# 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:** 8
**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 12, 2015, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/141 "2015-11-12T15:31:49Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Maybe, maybe not. I’m suggesting that schools realize what their mission is—education. Not all schools choose to be slaves to sports, and none have to. I’d start with the coaches. You want a strong sports team, and you want to pay millions to a coach to head it up, well they need to realize who they work for. And if their allegiance lies elsewhere, it shouldn’t be too hard finding another person or two to accept a few million dollars. “Next!” I agree completely that the mission should be education. To that end, schedules should be reduced, practice time significantly cut, athletes held to the same academic standard for admittance as every other student and scholarships no longer contingent on quality of performance or injury. But they won’t do any of that. So if they continue to recruit talented athletes who might not qualify academically and base the coach’s compensation on success on the field instead of the academic success, then the values have been set. And the values currently don’t match the compensation. When that happens, rebellion is natural. Schools need to stop filling us with the bullshit that the kids that they require professional standards from have to be amateurs when it comes to payday. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/142 "2015-11-12T18:54:35Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > There is a police report and it did happen. Just because someone called the cops doesn’t mean whatever they called about actually happened. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/143 "2015-11-12T20:06:59Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Just because someone called the cops doesn’t mean whatever they called about actually happened. What about the police report itself, in which the officer reports: > [@](#): > > **OfficerID: Bakerb7, Supplement Investigative Narrative** > > Upon arrival I was contacted by Residential Life Staff [**] [] stated a swastika was drawn on a restroom wall by an unknown subject with feces. The [**\_\_] directed me to the third floor restroom, which is room number 3170, to show me the vandalism. Room 3170 is a coed restroom it has five individual private rooms. In room 3175 I noticed there was a swastika drawn on the wall by someone using feces. There was also feces on the floor located by the entry way to the restroom. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/144 "2015-11-12T20:28:39Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > Just because someone called the cops doesn’t mean whatever they called about actually happened. Except the cop who wrote up the police report said he saw the swastika. It clearly happened. Anyone claiming it didn’t is simply aggressively in denial of reality. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/145 "2015-11-12T20:54:24Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Except the cop who wrote up the police report said he saw the swastika. > > It clearly happened. > > Anyone claiming it didn’t is simply aggressively in denial of reality. Why didnt he take a picture of it? Where is the description of size, color, freshness, odor, etc… Did they interview the witnesses? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/146 "2015-11-12T21:06:57Z")
Has anyone seen the swastika’s birth certificate? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/147 "2015-11-12T21:21:49Z")
Was it Kenyan poop or American poop? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/148 "2015-11-12T21:24:26Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Why didnt he take a picture of it? Where is the description of size, color, freshness, odor, etc… Did they interview the witnesses? I can’t be the only one reminded of the movie loose change can I? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/149 "2015-11-12T22:24:58Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Why didnt he take a picture of it? Where is the description of size, color, freshness, odor, etc… Did they interview the witnesses? Do you have any actual reason to disbelieve the police report? ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/150 "2015-11-12T23:09:55Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Says the guy who acts like a crybaby every time something draws attention away from his favorite sport. Knock off the namecalling. In fact, if you feel you have to say pretty much anything to dale, you’re probably better off doing it in the Pit since you can’t seem to help speaking insulting to him in here. Next time it won’t be a note. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/151 "2015-11-12T23:26:04Z")
I really liked Bomani Jones’ comment responding to someone on his timeline questioning the occurrence of the swastika: > [@](#): > > @bomani\_jones El Flaco > fwiw, you’re picking an interesting time _not_ to believe the police. ---
**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 12, 2015, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/152 "2015-11-12T23:30:19Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > In fact, if you feel you have to say pretty much anything to dale, you’re probably better off doing it in the Pit since you can’t seem to help speaking insulting to him in here. Next time it won’t be a note. I’ll say whatever i feel like to dale, in the threads that he starts. If you think it deserves a warning, then give it a warning, but i’m not moving threads just for you. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/153 "2015-11-12T23:42:45Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Do you have any actual reason to disbelieve the police report? Depends on your definition of “actual”. Obviously some people have **a** reason: Black people can’t have an actual legitimate grievance. Otherwise, chaos! ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/154 "2015-11-13T00:18:30Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’ll say whatever i feel like to dale, in the threads that he starts. If you think it deserves a warning, then give it a warning, but i’m not moving threads just for you. Okay, this is a warning for you. You’ve been here long enough to know insults go into the Pit. Any further discussion about this goes into ATMB if you want to dispute it. ETA: I’m going to edit this to make the warning reason more clear, it’s not for the insult, it’s for ignoring mod instruction (my last note)…I apologize if that wasn’t made clear before. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/155 "2015-11-13T09:52:10Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Do you have any actual reason to disbelieve the police report? Well yeah. Especially when the “report” has no evidence (ex. pictures, size, where exactly it was, color, how fresh it was, etc…) in it. I mean with the way colleges are today they take “hate crimes” pretty seriously. Or at least they should. Campus cops are not always the best and the brightest. But ok. Lets say for the sake of argument it DID happen. Then it looks like a report was made and a janitor quickly cleaned it up before anyone saw it and was offended. So in the end, it didnt harm anyone and from the looks of things, has not happened again. Now I suppose, in an ideal world. A specialist would have been called in, took a sample, and then checked every person within 20 miles to see if they can find a match. But, that didnt happen. Someone saw it. Reported it. Then cleaned it up. Nobody was hurt. It hasnt reoccurred. What is the problem? Should this be THE cause for such a national issue? And you know what? Things get written on bathroom walls all the time. Somebody doesnt like somebody else and they find a way to put it on a wall somewhere. Its a the job of maintenance to remove such graffiti before it gets out of hand. MU has over 37,000 students on it. Things like this happen. I remember back in college they would close restrooms and common areas all the time because of vandalism and graffiti. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/156 "2015-11-13T12:07:06Z")
^Yeah, I rarely enter a restroom that doesn’t have fecal swastikas on the wall. No harm, no foul. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/157 "2015-11-13T16:13:52Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well yeah. Especially when the “report” has no evidence (ex. pictures, size, where exactly it was, color, how fresh it was, etc…) in it. I mean with the way colleges are today they take “hate crimes” pretty seriously. Or at least they should. Campus cops are not always the best and the brightest. [Photos and report](http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/12/mizzou-releases-photos-of-poop-swastika-discloses-details-of-previously-unreported-racial-slurs/). Those were provided to the Federalist - the same publication that first opined that the story was [fake](http://thefederalist.com/2015/11/10/was-the-poop-swastika-incident-at-mizzou-a-giant-hoax/) - in response to a FOIA request. > [@](#): > > But ok. Lets say for the sake of argument it DID happen. Then it looks like a report was made and a janitor quickly cleaned it up before anyone saw it and was offended. So in the end, it didnt harm anyone and from the looks of things, has not happened again > > ]Now I suppose, in an ideal world. A specialist would have been called in, took a sample, and then checked every person within 20 miles to see if they can find a match. > > But, that didnt happen. Someone saw it. Reported it. Then cleaned it up. Nobody was hurt. It hasnt reoccurred. > > What is the problem? Should this be THE cause for such a national issue? It’s not THE cause - it’s a symptom. But it’s a powerful symbol. A swastika is a blatant way of saying to people, “your kind isn’t welcome here.” It’s an implicit threat, no less than a burning cross on somebody’s front yard. When the issue is that minorities already feel unwelcome, the swastika reinforces that feeling, and the lack of response by university administration further drives it home. So it got cleaned up - what’s the big deal? You might as well ask what the big deal about a burning cross on somebody’s front yard is? It’s just two pieces of wood, and the fire even takes care of them. Just reseed the grass and ignore it. :rolleyes: That’s 100% true, as far as the tangible physical damage that results from a burning cross. But sweeping up the ashes and fixing the grass isn’t going to make the new African American family on the block feel any safer. The problem isn’t the cross, but the people who put it there and the attitudes (and implicit threats) it represents. Same thing with the swastika. > [@](#): > > And you know what? Things get written on bathroom walls all the time. Somebody doesnt like somebody else and they find a way to put it on a wall somewhere. Its a the job of maintenance to remove such graffiti before it gets out of hand. MU has over 37,000 students on it. Things like this happen. I remember back in college they would close restrooms and common areas all the time because of vandalism and graffiti. Again, it’s not the graffiti, but what the graffiti represents. If somebody scratches “for a good time call **Urbanredneck** at [your phone number]” in one bathroom one time, it just gets cleaned up and nobody ever thinks about it again. If somebody scratches it in _every_ bathroom, and replaces it every time it’s cleaned up, then the graffiti is just a symptom of a much more significant underlying problem. Would you be mollified if they just kept cleaning up the graffiti and ignoring that issue? ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/158 "2015-11-13T16:52:00Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > It’s not THE cause - it’s a symptom. But it’s a powerful symbol. A swastika is a blatant way of saying to people, “your kind isn’t welcome here.” It’s an implicit threat, no less than a burning cross on somebody’s front yard. When the issue is that minorities already feel unwelcome, the swastika reinforces that feeling, and the lack of response by university administration further drives it home. > > So it got cleaned up - what’s the big deal? You might as well ask what the big deal about a burning cross on somebody’s front yard is? It’s just two pieces of wood, and the fire even takes care of them. Just reseed the grass and ignore it. :rolleyes: > > That’s 100% true, as far as the tangible physical damage that results from a burning cross. But sweeping up the ashes and fixing the grass isn’t going to make the new African American family on the block feel any safer. The problem isn’t the cross, but the people who put it there and the attitudes (and implicit threats) it represents. Same thing with the swastika. > Again, it’s not the graffiti, but what the graffiti represents. If somebody scratches “for a good time call **Urbanredneck** at [your phone number]” in one bathroom one time, it just gets cleaned up and nobody ever thinks about it again. If somebody scratches it in _every_ bathroom, and replaces it every time it’s cleaned up, then the graffiti is just a symptom of a much more significant underlying problem. Would you be mollified if they just kept cleaning up the graffiti and ignoring that issue? First, thanks for sharing. I’m glad the university has finally sent out the whole report. The police did what they should and everyone was informed that should be. And most important - it was cleaned up! Second, This is NOT the same as a cross burning on somebody’s yard. Its the stupid act of a college student who are well known for stupid crap. Ask any resident advisor how often they have to clean up XXXX off walls and floors. It happens. Heck we dont even know if it was made by a white person directing it to a black person. “. If somebody scratches “for a good time call **Urbanredneck** at [your phone number]” in one bathroom one time, it just gets cleaned up and nobody ever thinks about it again. If somebody scratches it in _every_ bathroom, and replaces it every time it’s cleaned up, then the graffiti is just a symptom of a much more significant underlying problem. Would you be mollified if they just kept cleaning up the graffiti and ignoring that issue?” But it didnt happen again did it? And NO, this is not just a symptom of a greater evil out there. MU is a college that’s only 8% black which elected a black, gay man as its student body president. And I will still go back to my statement that I dont think its so terrible of an incident that it should lead to a college president resigning or all this other stuff. You know, frankly. right now whoever did this is laughing his butt off seeing how his “artwork” has lead to such a nationwide issue. ---
**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 13, 2015, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/159 "2015-11-13T16:57:34Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > And I will still go back to my statement that I dont think its so terrible of an incident that it should lead to a college president resigning or all this other stuff. The college president, as I understand, was completely incompetent on making the students and faculty think he gave a shit. That’s part of the job. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039/160 "2015-11-13T17:09:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > The college president, as I understand, was completely incompetent on making the students and faculty think he gave a shit. That’s part of the job. No, Michael L Butler, a black grad student from an extremely privileged background made it his personal agenda to make the university president admit his ‘white privilege.’ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missouri-football-players-threaten-to-strike-an-exercise-in-pure-stupidity/737039.md?page=9)