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null [3984]
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"No tears" - article from AJC - this guy gets it
Mar 12, 2008, 9:37 AM
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No tears for Ray Ray
By Tony Barnhart | Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 08:38 AM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the things you learn after being in this business a while is that stories are rarely as simple as they appear.
Take the case of Clemson?s Ray Ray McElrathbey.
The Atlanta native was one of the feel good stories of college football in 2006 when, as a scholarship player at Clemson, he took on the additional task of raising his little brother Fahmarr, who was 11 at the time. Clemson petitioned the NCAA to make an exception its extra benefits rule in order to set up a trust fund to take care of Fahmarr. That trust fund reportedly has over $100,000 in it. Fahmarr has also received care from the families of assistant coaches.
McElrathbey has been on athletic scholarship for three years and has played very little because of injuries. He is scheduled to graduate this summer, a notable achievement for which he deserves all of the praise in the world.
Now Clemson and coach Tommy Bowden have made a difficult decision for the good of the program. Ray Ray can remain at Clemson and pursue another degree as a graduate assistant coach but not as a player with a football scholarship. McElrathbey has been promised financial aid by athletics director Terry Don Phillips if he chooses that option. If McElrathbey, who has two years of eligibility remaining, wants to play somewhere else, Clemson will help him find a new school. But the Tigers are four deep with quality tailbacks. McElrathbey is not going to get on the field.
Bowden has been portrayed as this cold, unfeeling person who is cutting Ray Ray loose simply because Clemson needed the scholarship. It?s an entertaining narrative that pushes all the emotional hot buttons. But it just isn?t that simple.
The fact is that McElrathbey has been known to have issues with the coaching staff and was less than consistent when it came to attending team functions. The time had come for a change in the relationship for the good of the entire team. Bowden is not going to say anything publicly because he doesn?t want to embarrass the kid. So he?ll take the heat.
George O?Leary told me a long time ago that coaches have to be willing to tell players things they don?t want to hear. If a player is not going to get on the field, he needs to know that and needs to be given some options. Then it is up to the player to choose the right option for him.
The easiest thing to do would have been to keep McElrathbey on a football scholarship. No fuss. No muss. No controversy. But it would not have been the best thing for the Clemson football program as a whole.
In the real world, people have to make tough decisions that are going to be unpopular. This is one of those.
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110%er [6222]
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Re: "No tears" - article from AJC - this guy gets it
Mar 12, 2008, 9:42 AM
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Talk about a well-written perspective. Good article.
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110%er [7035]
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Funny how the tides turn when people actually have
Mar 12, 2008, 9:42 AM
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the entire story. As opposed to getting a little bit of hearsay and running with it as fact.
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CU Guru [1053]
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Also the difference between AJC and Charleston P&C as
Mar 12, 2008, 9:53 AM
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well as Tony Barnhardt versus Larry Williams.
Larry wanted to badly to break a story that running off with half the facts and James Davis as his key source has blown up in his face. Larry should just stick to writing the 2 day old recaps of Tigernet in his columns, he is good at that!
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null [555]
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wonder if "idiot" korncott will understand this? thoughts?***
Mar 12, 2008, 9:51 AM
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Standout [334]
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Re: wonder if "idiot" korncott will understand this? thoughts?***
Mar 12, 2008, 9:54 AM
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no because he doesn't want to. He just wants to bash Clemson to try to make the Coots look better. Same with the P&C and the Greenville News
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110%er [6034]
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All-TigerNet [13888]
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Orange Blooded [4444]
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All-In [30593]
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that should be emailed to every jounalist in SC***
Mar 12, 2008, 10:04 AM
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110%er [5465]
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Wow, Barnhart finally wrote something that made sense.***
Mar 12, 2008, 11:08 AM
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Orange Blooded [2608]
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Spot on.***
Mar 12, 2008, 11:14 AM
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