rick@ucla-cs.UUCP (01/31/85)
<- he shoots, he SCORES ->
The coach of the Canadian Olympic team has delivered a blow to the NCAA.
(something-or-other-for-a-first-name) King is actively recruiting players
for the 1988 Olympic team by offering them free education at the University
of Calgary while they train to play for their country. Apparently some
university coaches are retaliating by not letting their players talk to
King. But the reports are that several of the top college players are
considering the offer. If King is successful then I see several things
happening:
1) Canada will have a very good *team* for the Olympics in 1988, and
"home" ice advantage (the games are in Calgary). I think they would
have to be considered a serious contender for the gold medal.
2) American unversities that rely on Canadian talent will be in
trouble. But this will give American players more of a chance to
play.
3) The American Olympic program will begin to do the same thing, thus
depriving the colleges of even more quality players.
I feel the college coaches are making a bad move by trying to block King's
attempts. All they are trying to do is protect *themselves* - they are not
concerned about their players (or their players' education, but that is a
whole other topic - "student" athletes are a joke). If you were one of
those players what would YOU do in that sort of situation? I know I'd be
on a plane to Calgary in a flash. (of course, the skiing in Banff is so
much better than in, say, Flint :-) ).
--
Rick Gillespie
rick@ucla-cs
...!{cepu|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|ucbvax}!ucla-cs!rick
"She turned me into a newt! . . . I got better."haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) (02/06/85)
In article <3581@ucla-cs.ARPA> rick@ucla-cs.UUCP writes: >The coach of the Canadian Olympic team has delivered a blow to the NCAA. >(something-or-other-for-a-first-name) King is actively recruiting players >for the 1988 Olympic team by offering them free education at the University >of Calgary while they train to play for their country. This isn't nearly as unreasonable as it sounds. In fact, it appears to be common practice at American universities to offer sports scholarships giving you a free education for playing on a {football, basketball, hockey} team, and possibly even more advantages. Canadian universities are not allowed to offer sports scholarships, which is largely why much of the Canadian sports talent ends up getting its sports education south of the border. This just evens up the game a bit. Oh, and it's Dave King. > 1) Canada will have a very good *team* for the Olympics in 1988, and > "home" ice advantage (the games are in Calgary). I think they would > have to be considered a serious contender for the gold medal. This is the best way to go. Have a truly polished unit ready for the olympics. > 2) American unversities that rely on Canadian talent will be in > trouble. But this will give American players more of a chance to > play. This looks very good to me. Although it still doesn't help other Canadian university hockey teams. \tom watmath!watdcsu!haapanen "So to Finnish this problem, you take this here... "