Do you think morning practices in the fall will help USC the week it plays Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. in South Bend?
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Do you think morning practices in the fall will help USC the week it plays Notre Dame at 7:30 p.m. in South Bend?
Yes. Practices will probably always be more productive and energetic first thing of the day, rather than being tired from classes and what not all day. Will it help with their academics being tired in class? Probably not. Hopefully schedules work out to rest/nap in the afternoon some time. Ultimately, it should help have more productive, focused, and energetic practices. Fight on Kiff!
I am inclined to agree with USC owns the Rose Bowl. By and large, college students like to sleep late, start classes at noon, study some at night, and then party to excess. Most of USC’s student-football-athletes are more athlete-students anyway. They aspire to the NFL (few will make it, as we know). I fail to see the disadvantage of getting their sorry behinds out of bed in the morning, to work at their primary career goal.
Early practice will tend to reduce their late-night partying, which will probably improve their academic performance. Since they generally are not 100% academically competitive, that’s a good thing. It will help them get that valuable USC degree, while they pursue the NFL dream that will come true for only 15% of them.
These guys contribute a lot to USC, and most of it is intangible–ongoing alumni interest and support. What is the quid pro quo owed by USC? Give them the best available coaching to maximize their shot at the NFL, and graduate them, to maximize their life prospects outside of football.
Even though no college students are going to favor early practices, the early start appears on the surface to serve the best interests of all parties. That may be incorrect, but at least it would be nice to see a rational counter-argument, based on the experience at other schools, or some relevant facts of some kind, etc. The start-time of the Notre Dame game is a complete non sequitor. So is one tailback’s hamstring pull, because he overdid it the first day.
This is why “journalists” should maintain an objective view of their subjects… Scott’s personal issues have clouded his judgement to the point that he can’t do simple math. A 7:30 pm est start time is a half hour earlier than the 8:00 pm est (5:00 pm pst) start time of the ABC game of the week. Simple math Scott. Great idea…
@Ben Factor, that’s what we need more of here: well thought out, logical arguments. I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. Fight on!