"The Gold Boot Guy"  

What is the Right Crowd?

 

College athletes are a unique breed.  They are generally quite popular and have friends from many different social groups.  Girls love them, guys want to be them.  However, it's quite easy to fall into the wrong crowd and end up being not so great!  Jared knows all about this, as he ended up in the wrong crowd.  Here's a bit more about what happened to Jared.

 

Jared didn't know anyone when he started college hundreds of miles away from home.  He had the football team, but everyone was quite new so they weren't really friends yet.  Jared was a very good student.  He was self-motivated, academically gifted, hard-working and more.  He was the kind of high school student who any teacher would love to have and he hoped that proved to be the case in college.  However, Jared's roommate was of a different kind of unique.  He was a procrastinator and barely seemed to slide by in high school.  He didn't have very high ambitions and most of his good time was spent with girls at parties. 

 

As Jared got to know Keith a bit better, he began to go to different parties with him and spend more time with him.  However, Jared noticed that Keith had no time designated for studying, classes, etc.  As Jared would just crack a book to begin studying, Keith would run in saying they needed to go to a particular party or that some really cute girls were coming over.  Jared couldn't seem to find time to do anything.  He was having fun, but he was letting his studies slip and he felt guilty.  Before too long, the parties and the procrastination started showing up in his grades.  Finally, Jared realized that enough was enough.

 

In high school, Jared's friends were very similar to him.  They all had high goals, they valued education and learning and they wanted to make a great career out of the things he loved.  He realized that when he had spent time with those friends, they had fun in a different way than he and Keith did.  So, he started finding friends more like the ones he had back in high school.  He felt good when he finally got to know some people with similar interests.  He had forgotten how motivating friends could be for each other. 

 

The two of them studied together and challenged each other to be better, stronger and faster.  It was a very rewarding relationship and they learned a lot from each other.  In no time, his grades were back to top-notch and when Keith wanted to go to a party, Jared stayed home.  He felt as if he had accomplished something and knowing that his friends were of the same mindset, he did wonderfully.  Keith, on the other hand, failed and left college.  He is now paid minimum wage for a very stressful job that he doesn't enjoy.  Stay focused and surround yourself with like-minded individuals and you will succeed!

 

 

 

Alcohol and Drugs: A Warning for Athletes

 

When Dray was in high school, things were going pretty good for him.  Up to a certain point, he had pretty good grades, he was something of a star on the football team and he drove his girlfriend around in a classic Camaro.  Although he had a really good shot at building a career around his sports talent, he never thought too hard on it.  He was too busy to think about his career.  He was living a great life.

 

Dray had experimented with certain drugs, like Marijuana, and to him it was really no big deal.  In a small town, you have to make your own fun if you plan on having any and one night Dray and a bunch of kids from the football team were doing exactly that.  They had all been drinking before they decided to go out and see what they could get into.  Dray led the group in his Camaro and a couple of vehicles followed him.  Dray's girlfriend Brandi was having a really good time until she noticed that Dray was swerving around a lot.  She knew he was too buzzed to drive and asked him to let her drive them home.  Brushing her off, he slowed the car until the pickup truck behind him pulled up to his side.

 

They were on a long, curvy back road and Dray began revving the motor and accelerating.  The driver in the pickup knew that Dray wanted to race.  Laughing and having the time of his life, Dray began to accelerate again.  Over his girlfriend's pleads for him to slow down and stop, Dray continued to accelerate.  He had to concentrate because he'd never been on this road before.  Through twisting turns and dips in the road, the Camaro got faster and faster.  Finally, Dray looked over and could see that his girlfriend was truly scared so he started to slow down.  That's when Dray lost control of the Camaro.

 

Having drifted slightly to the side of the road, Dray hit a dip and lost control.  The car flew off of the side of the road and onto the shoulder, sliding through brush, spinning and smoking terribly before the car finally skidded to a stop.  By some miracle, Dray and his girlfriend were alive.  The pickups behind them had avoided wrecking somehow and their occupants, scared out of their minds, searched for Dray's car.  Whether it was the effect of the wreck or trying to make sure his girlfriend was alright, Dray had completely sobered up.  He could feel himself moving to check on her, all but his legs.  At first, he thought it was simply a reaction to being scared – but there was something more to it.  In one moment he realized that he was hurt and was having trouble breathing.  He also couldn't move his legs.  Every touchdown, every pass and every dream he had secretly held to himself passed through his mind.  The crowd, the calls and the emotions of a close win spoke to him.  Unfortunately, Dray was never able to play football again.  On a positive note, he used the tragedy to teach teenagers about the dangers of alcohol and drugs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risks of Playing the Pimp Game

 

In high school, it sure seems totally cool to have been with this person or that person, to have gone this far with one and that far with another.  A lot of it is just big talk from guys trying to sound like pimps, but sometimes its reality.  If you're one of these guys who thinks it's really cool to play the pimp game, you should know about Matt.  Matt was one of these guys too.  He was handsome enough, which is why he was able to get close to so many people.  In his friend's eyes, Matt was king at their high school until soon enough, with a twist of fate, Matt became a dad.

 

Because the pregnant girl was kicked out of her home, Matt had to quit school and get a job in order to support her and their child.  Matt was no longer the king of the high school.  In fact, without his education, the best job Matt was able to get was helping out at a mechanic's shop that paid minimum wage.  The guy he used to be was gone and Matt's entire life, his dreams and his goals were gone as well.  If Matt's story doesn't show you the risks of playing the pimp game, perhaps Josh's story will.

 

Josh was very similar to Matt.  He was captain of the football team, and he was very popular and well loved by the girls.  With a cute face and charming demeanor, Josh could get away with many different things.  His friends looked forward to his bragging sessions on Mondays after the weekend.  One day very close to graduation, Josh didn't show up on Monday because he was at the doctor's office.  Josh had contracted Human Papillomavirus and had gone to the doctor when he noticed small bumps which turned out to be genital warts. 

 

It's bad enough to contract a sexually transmitted disease that there is no cure for, but because it can take from 3 months to years to show up, Josh had to contact all of the girls that he had 'spent time' with in the past two years to inform them that he had the disease.  Josh quickly went from Mr. Popular to someone who was avoided.  There are many risks to playing the pimp game and you just can't afford to take the 'it-wont-happen-to-me' attitude because it can.  Don't put your whole life at risk.  In Josh's case, his disease was not fatal and could be treated, although HPV is incurable.  It could have been something much worse. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Professional Athletics is Not the Ticket to Success…Education Is!

 

 

Tony knew that he wanted to play football from the time he was a small kid, so when he focused on that in high school, no one was surprised.  His mother tried to get him to focus more on academic careers so that he would always have something to fall back on, but his famous, crooked-grin reply was always the same, "The only thing I need to fall on is the football, Mom."   Tony was an amazing player.  He was fast, sharp and could assess the field in seconds.  After the snap, when the football was flying through the air, Tony was under it and gone so fast that the judges started calling him Phantom.

 

One particular night, the stands were absolutely packed.  It was a night game and sounds of people chattering, talking and yelling at their favorite players blended together to create a larger, buzzing melody.  Tony was pumped.  The lights pointed at the field were brighter than full noon and Tony's team was playing their rival high school, the Hawks.  This was truly a big game and there were rumors of scouts in the stands.  The excitement couldn't have been higher and the tension couldn't have been thicker between the two teams when the game started.

 

Tony will never forget the second play after half-time.  His team was ahead and he really felt like they had the game in the bag.  The quarterback threw the ball and Tony was there.  Everything seemed to go in slow motion as he positioned himself under the spiraling football.  He was poised, arms up, ready to catch and run just like the hundreds of other plays before this one.  Then his foot shifted in a strange way.  As the ball hit his hands and he turned to run, an opposing player crashed into him with the full force of a 180 pound sprint.  He felt his ankle and knee crack as hot, fiery pain shot from his foot to his hip.  Things went dark for Tony.

 

Unfortunately, the injury was not just a common football injury that would heal normally.  His ankle was literally shattered and required pins to hold it in place while it healed.  Because of the way he fell when the player hit him, his knee was dislocated and his fibula was also cracked.  It took a long time for Tony to heal and after he did, he was not able to play football anymore.  What he invested his entire life learning so that he could be a professional was not going to happen for him and he had no other plans.  Luckily, he was young enough to do something else with his life, but he truly wished that he would have found an academic passion so things wouldn't have been so hard for him.  Professional athletics is not the ticket to success…education is.  Because there are so many variables for being successful with sports, one tiny thing can make the dream impossible.  With your education, you can find a career that you will be stable and secure in so Tony's situation can never happen to you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips for Making the Transition to College

 

            Luckily for Austin, his older brother went to college a few years before him.  As it got closer to time for Austin to go to college, his brother spent some extra time with him, in order to help him transition from high school to college.  At first, Austin really didn't think it was a big deal but as they started going over things that had to be done or routines that had to be kept, Austin was glad that he wasn't the one to go first!  Some of the different tips that Austin's brother gave him really helped out a lot. 

 

            First they got Austin on a tighter study schedule.  Because Austin was a gifted student, he didn't study as much as he could have.  With college, things are much different.  Students who excel easily in high school with limited studying will quickly find themselves falling behind in college if they keep the same study habits.  Austin found that scheduling study time for so many hours a day still allowed him to have a certain amount of time to do other things that he enjoyed, like playing with his Xbox 360!

 

            Another tip Austin's brother gave him was to learn how to pinch pennies.  Because most of your time in college is monopolized with studies, classes and projects, there is little time to actually work.  The money that may come from financial assistance or your parents is quickly used up by books, food and necessities.  Learning how to pinch pennies for Austin was kind of difficult.  However, sitting down and coming up with a tentative budget helped him learn how to work with the available funds that he had.  He was thankful for this advice when it really was time for him to go.

 

            Possibly the most important tip Austin's brother gave him was pertaining to social things.  While many people view college as a way to get away from home and do a little partying, this kind of attitude can quickly lead to you falling behind.  Austin's brother explained that it was fine to socialize but that it was very important to find the right crowd to socialize in and that time should be spent doing the important things first.  Then if there was time left, socializing could be next!  Austin wasn't too fond of this, but he agreed on the importance and had personally seen a few people fail college because they didn't have their priorities straight.  These tips were a huge help to Austin and perhaps they will be of some help to you as well.

 

 

FACT SHEET:

BINGE DRINKING in COLLEGE

IS IT SERIOUS?

·         College presidents agree binge drinking is the most serious problem on campus.

·         In 1999, Harvard University’s School of Public Health College Alcohol Study surveyed students at 119 colleges. Here are some of the findings:

WHO BINGES?

·         44% of U.S. college students engaged in binge drinking during the two weeks before the survey.

·         51% of the MEN drank 5 or more drinks in a row

·         40% of the WOMEN drank 4 or more drinks in a row

·         Students more likely to binge drink are white, age 23 or younger, and are residents of a fraternity or sorority. If they were binge drinkers in high school, they were three times more likely to binge in college.

·         The percentage of students who were binge drinkers was nearly uniform from freshman to senior year, even though students under 21 are prohibited from purchasing alcohol.

·         Over half the binge drinkers, almost one in four students, were frequent binge drinkers, that is, they binged three or more times in a two-week period. While one in five students reported abstaining from drinking alcohol.

WHY?

Binge drinkers cited the following as important reasons for drinking:

·         Drinking to get drunk (cited by 47% of students who consumed alcohol)
·         Status associated with drinking
·         Culture of alcohol consumption on campus
·         Peer pressure & academic stress

 

WHAT EFFECTS?

A higher percentage of binge drinkers than non-binge drinkers reported having experienced alcohol-related problems since the beginning of the school year. Frequent binge drinkers were 21 times more likely than non-binge drinkers to have:

·         Missed class	·         Engaged in unplanned sexual activity
·         Fallen behind in school work	·         Not used protection when having sex
·         Damaged property	·         Gotten in trouble with campus police
·         Been hurt or injured	·         Driven a car after drinking

 

IMPACT ON OTHER STUDENTS

About three out of four students responding to the study reported experiencing at least one adverse consequence of another student’s drinking during the school year. At colleges with a high binge drinking rates:

·         71% had sleep or study interrupted	·         23% had a serious argument
·         57% had to take care of an intoxicated student	·         16% had property damaged
·         36% had been insulted or humiliated	·         11% had been pushed, hit or assaulted
·         23% had experienced an unwanted sexual encounter	·         1% had been the victim of a sexual advance, assault or "date rape"

 

IMPLICATIONS OF THE SURVEY

Binge drinking is a widespread phenomenon on most college campuses, a problem that not only interferes with the mission of higher education but also carries with it serious risks of disease, injury, and death. Findings from the Harvard survey suggest that college and university administrators will want to intensify their search for new approaches to preventing both underage and binge drinking.

 

 

You Heard it here First by the Gold Boot GUY!

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An ABC / 123 insight on Greek life and how it can hurt or help you in your collegiate experience.

When is enough enough ?  Why do we hard working Americans still have to sit by and watch these spoiled athletes do what they do and we can barely pay the bills?
Now i know what you are thinking,  this guuy hates athletes.  No, I love sports and I am a former athlete. But the craziness of dog fighting, strip club shootings, rapes and punching women  etc etc..need I go on . 
 
When does america say O.K. this needs to stop? 

I want to know your thoughts.........................

Thanks,

"The Gold Boot Guy"