What the hell is with this test? 

posted by natedogg at 01:52PM CST on February 26

maybe an extra year of college wouldn't have been such a bad thing after all... 

posted by splatnikGanglion at 03:53PM CST on February 26

After re-grading, the score has been changed to 16. 

posted by habcous at 09:12AM CST on February 27

Yet more evidence that we should end the charade of the student-athlete, and, if we want to have these guys be 'students' at 'universities' then just make football a major, instead of diverting all these resources into the project of pretending to educate people who aren't paying attention. 

posted by Valatan at 11:42AM CST on February 27

Are there any good anecdotes about why Janikowski lives up to his reputation? I don't think I've ever heard of him but I get that he seems to be a running joke. I could google it but I don't feel like separating out the chaff. 

posted by natedogg at 01:10PM CST on February 27

This bio has most of the ones I know about. 

posted by habcous at 03:11PM CST on February 27

I prefer this Bobby Bowden quote about breaking curfew: "Does that sound like favoritism to you? It does to me."
 

posted by NanoCindy at 05:12PM CST on February 27

the scan tron in question 

posted by Valatan at 12:44PM CST on February 28

I was immediately disappointed when I heard this story -- it reflects badly on Vince Young and on UT. (Even if he improved his score, it speaks badly of VY and his staff that he was so poorly prepped for the test). In a larger sense, though, football is still debating the black QB vs. white QB, running QB vs. pocket passing QB, all in the context of larger race issues (see TO and Limbaugh on Donovan McNabb / Brett Favre). You can't find two clearer exemplars of this debate than VY and Matt Leinart. I worry that a lot of the gleeful coverage of this I've seen elsewhere draws on or at least plays into racial stereotypes of the black quarterback... or is that only me? 

posted by mrflip at 11:40AM CST on March 01

I dunno. I kind of think if Leinart had scored a 6 people would be gleefully ripping him a new one too. I know I would.  

posted by habcous at 11:37PM CST on March 01

I agree, habcous. People would be going off on how Leinart should have been taking more than ballroom dancing his last semester.

Regarding the mrflip's questions about sterotypes and running vs. throwing QB's: does the wonderlic really correlate to the style a quarterback has? Or even how well a quarterback does in the NFL? I don't know too much about football, so please correct my misunderstandings, but a person could be dumb as rocks but still see when receivers are or aren't open and take appropriate actions (i.e. throw to them or run with the ball). Dan Marino was more of a thowing quarterback, and he still scored below average for a QB on the wonderlic and he had a pretty stellar career.

[As an aside, the McNabb comments kind of puzzled me. McNabb had an active hernia this past season - if I was injured like that, I would want to throw more than keep the ball and get tackled. Also, McNabb is getting older and slower. Shouldn't he be praised for changing his MO and still being an effective QB? And, TO is a dick. If McNabb were a more "traditional black QB", he would have gotten the ball less.]

The reason why I see this as getting so much attention is that: 1) There are a lot of discussions regarding the order in which the quarterbacks are drafted this year and because of that, any information is going to be considered. 2) There are more people than ever to react to situations like this: there are tons of blogs and sports reporters who have nothing else to talk about. Anything will generate an audience, even if it isn't important. 3) Everyone likes to feel smart compared to other people. Especially people who [will] make much more money than you do. See Tara Reid. 

posted by NanoCindy at 12:19AM CST on March 02

Btw, was anyone suprised to see that offensive linemen and centers were the highest scorers on the test?  

posted by Valatan at 12:37AM CST on March 02

or that programmers might as well have played football? 

posted by reid at 09:10AM CST on March 02

and reid swings in with the zinger! kudos! 

posted by splatnikGanglion at 02:08AM CST on March 03

For what it's worth, Valatan, offensive linemen typically have to be the smartest players on the field due to the complexity of the blocking schemes and the need to be able to diagnose blitzes and adapt on the fly. On the flip side, defensive linemen can get away with being pretty dumb as most of the time their assignment is pretty straight-forward (rush the passer, tackle the runner). Defensive players who do more play-calling and diagnosis (like safeties) typically score much higher. 

posted by habcous at 05:49AM CST on March 03