This is why a ton of people around the country hate ND is because we supposedly think we are better than everyone else. I personally don't feel that way, and yes I am glad we have high academic standards, but throwing it in the faces of everyone else is not the way to go.
I disagree. Our graduation rate is something to brag about. In the
NCAA universities should be stressing academics, many aren't. The fact that kids at some schools can play on Saturdays without working on Sunday-Friday, combined with the disparity in that there are plenty of kids at those schools who do just that and are neck-deep in student debts because they 'didn't
earn an academic scholarship' because they chose
not to follow Earnie Sims' life-plan deeply pisses me off.
So yeah, let's be honest, a lot of the kids that are going to play college football probably wouldn't get into the university if they followed the normal application process---including Notre Dame. It should be easy to argue that college football athletes
deserve scholarships; the idea athlete works his ass off sunday-friday on the field and in the class-room. I don't think a lot of critics realize how tough football is, especially when you're training at the college level, I play high school, but I have a small understanding of what's involved. So the work on the field matters and makes athletes worthy of earning a scholarship, and sometimes more worthy of a scholarship than most of the kids that are admitted purely on an academic basis.
I think Notre Dame does one hell of a job of ensuring that their
student-athletes
earn their scholarship and like I said, I think that's something worth bragging about. Why? Because it brings up the issue and that
matters. Unfortunately it's still only a whisper around places like Miami, Ohio State and USC; we get excited when a guy like Munir Prince, with an excellent academic record, commits to Notre Dame. Miami fans rave when they learn one of their commits
passed the ACT.
So I'm pissed because it makes a mockery of all the hardships that students have to face. I'm talking about the kids that apply to Notre Dame, their dream school, and work their ass off 24/7/365 for four years only to have their hopes
crushed with a letter in the mail. I'm talking about all the kids that join ROTC to pay for their education. I'm talking about the smart kids that can't afford an education.
All I ever said is that I wouldn't be surprised if Marc Tyler were intimidated by Notre Dame, I would be too.