Only we can do that to our pledges

The comedy classic “Animal House” has many unforgettable scenes, but one comes to mind today.

John Edwards, a St. Louis broadcaster who has been working for the GLVC Sports Network (GLVCSN) since 2014, was calling the semi-finals of the GLVC Women’s Basketball Tournament between Quincy University and Drury Saturday. Edwards was trying to make a point about how Drury, a Springfield, Mo.-based school, has several players from the Southwest Missouri area, while the Quincy team has only one player (Ashlynn Arnsman from Unity High School in Mendon) who hails from within two hours of the Gem City.

“That’s what (Drury has) lived off for many years,” Edwards said. “Quincy, well, that’s a tough sell, just because it’s Quincy and it’s in the middle of nowhere, which is north of everything around here. It’s hard to recruit there. You’re looking at trying to get kids to come there, stay around, play sports and get their education. I want to see them succeed.”

Well, there’s that and there’s also the fact that Drury has been a national power for a decade while the Hawks have struggled during that same period, although they have had success in the not-too-distant past under Larry Just and J.D. Gravina.

Also, the Springfield metro-area population is nearly a half-million people while Quincy’s population … isn’t.

Now, just reading the comments from Edwards (who is not the John Edwards who was almost president until he knocked up one of his staffers while his wife was dying of cancer) at face value, I can see his point.

Ask any coach who has worked at Quincy about the difficulty in recruiting there because of its proximity to a major metropolitan area and they admit the issues (along with the facilities, which probably are middle-of-the-pack at best in the GLVC). But, that is the same for Missouri GLVC schools Truman State in Kirksville and Missouri S&T in Rolla and Upper Iowa (which lives up to its name) in Fayette, Iowa. Even Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo. is only about 45 minutes from Springfield.

But there were a couple of factors working against him: He’s a city slicker who ain’t from here and he implied Quincy University students couldn’t be successful.

The tone he used was a bit snarky (“It’s Quincy“) as he sounded like a guy who likes his Imo’s Pizza (Hey, I’m a honk for most things St. Louis, but Imo’s is crap. There, I said it. Their salads and toasted ravs are great though). Quincyans are used to driving two hours for lots of things, but if someone in the St. Louis-metro has to be in a car for more than 30 minutes, that’s taxing.

And while maybe he was referring to on court success, it sure sounded like he was painting the school with a broad brush that students couldn’t come here and excel.

And the success thing … there is some irony that a recent St. Louis mayor, Francis Slay, is a 1977 QU-grad who played soccer for the legendary Jack MacKenzie. He had no problem finding success after spending four years at 18th and College. There are many others to name, but I don’t want to leave any out.

As far as some people saying the timing of his comments weren’t appropriate or wanting him fired, when was he supposed to make them? Why make them when Quincy isn’t playing?

I’m pretty used to talking heads spewing hot takes, so I guess I’m numb to them. And if you’re a member of the QU family, as an alum, student or coach, I understand why you might take umbrage with the comments Edwards made.

But while the observation of Quincy being an outpost is correct, the implication that you can’t have success or make an impact from being here or being from here was pretty dumb. It was typical of what most people from urban areas feel about rural areas.

Edwards offered an apology that was just about as clunky as the remarks that got him in trouble in the first place, but he did it.

I wonder if there would’ve been any outrage had the comments been broadcast by someone wearing the QU logo, although they probably would’ve been too busy waving brown and gold pom poms to make them.