of possibility that RS is part "of that culture"?

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

What's wrong with you? Allowing yourself to sink to the level of a few numbnuts.You embarrass yourself and lehigh

Unbelievable.

Lehigh is a team/program that I think most everyone would be pulling for had this stuff not happened. And by stuff i mean everything, from the tweet, to our fans, to the other fans, everything. I really believe Lehigh had a chance to get to Frisco this year. The stars seemed to aligned like they did for Colgate 8 years ago. This was a once in a decade team. Given the passion for football in Eastern PA and the schools ties to the Philadelphia Eagles, there was a good chance Lehigh football could have been big news in a region that is saturated by NYC and Philly pro sports.

[Vitojr130]

I applaud you. I'm glad you've taken the stance that the words used by Ryan Spadola are deplorable and have no place in our society. I happen to agree with you, which is why I am advocating the suspension of all of the other NCAA participants who use such reprehensible language. http://twitter.com/#!/NCAA_Fairness/status/144931662097154050/photo/1/large

Not a single one of those words were directed towards the opposing team. They were all directed towards friends or nothingness. Also, I believe that ending the word with an "a" instead of an "er" asserts the sense of lightheartedness that the usage of these words are supposed to represent in these instances. As much as I don't like this word, these are real half-a$$ed attempts to justify what Spadola did. I think the biggest concern is that Spadola is white, and when white people say it, it is associated with the usage that the KKK meant it to be...

[LehighGuy]

Not a single one of those words were directed towards the opposing team. They were all directed towards friends or nothingness. Also, I believe that ending the word with an "a" instead of an "er" asserts the sense of lightheartedness that the usage of these words are supposed to represent in these instances. As much as I don't like this word, these are real half-a$$ed attempts to justify what Spadola did. I think the biggest concern is that Spadola is white, and when white people say it, it is associated with the usage that the KKK meant it to be...

1.) Some of those tweets are directed at other players.

2.) RS used the "a" version. (not that I think that matters)

3.) LOL @ the KKK inventing the word.

[RichH2]

Unbelievable.

Lehigh is a team/program that I think most everyone would be pulling for had this stuff not happened. And by stuff i mean everything, from the tweet, to our fans, to the other fans, everything. I really believe Lehigh had a chance to get to Frisco this year. The stars seemed to aligned like they did for Colgate 8 years ago. This was a once in a decade team. Given the passion for football in Eastern PA and the schools ties to the Philadelphia Eagles, there was a good chance Lehigh football could have been big news in a region that is saturated by NYC and Philly pro sports.

Unfortunately , all true. Makes a hard task nigh on impossible. Do believe it will hurt recruiting this year. Other schools will no doubt use this to slam Lehigh during recruiting.

[Squealofthepig]

3.) LOL @ the KKK inventing the word.

Agree! I'm now completely convinced the word had to have been invented at Lehigh.

[DJKyR0]

I can't believe you said that. Have you ever been there? It is fairly conservative but your comment is way way off base and quite frankly pisses me off.

To his credit I'm still trying to figure out how to use this fancy-pants computin' doo-dad machine. Maybe taking the wheat stalk out from between my teeth will help me type better. Hang on a sec'...

[Squealofthepig]

Unfortunately , all true. Makes a hard task nigh on impossible. Do believe it will hurt recruiting this year. Other schools will no doubt use this to slam Lehigh during recruiting.

Hopefully the recruits will see the school's side of this whole thing (isolated incident, addressed) and not the acute case of vocal bandwagon fans Lehigh seems to have come down with.

[Eaglegus2]

Always remember this, two things that cannot be retrieved are (1) a rock that has been thrown and (2) a word that has been spoken. This was taught to me 50 years ago by my Grandmother. I try my best to remember it.

[Vitojr130]

1.) Some of those tweets are directed at other players.

2.) RS used the "a" version. (not that I think that matters)

3.) LOL @ the KKK inventing the word.

1) They were directed towards their own teammates. If they want to bring their own team down, be my guest. Apparently, their teammates took in the same lighthearted way that I mentioned. They wouldn't be at 11-1 if they weren't together in this.

2) The "a" ending makes the name seem less serious, or less derogatory. They wouldn't be friends with those people if they meant it in a bad way.

3) Reading comprehension alert: I never said the KKK invented the word. I said that the tweeters listed did not mean it in the same sense as the KKK, whereas when it was used against Towson, it was.

[Vitojr130]

To his credit I'm still trying to figure out how to use this fancy-pants computin' doo-dad machine. Maybe taking the wheat stalk out from between my teeth will help me type better. Hang on a sec'...

You know you are in ND when your combine has more computing power than your laptop. But then again, would you expect less when you pay $450,000 for a piece of equipment?

[LehighGuy]

1) They were directed towards their own teammates. If they want to bring their own team down, be my guest. Apparently, their teammates took in the same lighthearted way that I mentioned. They wouldn't be at 11-1 if they weren't together in this.

2) The "a" ending makes the name seem less serious, or less derogatory. They wouldn't be friends with those people if they meant it in a bad way.

3) Reading comprehension alert: I never said the KKK invented the word. I said that the tweeters listed did not mean it in the same sense as the KKK, whereas when it was used against Towson, it was.

1.) Some of those tweets were most certainly directed towards other teams.

2.) Again, Ryan used the "a" version just like all of the other players.

3.) You're a pretty amazing guy if you can ascertain the intentions of a 20 yr old kid by reading a 128 character text with absolutely no knowledge of the context.

[LehighGuy]

Always remember this, two things that cannot be retrieved are (1) a rock that has been thrown and (2) a word that has been spoken. This was taught to me 50 years ago by my Grandmother. I try my best to remember it.

Excellent quote.

[Vitojr130]

1.) Some of those tweets were most certainly directed towards other teams.

2.) Again, Ryan used the "a" version just like all of the other players.

3.) You're a pretty amazing guy if you can ascertain the intentions of a 20 yr old kid by reading a 128 character text with absolutely no knowledge of the context.

1) I read through every single one of those and not one of them were directed at an opposing team/player.

2) Regardless, it was directed towards an opposing team. See #1 before you argue this.

3) I'm the same age as this Ryan character. I can guarantee that if he used the word against an opposing team/player, it was not meant as a joke. Try again.

[LehighGuy]

3) I'm the same age as this Ryan character. I can guarantee that if he used the word against an opposing team/player, it was not meant as a joke. Try again.

This explains a lot.

[Twentysix]

I applaud you. I'm glad you've taken the stance that the words used by Ryan Spadola are deplorable and have no place in our society. I happen to agree with you, which is why I am advocating the suspension of all of the other NCAA participants who use such reprehensible language. http://twitter.com/#!/NCAA_Fairness/status/144931662097154050/photo/1/large

I get lawlz cause all the people in your picture are black. Isn't spadola white? Also you are a creepy stalker.

[LehighGuy]

I get lawlz cause all the people in your picture are black. Isn't spadola white? Also you are a creepy stalker.

Hide yo' kids' hide yo' wife.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Hide yo' kids' hide yo' wife.

http://cache.ohinternet.com/images/8/82/ANTOINE_DODSON_ANIMATED.gif

[Twentysix]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX0D4oZwCsA

[LehighGuy]

http://cache.ohinternet.com/images/8/82/ANTOINE_DODSON_ANIMATED.gif

Touche'

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Touche'

While our back and forth has made me want to include that sentiment over the last few days, it wasn't intended here. I just love that gif and now I have that damn song stuck in my head. :)

[Twentysix]

This song?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cQhwAlJmrc&feature=related