# Missouri football players threaten to strike? An exercise in pure stupidity **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 8, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039 "2015-11-08T18:42:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/61 "2015-11-09T17:12:14Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I predict the players will ultimately fold and they’ll play next Saturday. Well you were half right. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/62 "2015-11-09T17:26:34Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Well you were half right. Victory! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/63 "2015-11-09T18:35:48Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I’m torn on this, I’ve long been interested to see what would happen if college football players took a stand against the money machine of college football. I always expected it to come in response to the millions of dollars schools make off the players who get almost no share of the revenue. > > But instead it’s this, I’ve tried to withhold judgment because I’ve yet to find an amazingly in depth article about what’s happened, but after reading [this](http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/racial-climate-at-mu-a-timeline-of-incidents-to-date/article_0c96f986-84c6-11e5-a38f-2bd0aab0bf74.html) timeline I am a little confused as to what the President has done that warrants his firing. There’s been three racial incidents alleged/reported, one was made known in a Facebook post–the person who yelled the racial slur in that incident is unknown, and there is no one available to corroborate the incident. The second, it was a single intoxicated student, who I’ve read elsewhere may have been removed from campus. The third involved an act of vandalism that no one witnessed. > > So there aren’t any perpetrators that the President is protecting. The rest of the timeline is just a bunch of situations where protesters confronted the President, and were unhappy with his response or his answers to their questions. There has been an announcement of mandatory diversity training for staff. Additionally, President Wolfe has held several open discussions on race relations at the school. He has said racism is unacceptable, and he’s also apologized for not interacting more positively with protesters in the past. > > I guess I’m just not seeing what he’s done to deserve his head being removed. It feels like this is a situation where activists just want to protest, and they’ve arbitrarily chosen to remove the President because he’s the guy in charge, and it’ll be a feather in their cap if they remove him. College President is always a somewhat political position, so just the fact that there’s controversy surrounding him (justified or not) will likely cost him his job, but to me I don’t see how this is a just or desirable result. Maybe there’s more I don’t know about, but as an outsider I’m not seeing how the President is able to wave a magic wand and fix “racists are present on campus.” Does he summon every faculty member, staff member, and student to mandatory interrogations and quiz them on their racial views, and then expel/fire any who have racist positions? I’d be shocked if that was even legal. Well said. As far as what to do, I don’t think the OPs ideas are wise. I would just call the coach into the office and remind him that the football team is his responsibility. And if they don’t play, that’s on him. And if they don’t play, that he should reasonably expect that his budget for future games and seasons will be affected. And if they don’t play, fuck 'em. I would think that the better players, who are usually the leaders of the teams would turn that around, as they have hopes of being drafted by the NFL. But, really, as big a deal as football is on some campuses, we need to remember, it’s just a game. A game that I love, but just a game. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/64 "2015-11-09T18:39:59Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Well said. > > As far as what to do, I don’t think the OPs ideas are wise. I would just call the coach into the office and remind him that the football team is his responsibility. And if they don’t play, that’s on him. And if they don’t play, that he should reasonably expect that his budget for future games and seasons will be affected. > > And if they don’t play, fuck 'em. I would think that the better players, who are usually the leaders of the teams would turn that around, as they have hopes of being drafted by the NFL. But, really, as big a deal as football is on some campuses, we need to remember, it’s just a game. A game that I love, but just a game. I would have called the coach and a group of players into my office and talked about what we could do to improve the situation, and assure them that I would do whatever I could to combat racism on our campus. That’s a win-win. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/65 "2015-11-09T18:42:28Z")
This article paints a more complete picture of the issues: > [@](#): > > “The impression that faculty have I think is that Wolfe was brought in as the slashing funding guy,” said Karen Piper, a professor in the MU English department. “He was brought in as the corporate overseer who was going to make the hard cuts and then leave.” _SNIP_ > [@](#): > > While the issue of race has been the most heated, students were also angered after Mizzou discontinued the clinical privileges for a Planned Parenthood physician and terminated multiple relationships with different Planned Parenthood affiliates in September.On top of that, graduate assistants — students pursuing doctorates who grade papers, conduct research and teach classes — have also been very critical of campus and UM System leadership after the university scaled back their tuition waivers and stripped them of their health insurance subsidies in the hours immediately before fall classes began. > > “This is JUST not about race,” tweeted linebacker Clarence Green. “It’s about Grad students getting benefits and unity within the athletes and community.” > **[University of Missouri system president becomes the focus amid protests at...](https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/university-of-missouri-system-president-becomes-the-focus-amid-protests/article_c1a47001-c0ff-5eca-af53-8b1714432fcb.html)** > > The Board of Curators will meet in closed session at 10 a.m. Monday in Columbia, it announced Sunday night. The president didn’t have previous work experience in academia and didn’t have background as an academic (highest degree was a bachelors). He was a VP at IBM and then a consultant. Judging by that, he probably doesn’t have the necessary experience or “correct” beliefs to lead a university in the micro-agression age. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/66 "2015-11-09T18:48:21Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I’m torn on this, I’ve long been interested to see what would happen if college football players took a stand against the money machine of college football. I always expected it to come in response to the millions of dollars schools make off the players who get almost no share of the revenue. > > But instead it’s this, I’ve tried to withhold judgment because I’ve yet to find an amazingly in depth article about what’s happened, but after reading [this](http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/racial-climate-at-mu-a-timeline-of-incidents-to-date/article_0c96f986-84c6-11e5-a38f-2bd0aab0bf74.html) timeline I am a little confused as to what the President has done that warrants his firing. There’s been three racial incidents alleged/reported, one was made known in a Facebook post–the person who yelled the racial slur in that incident is unknown, and there is no one available to corroborate the incident. The second, it was a single intoxicated student, who I’ve read elsewhere may have been removed from campus. The third involved an act of vandalism that no one witnessed. > > So there aren’t any perpetrators that the President is protecting. The rest of the timeline is just a bunch of situations where protesters confronted the President, and were unhappy with his response or his answers to their questions. There has been an announcement of mandatory diversity training for staff. Additionally, President Wolfe has held several open discussions on race relations at the school. He has said racism is unacceptable, and he’s also apologized for not interacting more positively with protesters in the past. > > I guess I’m just not seeing what he’s done to deserve his head being removed. It feels like this is a situation where activists just want to protest, and they’ve arbitrarily chosen to remove the President because he’s the guy in charge, and it’ll be a feather in their cap if they remove him. College President is always a somewhat political position, so just the fact that there’s controversy surrounding him (justified or not) will likely cost him his job, but to me I don’t see how this is a just or desirable result. Maybe there’s more I don’t know about, but as an outsider I’m not seeing how the President is able to wave a magic wand and fix “racists are present on campus.” Does he summon every faculty member, staff member, and student to mandatory interrogations and quiz them on their racial views, and then expel/fire any who have racist positions? I’d be shocked if that was even legal. I agree… it’s like they’re protesting the fact that racists exist on their campus, and holding the President responsible, which is absurd, and reprehensible. It’s entirely possible that there’s more going on institutionally than we know from the articles, but as it stands, it looks like these people are just being butt-hurt, disruptive assholes, instead of actually doing something productive about the race issues. By that, I mean that the vast majority of Mizzou students are going to see that the black population got upset and disruptive about something that isn’t within the power of the university to change, and they’re going to fit that into their internal narratives, and for many of them, that’s going to be a negative thing against black people, not a positive. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/67 "2015-11-09T18:48:28Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I would have called the coach and a group of players into my office and talked about what we could do to improve the situation, and assure them that I would do whatever I could to combat racism on our campus. That’s a win-win. Possibly. But I think its important to first get the coach back on track. The football team is his responsibility. What the president needs to try to do is bring the coach back into the fold. If he comes and wants to do what you suggest, great. But I’d really make it his problem to solve. And let him know that if he sides with the players, well, he’s drawn his line in the sand and I’d carry out what I said. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/68 "2015-11-09T18:50:39Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > As far as what to do, I don’t think the OPs ideas are wise. I would just call the coach into the office and remind him that the football team is his responsibility. And if they don’t play, that’s on him. And if they don’t play, that he should reasonably expect that his budget for future games and seasons will be affected. As pointed out earlier in the thread, Pinkel (the Coach) will likely get a statute of him on campus sometime in the future. He is the winningest coach in Missouri history and led them to heights they would never have dreamed of. The guy is basically an institution there - Missouri’s Steve Spurrier, if you will. It’d be almost unheard of for a college president to be able to intimidate him. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/69 "2015-11-09T19:12:36Z")
> [@treis](#): > > The president didn’t have previous work experience in academia and didn’t have background as an academic (highest degree was a bachelors). He was a VP at IBM and then a consultant. Judging by that, he probably doesn’t have the necessary experience or “correct” beliefs to lead a university _SNIP_ Yes, I SNIPPED out the Snippiness. It really works better this way. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/70 "2015-11-09T19:14:44Z")
College presidents have sold their souls to their big time athletic programs. They are in no position to dictate terms and conditions to any football or basketball head coaches who are consistently competitive and filling the seats. Nor, in the future when they are getting egged on by organizers like Ramogi Huma, will they be able to dictate terms to players who threaten last minute boycotts of games. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/71 "2015-11-09T20:09:22Z")
I know rather less than nothing about college football - if the players refuse to play, do they lose their scholarships (assuming they have one, which seems likely)? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/72 "2015-11-09T20:35:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I know rather less than nothing about college football - if the players refuse to play, do they lose their scholarships (assuming they have one, which seems likely)? > > Regards, > Shodan They get scholarships, meal per diems, other perks of being an athlete. I mentioned earlier in the thread that the university would have been justified in taking that away (and suspending the pay of the coach who supported the “strike”), but they would not have actually done it because of the additional negative PR such a move would have generated. We don’t have to find out now since the president has resigned. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/73 "2015-11-09T20:35:52Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I know rather less than nothing about college football - if the players refuse to play, do they lose their scholarships (assuming they have one, which seems likely)? > > Regards, > Shodan As I understand it, the scholarships are renewable on a year-by-year basis, and can be not renewed for almost any reason. While some of the players who threatened to strike may find their scholarships not renewed next year, it probably won’t be because of their actions this week. The risk for the coach is to get a reputation for siding with the administrators instead of the team and that would not be conducive to good recruiting. Poor recruiting equals poor results and terminations all around. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/74 "2015-11-09T20:42:02Z")
I’m disappointed in the outcome , but obvious this spread like wildfire and the political pressure was too much with even a Missouri US Senator getting involved. I do hope the crybaby activists remember that they attend the University of Missouri, not Hogwarts. The next president won’t be able to waive a magic wand and make all racism disappear. It’s also been reported that not at all of the football team was behind the strike. I’m not surprised and I suspect team chemistry has been poisoned due to a grad student with a martyr complex. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/75 "2015-11-09T20:46:16Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > the crybaby activists Are there any activists that you do not think are “crybabies”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/76 "2015-11-09T20:49:04Z")
“They’re a bunch of crybabies!” he wailed. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/77 "2015-11-09T21:06:19Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Are there any activists that you do not think are “crybabies”? :dubious: He probably has some sympathy for the poor oppressed activists in the Men’s Rights Movement. > [@tnetennba](#): > > “They’re a bunch of crybabies!” he wailed. We need a “thumbs up” smiley. The OP wails about perceived injustices as much as any campus activist i’ve encountered. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/78 "2015-11-09T21:09:38Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > The next president won’t be able to waive a magic wand and make all racism disappear. I don’t think anyone expects that. Leadership doesn’t require unattainable results, but it does involve acknowledging the problem, and addressing it. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/79 "2015-11-09T21:28:09Z")
Man, it’s getting to the point where important people can’t just cash checks in their phony-baloney jobs anymore. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/80 "2015-11-09T21:52:50Z")
> [@treis](#): > > The president didn’t have previous work experience in academia … he probably doesn’t have the necessary experience or “correct” beliefs to lead a university in the micro-agression age. - The faculty don’t like him because he’s not one of them and because he cut budgets. - The grad students don’t like him because the school took away their health-insurance subsidies (even though [according to the school](http://www.komu.com/news/mu-to-stop-health-insurance-subsidies-for-graduate-students/), the ACA requires this). - The liberals don’t like him because the school defunded Planned Parenthood. - And the African-American activists don’t like him because he didn’t do what most University presidents would have done about a couple of anonymous racial incidents: cancel classes, do the correct public emoting, proclaim collective guilt/vicimization, and then spend a shitload of money on whatever it is they demand you spend money on. The first three of those are the tinder, the last was the flame. The students share the same ideology as the [children now having tantrums](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/) at Yale: they want their university to be a “safe space” where ugly people and ideas never confront them, where the fact that they are hurt or offended is supposed to bring the world to a screeching halt, where public discussions are extensions of their therapy (“I don’t want to debate. I want to talk about my pain”). And I don’t want to debate. I want to talk about my pain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039.md?page=5)