Around the Big Ten

[lineygoblue]

Still trying to figure out what a "Walmart Wolverine" is...

I think it has to do with people who they consider "low brow" who buy their Michigan garb from "wal-mart" rather than spend the extra money and buy the officially licensed stuff from official sources. That's my take on it anyway ...

Yeah, I got separated from you guys, and the path that I chose to go back to the tailgate was the wrong one indeed. All the little pointy-headed sparties seemed to head right to the "diag" that I walked thru. It must have been a dorm area or something. Fortunately for me, I wasn't toting a sofa behind me or that sofa would have been cooked ...

[Wild Hoss]

I've said this for years, and I WILL say that it's wrong.



Setting all this aside, the SEC fundamentally recruits from SEC country.

The advantage the SEC has is talent which, IMO, derives mostly from the "integration" of African-American athletes throughout the South. By "integration", I mean that AAs are in present in nearly every community of significance in the South in significant percentages. In the Midwest, by contrast, AAs are concentrated in more urban settings.

I think SEC country also has far more "larger" school districts (big schools for the entire county or something like that). B10 country school systems developed under NW Ordinance, which created tons of small local schools.

I think when you put these two things together, you can reasonably reach this conclusions:

(1) AAs in the South are present in significant numbers at nearly every large school.

(2) AAs in the North are present in significant numbers at city schools and occasionally a suburban school.

(3) City school coaching, at least in Ohio, sucks. It's horrible. That's why the rise of Glenville and now Whitmer and Trotwood is such a big deal -- those schools finally were an outlet for talented AAs in Cleveland/Toledo to develop as football players. In contrast, in Cleveland, the catholic kids are always really good -- because they do CYO from the time they're 8, and it's a great program in Cleveland. Then the good ones go on to Ignatius and Ed's. It's a machine.

(4) In the South, more AAs are exposed to good coaching from Day 1 -- ala Cleveland's CYO or any other good youth football program. That's a HUGE advantage.

(5) I also think the numbers of AAs are higher in SEC country than in the B10. So, IMO, not only does the South have more AAs, but they do a better job of giving them opportunities to develop as football players than in B10 country. IMO.

And, yes, the premise to this entire post is that AAs are, on average, better atheltes than everyone else. I understand it's not quite a simple as looking at race/ethnicity breakdowns of the NBA/NFL and overlaying it against the general population to find significant differences. Perceived opportunity and other factors play in to it, as well.

However, if the premise is correct, I think the biggest advantage the SEC has is local talent base. The unapologetic buying of recruits doesn't hurt. But, TBH, those "bidding wars" mostly affect which SEC team the recruit will play for. An Alabama kid is going to naturally want to play in-state. Most likely, he was never going to OSU or PSU or M. So, the bidding war that ensues b/t Auburn and Alabama is irrelevant to those schools.

Anyway, I think it sells things short to simply say "they cheat".

Interesting point Talent...hadn?t ever thought of that angle. To that end, here is the list of SEC and Big Ten states sorted by AA as % of population. National Rank is first, State, and percentage. I have included MO, TX Maryland and Jersey.

1 MS 37
2 LA 32
3 GA 30.5
4 MD 29.4
5 SC 27.9
6 AL 26.2
10 TN 16.7
11 FL 16
13 AR 15.4
14 IL 14.5
15 MI 14.2
16 NJ 13.7
17 OH 12.2
18 TX 11.8
19 MO 11.6
20 PA 10.8
22 IN 9.1
24 KY 7.8
27 WI 6.3
32 NE 4.5
38 IA 2.9

SEC Average: 21.2% The addition of MO and TX brings this down from 23.2%
BIG Average: 11.76% The addition of MD and NJ brings this up from 9.3%

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, that's it then. Its the Negroes.

I just can't believe that at all ..... if that is what is being suggested here.

I do believe the point about opportunity taken is well placed. In Gwinnett Co. there are two school systems. The Gwinnett public schools and an enclave of Buford City schools.

Buford is a city within Gwinnett Co. that, decades ago, carved out a separate, elite school system - mostly whites - that has become the glenville and massilon, oh equivalent with respect to producing football talent in GA and this is irrespective of race.

The difference here between football programs in the public system and the Buford City Schools (and these are not private entities, all you have to do to attend is live in Buford City limits or have a PO box there) is huge. Better facilities, better coaches and the Buford City Schools can recruit.

I don't know the numbers here but maybe I can find them. But I don't think there is an AA advantage in the Buford City Schools which by nature and culture and for decades have been primarily white elitist schools and have by far produced the best HS football prospects in the state of any of the public schools of equal standing.

[iam416]

Setting aside the African-American point. Recruiting is, first, local. Michigan fans talk about the importance of locking up Drake Harris, McDowell, etc. Michigan fans, when speaking about recruiting, note Ohio State's advantage with Ohio as a recruiting base. There is, I think, a natural inclination for players to play closer to home. My guess is that distance is a statistically significant factor in determining where kids play.

The SEC footprint, the core SEC footprint, excluding Texas and Mizzou, produces far more NFL players than the B10 footprint, despite the fact that the B10 footprint has a significantly higher population. A conclusion from that is that there is better talent in the SEC footprint. If recruiting is, first, local, that's a huge advantage. And, it is. Regardless of how you want to explain that talent advantage, it's there.

I think it myopic and, frankly, petty to reduce the SEC's success to "cheating". It is, no doubt, a factor, but, IMO, the SEC would still be the best w/o it (maybe not absolutely dominant). The cultural emphasis on football throughout the entire footprint, the emphasis on football in the AD (ie, funding minimal number of nonrevenue sports to free up, e.g., ASSISTANT COACH money), and a significant local talent advantage are all significant reasons for the SEC's success.

Hoss:

1 MS 37
2 LA 32
3 GA 30.5
4 MD 29.4
5 SC 27.9
6 AL 26.25

Yes. Interestingly, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia are in the top 6 states in producing NFL players per capita. DC has a higher per capita rate than all of them. I wonder what the demographics of DC are? :-)

Coincidence, I'm sure.

[Optimus Prime]

"And, yes, the premise to this entire post is that AAs are, on average, better athletes than everyone else."

"Booker T. Washington", that is just not the case. It is not unreasonable to assume the very best of athletes (regardless of race) populate these rosters. Major League salaries are the most lucrative in sport therefore these jobs obvious attract the very best talent. Add country club and non-revenue sports in the mix and numbers plummet drastically.

There are are greater numbers of blacks in the NBA/NFL (playground sports) but frankly very few in MLB and practically none in the NHL and if we combine the total size of the "paycheck pie" blacks are clearly in the minority. Although there are many black athletes that are extremely talented the "better" or superiority myth is just that.

Of the 4 Major Leagues:

MLB -Size of the League- There are 30 Major League Baseball teams. Each has 25 players, so there are 750 players in the Major Leagues. From September 1 through the end of the regular season (usually the first Sunday in October) teams can expand their roster to 40 players, so during that period there can be 1,200 Major League Baseball players.
Major League Baseball, alarmed by its historic low 7.7 % of African-American players on opening-day rosters this season, will announce the creation of a formal task force Wednesday to help reverse the decline, three MLB executives told USA TODAY Sports."

NHL- Size of the League -23 is the maximum active roster size during the regular season.
30 teams X 23 active player rosters= 690
30 teams X 50 contracted players= 1500

"According to the NHL, 18 black players — representing 2.7 percent of the league — appeared during the 2011-2012 season. "

NFL -Size of the League -32 teams x 53-man roster = 1,696 players
When its not regular/post season, teams are allowed to have 80 men...Not all teams carry the maximum. 80 x 32 = 2,560 players during the off-season/pre-season.

"A study of NFL starting lineups at the end of this season, published by Judd Spicer in the Minneapolis City Pages, showed that some things haven’t changed much. The proportion of blacks in professional football has increased, and they are now the majority at most positions. They dominate, to the tune of 90% or greater, at the positions of wide receiver, defensive back and running back. However, 81% of starting quarterbacks are white, and there is just one black starting kicker among the 32 NFL rosters. Whites also slightly outnumber blacks at tight end and offensive line."

NBA -Size of the League -The number of players in the NBA varies each year. Each team can carry a maximum of 15 players. But, they can carry as few as 12. So, each year the number of players range anywhere from 360 to 450 since there are 30 teams in the league.
"In fact, basketball is the only pro sport in this country in which the percentage of black players has not decreased in recent years. Five years ago, blacks made up 77 percent of the NBA player pool, which was exactly the percentage at the All-Star break this past winter. That number has stayed consistent -- 77-to-78 percent -- over that time frame.

During the same period, the percentage of white NBA players has declined from 23 to 21 percent. " - ESPN

[entropy]

The BIG baseball tourney needs to move to Omaha

[lineygoblue]

Agreed.

Not even Twins fans pay much attention to baseball anymore ...

[Whitley]

Of course, the last few years there has not been much Major League Baseball in Minnesota.

[Wild Hoss]

Huskers v Hoosier III for the title.

[entropy]

http://thegazette.com/2013/05/29/emails-recruiting-changes-angered-b1g-officials/

some big10 reaction to the ncaa rules changes

[entropy]

http://sports.omaha.com/2013/05/29/mad-chatter-may-29-2/#.UafsNJxu7o4

OWH critical of the BIG

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, yes ..... punked indeed.

Maybe one of the stupidest things Delaney has done (adding Rutgers and Maryland to the B10) in an otherwise stellar career as B10 Comish.

Why? It's the money stupid. What if that just doesn't pan out? You're going to have, as the author of that article points out, a lot of pissed off fans, empty seats at home and bummed coaches/players who have to travel, of all places, to f'ing Maryland or Rutgers on any given Saturday to play in stadiums that seat about the same number of fans as a big HS crowd in Texas on Friday night.

Going to be interesting.

[WM Wolverine]

I'm convinced the Maryland & Rutgers additions weren't about adding two mediocre athletic programs. Instead it was an attempt to curb the ACC from owning the entire Atlantic Coast and a solution to solving some of the B10's 'demographic' issues...

With the ACC's additions of Syracuse & Pitt, the B10 needed a stronger northeast presence and the most important areas to have that is the NYC to DC corridor. I saw Rutgers/Maryland as a move that really solidified the B10 as the conference in the east, which could've easily been the ACC's...

The 'value' of Rutgers & Maryland doesn't just come from them playing on the BTN, but as much as having Michigan, Ohio State, PSU, Nebraska playing games broadcast in NYC, Jersey, Maryland & DC where those schools also have a great deal of alums.

[Mike]

I agree with all that WM, but damn. Rutgers? I at least wish they'd be seen and not heard. They look like a bunch of white trash idiots on Jerry Springer only they get the same conference payout as Michigan and every other university in the conference that actually contributes something on the athletic field and at the ticket office. I doubt you could script a more ignominious beginning to their Big Ten affiliation. It's a goddamn embarrassment.

[entropy]

NEW YORK -- The New Era Pinstripe Bowl and the Big Ten will hold a news conference Monday at Yankee Stadium to announce an agreement between the league and the 3-year-old postseason game, a person familiar with the situation said Sunday.

The Big Ten will replace the Big 12 in the Pinstripe Bowl, starting in 2014.

Big Ten Blog

Big Ten ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg and Brian Bennett write about all things Big Ten in the conference blog.

• Blog network: College Football Nation

The person was not authorized to speak for the conference or the bowl and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

The move is not unexpected. Athletic directors at the Big Ten meetings in Chicago two weeks ago said the league was working to add the Pinstripe Bowl to its new postseason lineup.

The Atlantic Coast Conference is the front-runner to land the spot opposite the Big Ten and replace the Big East.