They've all graduated now, but I'd never tell them that because I don't think they'd be "better" filled by an American. Like I said many times, I want us to recruit and sign the best no matter where they are from. How hard is that for you to understand? I'd never want us to sign a lesser talented American when we could sign a more talented international student. I'm not gonna pretend like I can judge tennis talent or talent for any other sport for that matter. I trust that our coaches are signing the best that they can get. My problem is with the sport of tennis, not our student-athletes. As long as we offer tennis, I want a roster of 100% international students if our coach thinks they are better than any American that they could land.Originally Posted by maverick
Like I've said several times in this thread, I think Louisiana Tech has a duty to serve the people of our state and this nation while being committed to excellence. Sponsoring a team that is 88% - 100% international isn't fulfilling that responsibility to the taxpayers who support our school. Not only that, I recited the Pledge of Allegiance everyday growing up in school, and I believe that we as Americans should be doing all we can to give our nation's youth the most opportunities we can give them. By continuing to sponsor tennis, I believe that we are denying opportunities to our nation's youth who will never get a chance because not enough schools offer their sport of choice. Personally, as a male former soccer player, I can relate to that. The only DI programs I was recruited by were Princeton and Centenary, but I wasn't offered by either. Princeton is non-scholarship anyway, and Centenary is DIII non-scholarship now. Does the SEC offer men's soccer? No. Big 12? No. C-USA West? No. Mountain West? No. Sun Belt? No. Southland? No. SWAC? No. That's how Clint Dempsey went from Nacogdoches to Furman and how Maryland (the Bama football of men's soccer) built their program around a couple Louisiana stars. Ask Josh Scobee why he ended up playing football in college instead of soccer. Answer: Because there were no opportunities in men's soccer. Yet all of those conferences sponsor women's soccer. And people wonder why America lags behind in men's soccer? Hello! To satisfy mandated misinterpreted PC requirements, Tech sponsors something as absurd as women's bowling, which I don't even consider a sport. So yes, I can identify with the Louisianan and American swimmers who won't get an opportunity thanks to an over-saturation of women's tennis programs that have to rely on international athletes to fill their rosters.
If this 26-person group was consistently populated solely or mostly with international student-athletes, then I'd think we should consider replacing the sport IF there is a better alternative for Tech. I was stating my case that I thought swimming was a better alternative to tennis, and swimming is really the only alternative in this situation. Other than swimming, there is no one other C-USA sport that could compensate for all 8 tennis scholarships, and I'd never want to replace a C-USA sport for a non-C-USA sport unless there was some really good reason to do so. With the partial scholarships and walk-ons that make up a swim team, there should always be several Louisiana swimmers on the team by default, very similar to baseball. Your hypothetical situation is not based anywhere near reality.
My entire argument has basically been about why the particular sport of swimming should replace tennis. You've chosen to nitpick, to solely focus on one particular reason in my litany of reasons, to take things I've said out of context, and to ignore other things I've stated. I don't think there should be some arbitrary specific balance of nationalities. I haven't argued that. You are picking out one little sentence out of context and twisting it. I'm saying we need to look at the entire picture to evaluate if we are doing what's best for Tech. Having an entire roster of international players for several years running should raise some questions.
I'm OK with you disagreeing with me for your PC reasons, but you've still managed to avoid giving a single reason why you think tennis is better for Tech than swimming, which is exactly how I know I've won this debate. I feel like I'm being attacked by you because I believe we shouldn't be denying opportunities to America's youth in favor of giving opportunities to international students. By offering tennis instead of swimming, I believe that's what we are systematically doing. I've made my case clear. You know exactly where I stand. God bless the Louisianan and American swimmers who will never get an opportunity to compete collegiately or get a scholarship thanks to Tech's powerhouse international tennis program. Do these Louisianan and American swimmers know you think it's more important for Louisiana Tech to give international students opportunities to play tennis at their expense? I'm done with your ridiculous interrogation.
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