Voluntary but not optional

The sports world is abuzz today with discussions about this weekend's Detroit Free Press article 'exposing' how much Rich Rodriguez requires of his athletes at the University of Michigan. I must say that I'm shocked - not at the amount of work the football players are required to put in - but at the national reaction to this 'story'. People are actually acting surprised about this - today I hear national radio shows criticizing Rodriguez for 'cheating'. I also heard former Nebraska All-American Jason Peter, on Lincoln's local sports talk radio show, talking about how the schedule described in the article is too much to expect from college athletes - this is the same guy who used to brag about chasing teammates through sets of stadium stairs if he thought they were slacking off or missed work-outs in the off-season.

Calling this 'cheating' is certainly a stretch. It may violate some rules technicalities imposed by the NCAA, but what UM is doing is not much different than what goes on every where else. I don't see how anyone can be surprised by what Rodriguez expects of his athletes. To anyone who was even a high school varsity athlete, the supposed mandatory work limits of 20 hours/week in season and 8 hours a week in the off-season should sound absurd.

I played football at a Division III school. While my teammates and I took a lot of pride in our team and how we played, the stakes of each game at my small college can not even be compared to that of of Division I football. Even at our level, the commitment expected of us during the off-season easily exceeded 8 hours a week. We ran, lifted, and did passing league drills - I'm guessing 3 hours a day during the week. While the lifting was mostly independent, if a guy was were in town and missed running or passing league, the team leaders made him run.

In the book "Diary of a Husker" former Nebraska walk-on Dave Kolowski recounts in detail - sometimes excruciatingly so - the specifics of what was expected of him every day. During the off season a 3-5 hour daily commitment was expected of the players. Most days their conditioning included morning lifting session and running & drills in the afternoon. Consequences for missing those sessions included some gut-wrenching punishment doled out by upperclassmen.

Do either of those sound 'optional'?

It does not sound to me like Michigan is doing anything unlike what every football team in the country - at any level. Teams are able to circumvent the rules by calling these workouts "voluntary". The NCAA considers an activity voluntary as long as a staff member is not taking attendance or relaying information to coaches. So while these workouts may fit the definition of voluntary, they are certainly not optional. Whether it is a strength coach or 295 lb defensive tackle in charge of overseeing consequences for missing a workout, the athlete has the same choices - either do the workout or don't be on the team.

Maybe Michigan is guilty of having a few extra guys in maize & blue polos on the premises - is that the difference between cheating and not? Nothing changes for the players going through the work-outs - the only thing different here is appearance.