...after the "toxic culture" report from College Park?
I'd like to keep this separate from the McNair tragedy because I think they are two different things.
Some people seem shocked that MD football was run like a boot camp. I'm not. IMO it's naive to think that events from the "toxic culture" doesn't happen at every college. Some people say that's a BS excuse, ok, but where was the outrage before this article?
So what is the future, and at what levels? IIRC sports were always just for fun, until you got to about 14, and then if you fucked up, you heard about it. So from high school, up through college, do they need to have a guidance counselor at each practice, in each team meeting, at each film session, in each weight room, to make sure no coach raises his voice in anger? No coach says the 7 dirty words? No coach hurls an object across a room for effect? No coach calls out a player in front of his peers?
How does toxic culture get policed? Who decides whats toxic? Where does it end?
I remember in football practice a kid false started, twice. So the linemen hit the big 7 man sled in punishment, and pushed it around while the kid stood on top of it. The kid at MD who didn't make weight had to eat candy bars while his teammates worked out. Similar situations. Similar to Pyle in Full Metal Jacket. So would making the lineman push the sled around for 20 minutes because someone else screws up cross the line?
Kid fumbles a ball, owes the coach 200 pushups. Seen that too. Crosses the line? Toxic? Player might think so. Another player might tough it out and hold on the ball much tighter for the rest of his life.
Is the future that athletics are handled with kid gloves? Professional classroom settings for film and team meetings. Criticism at practice handled with that "good/bad sandwich" corporate crap?
"Hey. I really appreciate you coming out here today. I feel like you were a little late closing your hands on the ball that was thrown right at you and the ball ended up on the ground. It's not your fault, we'll work on that together. By the way, we're excited to have you out here. Take your time back to the huddle, get em next time pal."