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1

Tank Johnson, by all accounts was - is - a very nice guy. Who has long had bouts with substance addiction.

While an undergrad he was sent to live in a section of one of the UW dorms called "the Safe House," where my fiance was, at the time, the RA. The "Safe House" was designed to be drugs and alcohol-free, and an environment where residents weren't going out and doing those things elsewhere.

She reports he was always very nice to her, that she never had any problems with him in terms of substance abuse (or at all), that he would pass her on campus in subsequent years and still knew her name, still said hi and stopped to chat.

My sense is he is a good person who probably has a substance abuse problem, may not be all that mature. He may be in over his head in the NFL, and doesn't seem to be dealing with his responsibilities and life as well as he must.

But neither does that make him a bad person, and I don't think the dismissive "Einstein of the U-District" is all that productive or useful a view.

He probably is better off attending to things in his life that need attention, and developing the maturity he needs, rather than the NFL. Or, he could stay in the NFL and keep playing; does it really matter what he does off-field?

These kinds of problems tend to snowball. The NFL's programs for folks in Tank Johnson's position are by no means extensive or great, and while I know most fans just want people to shape up and help their team win, I think he deserves help and support. Whether that happens while he plays for the Bears...ehh. I don't really care.

Posted by anonymous coward | December 16, 2006 6:01 PM
2

UW has recently put a cap on transfer admissions due to the volume of applications and, as always, has a rep of being a tough public school to gain admission to.

That said, I see the student body of the day classes and wonder about this, because it's rife with gangbangers, trash, trashy teenage girls in starter jackets and other people who clearly lack the intelligence to succeed even at a high school level, let alone show the intellectual prowess to get into a university with 'difficult' admissions standards. And a lot of these idiots are on financial aid so you can't make the 'parents paid their way so UW gave them a pass' defense in most cases.

Something tells me the university's admissions staff is asleep at the wheel. I cannot believe that half of the complete fucking idiots I see had good grades, good test scores and were able to write out a compelling personal statement. It's more likely that the university admission isn't even paying attention anymore and just letting dumbasses in on a first come first serve basis.

Posted by Gomez | December 16, 2006 6:25 PM
3

Gomez, you've always seemed like a bit of a troll, but this is just over the top. It's great that you can hijack a post about an over-indulged professional athlete and instead shift it to a dismissal of public University admissions standards because you don't like the way people dress. Obviously your laser eyes can detect the relative intelligence of people based on their "trash, trashy" mode of dress.

And whether it matters what he does off-field-- I think a bunch of unlicensed guns owned by a guy who has threatened a cop is worthy of at least a modicum of concern. Why are you giving this guy a pass? Because he was nice to your girlfriend?

Posted by christopher hong | December 16, 2006 6:52 PM
4

I get the strong suspicion Gomex doesn't have the slightest clue what he is talking about, notwithstanding his obvious ability at making quasi-racist statements.

As someone who teaches at UW for a living, and who has familiarity with the admission process, UW students remain a mixed bag - many are bright, many are bright but do not care, and a small handful need remedial assistance.

UW is an extremely competitive school to get into. Fewer and fewer Washington high school grads can get in, transfers from the community colleges are becoming rarer (ever since the guaranteed transfer agreements were ended a few years back), the GPA of the incoming freshman class keeps rising as competition becomes stiffer.

It's a bid sad that some folks in this town still use racialized assumptions (look! they're wearing a starter jacket! they MUST be idiots!) to assess situations instead of, oh I don't know, looking at facts? Talking to people with actual knowledge?

Posted by eugene | December 16, 2006 6:54 PM
5

Yikes, "Gomex" in my above post is a rather unfortunate typo.

As to Tank, dunno, I read that comment as saying he sounds more like someone immature and floundering than a thug.

Posted by eugene | December 16, 2006 6:57 PM
6

Aww, I was raised in the "downscale suburb of Gurnee!" How exciting that we've made the big-time!

Posted by Michelle in OH | December 16, 2006 7:03 PM
7

I've worked at the UW for about 10 years so I can attest that Gomez is full of shit.

Posted by elswinger | December 16, 2006 7:47 PM
8

Sorry, guys, I'm totally serious. A lot of UW students are just complete punks, and not very literate punks at that. I cannot believe they would pass a legit admissions process.

Posted by Gomez | December 16, 2006 7:47 PM
9

Also, what about my assumptions, eugene, was racist? I just said the student body was a bunch of thugs. Skin color is irrelevant. In fact, a lot of these punks are white.

Posted by Gomez | December 16, 2006 7:51 PM
10

Gomez -- care to back that statement up with something resembling data independent of your silly judging based on appearance?

PS...having taught at the U and several local community colleges, my own experience is that often the strangest looking kids (punk or otherwise) are the brightest and just as often the neatly dressed ones can't think critically to save their lives.

Posted by gnossos | December 16, 2006 7:56 PM
11

Sounds like a typical professional college athlete to me. They'll probably erect a statue of him down by Huskie Field.

Posted by Fnarf | December 16, 2006 9:02 PM
12

Data?! Have you met any of these college students that your beloved data states are legitimate academic minds?

Walk down 45th between classes and through the pathways on the morning of any given quarter and tell me the people you see and hear seem like intelligent, devoted students. The words, conversations (some of which include talking about blowing off classes and cutting and, of course, getting hammered) and attitudes I have seen indicate that they are far from it.

I take offense to people who spend little time around the campus telling me that what I see personally every single day is full of shit.

Posted by Gomez | December 16, 2006 9:36 PM
13

unh, Gomez, I've lived and/or worked in the U district for over 20 years and am also there almost daily.

Maybe Idaho calls?

whatfuckinevah

Posted by gnossos | December 16, 2006 9:55 PM
14

Where, and when are you actually outside among the student body, where are you outside? This will tell me what sort of sample of the population you're getting. BTW, smarter, nicer kids tend to hang out on the Ave. I'm talking about CAMPUS and the neighborhood in general.

Yes, I'm calling you on it. That's how absolutely certain I am of my assessment.

Posted by Gomez | December 16, 2006 11:47 PM
15

Dudes! You're not getting it! You're not seeing the sub-humans because unlike Gomez, you're one of them!

You know how the saying goes. "If you look around the room and you can't find the totally awesome person, then it's probably you."

Er...wait, maybe that's not it.

Oh hell with it. Even if you aren't one of the sub-humans slithering around UW, you wouldn't be able to see them unless Rowdy Roddy let's you use the special glasses.

Posted by Yuck @ Gomez In This Post | December 17, 2006 12:10 AM
16

Gomez is all out of bubblegum!

Posted by Holly | December 17, 2006 8:15 AM
17

Uh, anyone have any dirt on Tank or not? Looks like not. And Gurnee rocks.

Posted by bill | December 17, 2006 3:31 PM
18

I think the only dirt is that Tank, at least in the way he's been recently portrayed, would've fit in with the current UW crowd pretty well.

Posted by Gomez | December 17, 2006 4:24 PM
19

Reading...

That said, I see the student body of the day classes and wonder about this, because it's rife with gangbangers, trash, trashy teenage girls in starter jackets and other people who clearly lack the intelligence to succeed even at a high school level, let alone show the intellectual prowess to get into a university with 'difficult' admissions standards. And a lot of these idiots are on financial aid so you can't make the 'parents paid their way so UW gave them a pass' defense in most cases.
That's why the electricity in the neighborhoods that created the gangbangers and trasy trasy teenage girls is still out. obviously.

p.s. gurnee wishes it was kenosha.

Posted by charles | December 18, 2006 12:00 AM
20

Hey Chicago Fan why don't you post as Bill Savage PHD we know you are an important College professor, and Dan Savage's brother. No need to hide it.

Posted by Dan Savage's brother fan | December 18, 2006 4:45 PM

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