[thepostman]

I agree with that for sure but because of that people think our students are weird which will also bring criticism. Which adds some more irony.

But others kind of touched on it already, nobody really cares about Liberty outside of those invested in politics and those within the liberty bubble. At the end of the day we are a brand new FBS independent football program. Nobody really cares about us.

[alabama24]

I think if Nasser can get some good faith liberal appearances at Convo, it would go a long way. Bernie was great, but that was years ago.

We have had Mark Warner more recently... and last week, Dr. Cornel West.

[Purple Haize]

its impossible to separate the 2 if you don't really want to separate the 2.

Clearly some people, including on this board, don’t want to

[ATrain]

Completely possible - there is a gap between what students/coaches actually believe and what the administration publicly says.

[LUOrange]

I think for most people and fans, they can separate sports and politics. The prime example was the NFL and ESPN, both waded heavily into politics and a significant percentage quit watching and supporting them, myself included. However, a significantly larger percentage of their supporters ignored the politics and continued on with their love of sports. However, when it comes to Christians/conservatives/republicans, the media and the SJW's really are pretty hypocritical. The overwhelming vast majority of colleges and universities are super liberal, yet no one singles those institutions out. Where is ESPN questioning the legitimacy of their sports in relations to their crazy politics?

Who's singling out Kansas because their professors are scared of chicken sandwiches? Who's singling out Montana for allowing the dude to run crass country for the women, because he thinks he's a chick now? Who singled out UNC for the morons that tore down Silent Sam? Or the idiots at George Washington who want to change their nickname because of "slavery!" Or the morons at UVA who want to remove references to Jefferson because of "slavery!" Or the "ethics" professor at the College of Charleston who said we should celebrate the death of 1 of the Koch brothers. Or William and Mary hiring Comey to teach ethics?

Come on, like others have said, you can separate a schools politics from it's sports if you want to. I'm from Syracuse, and SU is a very liberal institution that was one of the first schools to change it's nickname because of political correctness. But I'm still a huge loyal Orangemen and Orangewomen fan!

[ballcoach15]

When I travel around the country, I always wear my LU shirt and cap. Everywhere I go , people speak highly of LU. I have never heard anyone say anything about Jerry Jr or politics. It's all about being a great Christian university. As it should be.

[flameshaw]

I am trying to care one way or the other, just can't get there. Some see anything that Jr. or The Trumpster do and automatically hate it/them. Others are exactly the opposite. Both of those extremes are wrong.

[ballcoach15]

If Liberals would just shut up, Trump will go down in history as the greatest president ever.

[FlamesHighontheTide]

I think if Nasser can get some good faith liberal appearances at Convo, it would go a long way. Bernie was great, but that was years ago.

I'd also love to see Jr criticize Trump on some issues and language. Hold him to a higher standard. I'd like to see the board do this with Jr too.

I'm tough on my daughter because I love her and know what she is capable of. We should be tough on our leaders especially those in our own party.

Why should we cave into the pressure of getting a better image nationally by inviting more liberal speakers to Convo? Why not invite more solid Biblical preachers instead. Which is better from an eternal perspective? I am not trying to sound 'holier than thou' or mean in any way. I have a big problem with convo these days. For the record, I whole-heartedly agree with your statement on Jr. should be willing to be critical of Trump in certain areas.

I do think it is possible to separate the two in theory. However, you are going to have those who never will simply because of their worldview. This is where we as a Christian University should give grace to those who spit venom at us because it's going to happen more with the rise of the university in athletics, academics and obviously political party choice.

And let's be honest, we are giving way too much commentary on a large minority of people who comment on McGee's articles or others.

[ballcoach15]

Invite "Big Name" speakers to Convo.

(that's only time I go, when a big name is speaking)

Most of speakers recently, I have never heard of.

[thepostman]

Convo is for the students. So you aren't exactly the target audience.

[FlamesHighontheTide]

Agreed, I am not the target audience. But what do these students more of? The perfect Word of God or entertainment and flashiness. If they have to be there then the powers that be need to give them what they need the most.

[Class of 20Something]

I think if Nasser can get some good faith liberal appearances at Convo, it would go a long way. Bernie was great, but that was years ago.

I'd also love to see Jr criticize Trump on some issues and language. Hold him to a higher standard. I'd like to see the board do this with Jr too.

I'm tough on my daughter because I love her and know what she is capable of. We should be tough on our leaders especially those in our own party.

Why should we cave into the pressure of getting a better image nationally by inviting more liberal speakers to Convo? Why not invite more solid Biblical preachers instead. Which is better from an eternal perspective? I am not trying to sound 'holier than thou' or mean in any way. I have a big problem with convo these days. For the record, I whole-heartedly agree with your statement on Jr. should be willing to be critical of Trump in certain areas.

I do think it is possible to separate the two in theory. However, you are going to have those who never will simply because of their worldview. This is where we as a Christian University should give grace to those who spit venom at us because it's going to happen more with the rise of the university in athletics, academics and obviously political party choice.

And let's be honest, we are giving way too much commentary on a large minority of people who comment on McGee's articles or others.

Why not both. Training students to think independently should be a major goal. It's not about caving to liberals. It's about disolving the bubble and exposing these young adults to opposing viewpoints. Of course biblical scholars should be welcomed, but demonstrating for the world what discourse and respect looks like is important too. How many non-believers can get to see what Christianity is about because their favorite secular speaker actually came to Convo? It's as much about the students as it is about the kingdom.

[Purple Haize]

Agreed, I am not the target audience. But what do these students more of? The perfect Word of God or entertainment and flashiness. If they have to be there then the powers that be need to give them what they need the most.

Having speakers in that will challenge the students as to what they believe and why is tremendously beneficial Having speakers who represent those opposing views are a tremendous way to do that

[Jonathan Carone]

Also - convo is not chapel. Campus church is to for the biblical teaching.

[bigsmooth]

In coverage? Yes, it's possible to separate the school's politics from its athletics. In public opinion, not quite as simple. I watch a lot of sports out at a few bars in Richmond, and I was particularly interested in the LU-Miss State NCAA tournament game. Basically everyone I talked to said they couldn't stand Liberty because of Jr. and what he stands for. So that's a battle that will always be there. Unfortunate for the athletes, who really have nothing to do with it.

+1. the haters of LU will always reference Jr. as the why. that will never go away and it was made worse with his love of Trump.

[LUAlum1215]

Forgive me if this has been said- I haven’t kept up with the forum much this week.

The best way I could answer the question is that it is possible to separate the politics from athletics but the media chooses not to. For example, when you watch the games on TV you don’t hear about politics. And I’m not just referring to LFSN; I don’t recall hearing anything that wasn’t about the team, program, or McKay during the MBBalll NCAA run last season. If it wasn’t possible to separate the two, we’d hear more politics during the games. Writers/media personalities choose to include the politics in the stories for click bait or to push their agenda. There are some exceptions when the politics matter, for example McGee mentioning Jrs connections when talking about Freeze’s back issues. If not for those connections the story factually happens different. But why do outlets feel the need to bring up anything political when talking about our athletic program? They don’t, they just choose to for the attention.

[LU 57]

Forgive me if this has been said- I haven’t kept up with the forum much this week.

The best way I could answer the question is that it is possible to separate the politics from athletics but the media chooses not to. For example, when you watch the games on TV you don’t hear about politics. And I’m not just referring to LFSN; I don’t recall hearing anything that wasn’t about the team, program, or McKay during the MBBalll NCAA run last season. If it wasn’t possible to separate the two, we’d hear more politics during the games. Writers/media personalities choose to include the politics in the stories for click bait or to push their agenda. There are some exceptions when the politics matter, for example McGee mentioning Jrs connections when talking about Freeze’s back issues. If not for those connections the story factually happens different. But why do outlets feel the need to bring up anything political when talking about our athletic program? They don’t, they just choose to for the attention.

Except for the UCLA game. Bill Walton had quite the diatribe. Personally, I could care less what he says, but it irritates me that the PAC-12 network let him get away with it.

[LUAlum1215]

Forgive me if this has been said- I haven’t kept up with the forum much this week.

The best way I could answer the question is that it is possible to separate the politics from athletics but the media chooses not to. For example, when you watch the games on TV you don’t hear about politics. And I’m not just referring to LFSN; I don’t recall hearing anything that wasn’t about the team, program, or McKay during the MBBalll NCAA run last season. If it wasn’t possible to separate the two, we’d hear more politics during the games. Writers/media personalities choose to include the politics in the stories for click bait or to push their agenda. There are some exceptions when the politics matter, for example McGee mentioning Jrs connections when talking about Freeze’s back issues. If not for those connections the story factually happens different. But why do outlets feel the need to bring up anything political when talking about our athletic program? They don’t, they just choose to for the attention.

Except for the UCLA game. Bill Walton had quite the diatribe. Personally, I could care less what he says, but it irritates me that the PAC-12 network let him get away with it.

That's true, BW did bring it up. But if that's the only example (I can't think of any others but I didn't think of that one either, so...) then the point still applies.

[01LUGrad]

Politics are divisive. When an individual steps into politics, they become divisive. When a university enters into the political arena the same will result.
Throw in Jr's kooky undying support of Trump, and people are going to always link the school with Trump. (I was wearing a Liberty shirt in public and someone yelled "GO TRUMP!!" from across the parking lot.)
Don't believe me? Look at the dismal attendance last week. Our president has chosen his personal political beliefs and ambitions over those of the university. Liberty's mission should be "Training Champions for Christ." Period. If we lose fans for THAT reason, I'm fine with it. Losing people over the guy in the White House (whoever it may be at the time) is asinine. He'll be gone in time and we'll be left picking up the pieces.

[thepostman]

I agree that it is asinine but it what Liberty has done since the 80s. I thought it would be different with Jr but clearly that is not the case.

It is what it is. I still love the school but that part of it will always run people the wrong way and will probably limit our growth.

With that said, commentators on game day shouldn’t feel that they are doing something morally wrong just because they talk about Liberty’s sport teams from time to time. It doesn’t equate an endorsement.

[GoLU_13_21]

Does anyone here know anything about the whole poolboy thing? Is there any truth to it and what exactly that was about? Probably been brought up somewhere else but I just see alot of LU hater's bring up a "poolboy"

[thepostman]

Nobody except for Jerry’s inner circle really know. It just all seems shady from the outside looking in.

[Purple Haize]

Does anyone here know anything about the whole poolboy thing? Is there any truth to it and what exactly that was about? Probably been brought up somewhere else but I just see alot of LU hater's bring up a "poolboy"

There was an entire discussion about it in another thread in The Lynchburg Life section

[alabama24]

Look at the dismal attendance last week.

At the Syracuse game?