Scheyer the spokesperson?

[wumhenry]

The fact that Scheyer as a sophomore is more poised and fluent than most seniors on top ten squads should embarrass the other nine programs into coaching their kids a little better and raising their standards a little higher.

Let's face it: as long as they can get away with it, many college coaches are going to recruit athletes whose academic aptitude is below their schools' normal admission standard, and no change from that is in sight. You can't make silk purses from sows' ears.

[dukejunkie]

Originally Posted by dukejunkie
Ever since taking one of my most intense, difficult, yet rewarding classes at Duke (I will be impressed with whoever can figure out the class and professor)

My answer deppends on when you attended.

Sorry I couldn't get on the boards until now. I was around for the infamous 94/95 season. Hint #2: professor was very much related to that team.

If you overlooked hint #1 in the title of my previous post, it was: "Hint: T.O.C."

[dukemomLA]

Um, well, you know, and...like...and like whadya talkin' about. They all started with white Valley Girls, so.... where's all this ridiculous racial stuff coming from. Or from where is this racial stuff coming? Got me mystified.

[mehmattski]

On the other hand, and this will be borne out by the data previously presented, there are some writers, particularly in professional settings, who see long, complicated sentences as a proxy for demonstration of writing skill, hereafter referred to as snobification, reflecting such writers' egregious ability to invent terms simply for their own sake, rather than for purposes of adding to the discussion.

(Education level and ability to communicate are not perfectly correlated. R squared is probably around 0.75).

[Memphis Devil]

If we're going to go after 20-year-old basketball players for saying a few 'uhms' while they are still huffing from having performed magic on the court for 40 minutes, I'm going to ramp up my DBR post total by attacking every misspelling, grammatical error, run-on sentence, and awkward phrasing that is typed onto the board.

By the way, my spontaneous speech at work meetings is dramatically less 'correct' than my written paragraphs; I'm not sure how I would have sounded on ESPN when I was a teenager. Sure, I'm pleased when our players perform a fluent interview, and I notice players from other teams who use awkward syntax, but I find it more grating to hear professional sportscasters who repeat the boring and inaccurate truisms that have become part of modern sports commentary.

And finally, it is true that some highly-privileged, upper middle class men of European descent engage in drug deals and pool, but it is also true that few people from that demographic are stars on elite college basketball teams. When linking speech patterns, illicit behavior, and college basketball, it's reasonable to imagine that the writer is referring to young Black men. I don't believe that such a comment is tantamount to Klan membership, but it's fair to comment on the comment, especially if we are feeling friskily free to criticize the off-the-cuff remarks made by teenage athletes.

Anyone who works "tantamount" into a college basketball message board, I am a fan of. JohnB, you are my new posting hero.

The closest that I ever came was during a discussion of Kwame Brown: "...he tantamount to no good NBA player."

[Devils8780]

In part it's media training, but it's definitely the quality of kid that Coach K brings in year in and year out. Another thing to consider is that Duke brings in top recruits each year, kids who have experience speaking with local and national media.

I don't think you can expect the same from every college program. Some kids literally can't speak clearly, yet alone know WHAT to say. Can't put that on a coach.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

"Definitely".
Love, Ima

[SilkyJ]

More to the point, do you really have a problem chatting with a friend who says something to the effect of, "I don't know, we could go out for dinner, or, like, go to the movies or something." I mean, that's just casual conversation. It's the same way that "btw" or "LOL" or other shortened forms of language are acceptable on a message board.

"BTW" and "LOL" are abbreviations. They're acronyms really. I don't see any connection with writing an acronym, even if its an "unofficial one" so you don't have to type as much with inserting time fillers such as "like" and "you know"

I can understand pushing people to speak professionally in a public setting. But I think holding kids up as a paradigm of virtue because of that ability is not only wrong, it's snooty. And you can be darn sure that when these kids are hanging out with one another, they're, like, not worried about colloquial speaking, you know?

I agree that they probably speak like that but isn't the below point true? Do you think these kids have a switch they can just flip and all their "likes" go away?

As to your question above, my answer is, uh, like, no, but, umm, I notice, and I absolutely believe, you know, that it carries over into other settings.

Let's face it: as long as they can get away with it, many college coaches are going to recruit athletes whose academic aptitude is below their schools' normal admission standard, and no change from that is in sight. You can't make silk purses from sows' ears.

Well let's not kid ourselves, plenty of our athletes are below the normal academic standard for Duke. PLENTY of them.

On the other hand, and this will be borne out by the data previously presented, there are some writers, particularly in professional settings, who see long, complicated sentences as a proxy for demonstration of writing skill, hereafter referred to as snobification, reflecting such writers' egregious ability to invent terms simply for their own sake, rather than for purposes of adding to the discussion.

(Education level and ability to communicate are not perfectly correlated. R squared is probably around 0.75).

The correlation is still statistically significant, no?

Also, I'm guessing the first paragraph was a joke about long, complicated sentences? But I dont get the part about inventing terms for their own sake. How does that relate to long, complicated sentences? Are you basically saying that a good writer doesn't need to write long and complicated sentences, but instead can express him or herself in fewer words?

[BlueDevilJay]

Im sorry but the best interviews ever given were by Mr Julius Peppers. Now there were some classics. "I play football...." Hated the guy at UNC but love him now as a Panther.

[mehmattski]

The correlation is still statistically significant, no?

Also, I'm guessing the first paragraph was a joke about long, complicated sentences? But I dont get the part about inventing terms for their own sake. How does that relate to long, complicated sentences? Are you basically saying that a good writer doesn't need to write long and complicated sentences, but instead can express him or herself in fewer words?

Precisely.


(See what I did there? )

I've read and edited my fair share of scientific papers, and among the common themes are: 1) long, complicated sentences, and 2) making up words. To me, the way they're related is that some writers believe having both of these features impresses the reader. In fact, most of the time it does the opposite.

Anyway, to add more to the thread, I'll agree with those who have made a distinction between spoken and written word. Particularly when it comes to unplanned speech, I'm guessing most of us aren't able to immediately answer a question with thoughtful, eloquent prose. There's a lot hidden behind the power of the delete key in the written word.

So here, you've got a bunch of teenagers whose words are going to be scrutinized by national media and message board groupies like us. I would much rather they stammer a bit to collect their thoughts than immediately blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. With the reputation of the basketball program and the University on the line in these interviews, saying the right thing is often more important than saying what's on the mind.

[Acymetric]

Im sorry but the best interviews ever given were by Mr Julius Peppers. Now there were some classics. "I play football...." Hated the guy at UNC but love him now as a Panther.

I loved him until this season...I'll give him one more before I decide they should get rid of him.

[Lavabe]

I loved him until this season...I'll give him one more before I decide they should get rid of him.

Living in Atlanta, I loathed him at TackyBlueU, and I loathe him today.

Cheers,
Lavabe