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Owletters (Editor's note: we discontinued a letters-to-the-editor section several years ago, as a quaint, but irrelevant throwback to the pre-message board era. But having received the following missive, it occurs to us that sitting idly by while a concerned and engaged Michigan State alum does our heavy lifting for us is something that Owl fans ought not to do. So this....) August 17, 2007 Editor: Once again I could not help but respond to comments about Rice made in the press which were either dismissive or snide. The following was my response to Mr. McDonald from the San Antonio Express who opined that it is a "sad day" when Rice qualifies as a good team in Texas. I really believe that an orchestrated response to all such slights needs to be made in a tactful, diplomatic manner to condition sportswriters that Rice is an up and coming program and not to be overlooked, dismissed or be the butt of someone's jokes. I'll keep responding but it needs to come from more than just me. Please be assured that I never represent myself to be part of the Rice program when I write to these sports journalists, but I do think a response from Rice is appropriate. I think a positive, proactive call from Coach Bailiff or a member of his staff in addition to the Sports Information staff would make a real impression on a writer like Mr. McDonald. Just my two cents....... jek Mr. McDonald, Regarding your comment that it is a "sad day" when Rice is considered a decent team in the State of Texas... I would think that most people would consider that it is a great day when Rice is considered a good program. This is a program that recruits outstanding student athletes, young men who don't get arrested....student athletes that finish school and become fine citizens in the community. This is a school that was just ranked #17 in the nation by US News and World report. This is a program that features four outstanding young men from San Antonio high schools, including starting Quarterback Chase Clement and **All-American** wide receiver and Conference USA pre-season offensive player of the year Jarett Dillard. San Antonio fans should think it is a great day when these young students San Antonio succeed in a school like Rice and lead a football program to winning seasons. Rice is a team that went to a bowl last year despite not having their starting quarterback (Clement) for half the season including the bowl game. In my mind it is great day now that Rice is having the success on field that they deserve for not violating NCAA rules, and not compromising their academic standards by recruiting partial qualifiers or kids who can not graduate. Let's hope they keep winning and become a program that every young man aspires to play for in Texas because they do the right things right. John Kajander Saturday, we received this followup email from Mr. Kajander.... Editor: A mea culpa from San Antonio writer Jeff McDonald. Not exactly a real apology but it put him on notice…. -----Original Message----- Sorry. What I meant
was that it's a sad day when Rice is considered the "decent" team on UT's
schedule. It was a comment on the sorry state of UT's schedule-making of late, not a swipe
at Rice as an academic institution. Hmmm. Thing is, he wasn't speaking of Rice's reputation as an academic institution, either. Here's the entire quite from the SA scribe... "It’s a sad day when Rice qualifies as a decent team in state. Sure, the Owls went to a bowl game last year. So did Troy. And Troy beat Rice in that bowl game 41-17. But we digress. "Don’t know if the mighty Rice-TCU-UTEP triumvirate qualifies as a trend, inasmuch as those three schools are pretty much where the scheduling trend ends. There aren’t many other “decent” in-state schools left to schedule. Plus, we don’t think the Longhorns want to put a permanent halt to that heated rivalry with North Texas. That, too, would be a sad day indeed." Sounds like the writer's slam had nothing to do with Rice as an 'academic institution.' Sounds like JK's retort was right on the nose. But we digress...(Ed.)
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