Tower brought up a point about several unnamed women who broke some of my unwriten policies.
I have talked to the persons in question. They told me they wouldn't do it again and I don't plan on any further actions against them on my part. However, I am interested in seeing what the Womens team say. I would say this meeting should be in private, and should include Phil.
My reasoning for is that my policy has been pretty lenient. While I don't officially allow drinking at tournaments, I don't do room checks ether. The point is you are adults and can conduct yourself in adult manor. As long as conduct has been kept to your room, and out of anyone elses knowledge, it has not been investigated. For the most part, this has worked, until now. There have been little problems here and there, but this weekend went over that line.
The quetion; Do we need to sit down and change the policy? When the hotel informs me of problems, should we have to address this?
Frankly, whether students like it or not, if we go by the Lindenwood University standards, any drinking infraction during a school activity (like a bowling tournament) and can lead to your dismissal.
Please give me your thoughts (and ignore my spelling, i'm the typo king when I type fast)
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"It's not who we are underneath, but what we do that defines us."
not being that big of a drinker I dont see why you cant go without it for 2 1/2 days.
if you let kool-aid rule your world that much i'd consider getting professional help. and not to be a p33n, but half the time ppl on this team drink for the sheer point of showing off.. via "lets see how many i can take down" or "look how fast i can drink this" or "lets get her drunk & tell her to kiss Shadow" ... & while these are all mildly entertaining to witness it gets about as old & stale as that stupid Green Day song that I cant help but hear 14 times a day.. or Levins underwear.. you pick.
but on a serious note... Randy youre the coach. Its your job. And if it comes to it...why risk your job due to the ignorance of a few? Its not worth it. Do what needs to be done, or at the least, what you suspect should be done.
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"You know what you can't outsource, Fareed? You can't outsource balls. America is the world leader in balls." --Stephen Colbert
Once again, I am right in line with Chase. While I have always been one to say that there is no real harm in one or two drinks (if you are of age)...school rules do apply when we travel.
I am more than willing to admit I have broken that rule once this year and I did one year at the Leatherneck (the one year I went). I have also said I am willing to accept any consequences that came from my actions if it was deemed a problem.
However, if you (Randy) wish to try to leave the policy as is, then for crying out loud people.....KNOW YOUR LIMIT and BE SMART ABOUT THINGS. Otherwise, you will ruin it for everyone and while you may not give a rats @$$ about anyone other than yourself, be an adult and show some respect towards other people. Not just other members of this team, but also the people who are in whatever hotel we happen to be staying in and well....everyone we come into contact with on these trips.
We are representatives of the school and no matter how we feel about the arcane rules here at this university, we have the duty to represent the school in the best manner possible. I will give you a hypothetical situation...see what you would think in this case.
You are a ball rep for one of the bigger bowling ball companies (doesn't matter which one). You know LU is one of the better programs in the nation and you are thinking about trying to set up a sponsorship deal with us. Well the first day of a Tier I tournament, half the LU team comes in hung over and just acting like absolute idiots.
Would you still want to sponsor them? I know that I would say he!! no to that. While yeah a lot of people on the team can get whatever equipment they want...keep in mind some of us can not. That sponsorship deal could help those bowlers get the right equipment in their hands and in turn, help the team and program succeed to even greater extents than we already have.
Keep this in mind. Everyone who causes these problems know who they are and no names need to be mentioned.
Randy, it is your position to decide these matters and I really think it is wonderful you are asking the opinions of the people on the team. I hope what I have said and what Chase has said (along with anyone else who may reply to this) will help you make your decision. Whatever you decide, if you set your foot down and re-address the policies; the team needs to know there WILL be consequences and that the punishments WILL be enforced, regardless of who is the wrongdoer.
The main problem is that you don't have the enforcers (Marc and myself) anymore, people who can actually handle themselves while drinking and the next morning as well all while keeping the others in line.
Alcohol should be a beverage used to have fun. Anyone who needs to drink to feel powerful is pathetic anyway. Everyone on the team has seen me with a drink in my hand at one point or another, but you'll never see me yelling at someone, stumbling around, puking on my teammates' shoe, refusing to get out of bed the next morning, etc.
Forget it. I don't have time to address lightweights.
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"Changing bowling balls is like peeing your pants in the cold. The warm feeling you have at first will eventually be overcome with an even chillier stink."
My intention with the previous post about "putting your foot down" was not in reguards to the rules in the hotel as much as what I thought was Randy's concern for the people (who everyone knows who, but whatever) involved. I thought I heard something totally different when we were at Burger King. It ended up to be the complete opposite.
I can see the point that if one rule is going to be enforced on tournaments then all need to be enforced. That is true and I agree. If this system is going to work then there is room checks needed and people punished if caught. This would have to include checking bars as well. Not hard to go 2 days without alcohol, give your bodies and wallets a rest.
I agree that some of us act like adults and are grateful for the opportunity to prove that to our coach. If you want to enforce the rules more strictly then that is your decision, but how difficult is it to be intelligent and responsible?...and yes this applies to everyone. I think our team can do it as long as common sense is involved and communication. I don't honestly care what people do as long as others do not have to pay for it. (sponsor example by Hoop, poor performances, whatever) Bowling is just like any other sport, need to have your mind and body in it 100 percent.
I was trying to not get involved or in people's business by posting that. I was more expressing concern for my friends (whether they want to believe that or not) I guess everyone knows "where I stand" and I'm not going to ever get involved again. Not that I don't care about people, I just care about not having bitchy drama in my life.
If anyone wants to get up-in-arms about my opinions and how I should stay out of people's business, or how I'm equally evil, or why I am the way I am about things....remember you are always welcome to come directly to me (infront not behind my back) and talk to me.
As of right now I'm through with this bull**** drama game. This team can be the best if we learn to fight other teams on the lanes with bowling skills instead of eachother within what should be a "team".
I wasn't there...I'm not a "team official"...but here's my opinion anyway.
If you wish to be treated like an adult, then act like one. Be responsible for yourself, and for your teammates. If you're just here to party...go home, you aren't needed. Don't care about your problems, don't care if you're #1 or #40, if you have to have drama in your life then take your drama somewhere else. It can be very tiresome (trust me, this is nothing...I had some serious drama on former teams), and fatal to your coach's employment. (Been there, done that too.) If you want to have a team, you have to play by the rules, folks. LU isn't spending a quarter of a million dollars a year on the team because they like you (rough guestimate, but it's around that figure); LU expects you to represent the school as responsible adults. If you can't play that, then go to one of the party schools with a club team where you have to pay all of your tournament expenses out-of-pocket.
I'm guilty of kool aid participation on some trips but i'm pretty sure I can count them all on one hand. the whole point to my post was this... if youre going to "have a good time" ...be reasonable & responsible. like halwe said, the school pays for EVERYTHING. We are the ONLY TEAM in college bowling that DOESN'T fundraise. And next to the football team, we get the MOST MONEY from LU. We may not all agree with LU policies, but the fact of the matter is this, they pamper us with benjamins week in & out, & once we signed that certificate stating our scholarship... they own our souls to say the least.
I personally don't care if ppl sip the k-aid... but when it's in my room I make sure time & time again ppl stay relatively calm & the door doesnt slam shut 26 times in a 3 minute period. All we need is security comin up to our rooms & tellin us we're gettin kicked out. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but guess what happens next? CBUSA puts us on probation again, Randy probably loses his job, & the ones responsible are either put on A.) Suspension for the season or B.) kicked out. So what I think we are all tryin to say is... be wise about your actions. We've been close to gettin canned before, even by the school itself. And it's to no surprise that CBUSA doesnt really think highly of us either.
I break the rules to an extent, I admit it. But next to Randy, Hooper, Halwe, & Hanke... guess whos the next oldest in line? I take as much time I can that I get on trips to be with Lizzy because a.) I dont get visitation. b.) she will never have visitation. I find it extremely frustrating that I'm 24 yrs old & I cant even have a female walk on the sidewalk of my dormatory without some rent-a-nazi telling her she has to be 200 ft away from the building. Drinking is something completely different. Its much more easier to sneak a bottle of JD into your room than it is a 6ft dirty blonde/brunette. My point is this... we all break rules. (Me & Lizzy arent the only couple on this team might I remind you.) And rules are rules... but there are circumstances to rules that are much less evil & less costly to the team in terms of punishment. But I also understand being on trips gives us all that false sense of freedom because we no longer think we are on LU grounds & we can do what we want. However, we are still property of LU as long as they financed the trip for us so we must abide by their policies. It's perfectly fine for having a good time, enjoy yourselves. Just be reasonable with what youre doing. Dont make a scene. Keep your door shut. And stay out of the damn hallways! If we all follow the last 4 sentences, these posts dont have to happen & Randy stays happy.
Sorry to go on an essay, just wanted to clear some things up.
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"You know what you can't outsource, Fareed? You can't outsource balls. America is the world leader in balls." --Stephen Colbert
eye lieks teh kewl-ade, as is becomming more widely known this year.
but really....with even a tiny bit of discretion...its not hard to maintain normal course of daily life responsibility & be quieter than a mckendree girls team.
just think....jlowe spends 85% of each bus ride screaming & people sleep through that. so add in walls between rooms...it really takes a lot of noise to cause a problem. and louder than jlowe isn't easily attainable.
