McGregor wrote:

Real.Men.Wear.Blue wrote:

With all due respect to Cruiser (and recognizing that his information, as he admits, is triple hearsay), this story about the undue pressure on Kaveinga does not sound consistent with the Coach Mendenhall that I am familiar with.

But in his defense, it does sound consistent with an impressionable young man making probably the most important decision in his life so far, with several parties throwing a full court press to influence that decision.

Agreed. Having never been highly recruited to play college football myself, I know that is tough to believe, I could see how this would be a major life decision. Especially for a young man of that age. Also, considering the fact that he may want to serve a mission. I think all those things would be difficult to figure out. I wish him the best and really hope he picks BYU. But if he doesn't, then I am sure he will be able to influence people in SoCal and be a positive role model. That being said...Please choose BYU!!!!

Real.Men.Wear.Blue wrote:

With all due respect to Cruiser (and recognizing that his information, as he admits, is triple hearsay), this story about the undue pressure on Kaveinga does not sound consistent with the Coach Mendenhall that I am familiar with.

It does sound consistent with a snake-oil salesman like Pete Carroll and the cheating boosters at USC.

Need a house in CA? No problem.
Need jobs for your parents? No problem.
Want to go on a mission? No problem.*

*Not a problem until Thursday February 7th.

HuskerFan2 wrote:

Real.Men.Wear.Blue wrote:

With all due respect to Cruiser (and recognizing that his information, as he admits, is triple hearsay), this story about the undue pressure on Kaveinga does not sound consistent with the Coach Mendenhall that I am familiar with.

It does sound consistent with a snake-oil salesman like Pete Carroll and the cheating boosters at USC.

Need a house in CA? No problem.
Need jobs for your parents? No problem.
Want to go on a mission? No problem.*

*Not a problem until Thursday February 7th.

My worry is if he goes to USC his mission dreams wont be respected. I am unbiased being unactive and a non missionary. I feel though if i young man wants to go and has dreams of going it should be respected. I think if Kaveinga goes to USC, Carroll will talk him out of going after promising him it would be ok if he goes. They are very impressionable at this age and probably believe the coaches. If Kaveinga is a starter next year at USC and wants to go on his mission after his freshman year, i think Carroll will use some sort of threat like losing his starting position etc. to keep him from going. I just hope he realizes how much more we want him here than USC does. It would be a hard choice though and i hope he makes the right one and that he and his dreams be respected.

Didn't Stanley Havili initially want to go on a mission?

My point is that I agree with you, Draider.

lawman wrote:

Didn't Stanley Havili initially want to go on a mission?

My point is that I agree with you, Draider.

I know he was for awhile and i obviously dont know for sure, but i would guess that decision was lost because of football and not just because he didnt feel it was what he wanted to do anymore. Im sure there were a lot of people trying to get him not to go. And im sure the coaching staff(carroll included)that made sure he didnt end up going. And im not saying they are bad people for it i just dont think they understand the meaning of the mission and what it means to these kids growing up.

lawman wrote:

Didn't Stanley Havili initially want to go on a mission?

My point is that I agree with you, Draider.

He was teetering on going on a mission, but once he committed to USC, he said he had decided that he wasn't going on a mission. Pete Carroll told him he would not hold his scholarship if he went on a mission.