The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(04-09-2017 09:30 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  No worries. I've come to expect nothing less from our collegiate institutions. On a lighter note, we held a surprise signing day ceremony for Chris. While he worked most of the day, we rounded up friends and family to celebrate Chris and his commitment to the WMU! #LetsRide

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

(04-09-2017 09:24 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 01:30 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 09:48 AM)Stampede your face!! Wrote:  

(04-08-2017 09:58 PM)GullLake Wrote:  

(04-07-2017 12:03 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  Thanks for the welcome. I "believe" he wants to major in Criminal Justice with a minor in Criminal Psychology.

As much as I love WMU, please note that if your son has a moderate/conservative world and political view, it will not mesh well with WMU's Sociology/Criminal Justice faculty.

While good people, they are ideological absolutists. That's fine, however, they are notorious for grading down students who have differing political opinions. That is inexcusable and irresponsible. Diversity of thought is not a value in their department, unfortunately.

One of my finest professors 40 years ago was openly Marxist. Had a framed pic of Marx in his office. He did not demand his students share his opinion, but he made sure they were able to stand-up and defend their opinions with plausible, well-thought, arguments. There was outrageous, respectful and fun point-counter-point in his class. I loved it and learned so much from him.

You won't find that in WMU's Sociology/Criminal Justice program. Agree, or be graded down.

There are a lot of assumptions here. I don't know you, so I don't know if you are involved with the Sociology/Criminal Justice program currently, but you mention you had a professor 40 years ago. Why would you be suggesting to a new student that the department is the same as when you were in college so long ago?

And I know this isn't news to you, but college campuses tend to be liberal in general, unless they are a religiously founded institution. I mean, the University of Michigan is full of students who enter the campus with conservative ideals, yet UM is one of the more liberal colleges around. You may disagree, but I think most colleges provoke thought, not promote ideology. It seems to work for Michigan.

Also, isn't possible that maybe you just hadn't earned a better grade? I'm sure you're an intelligent person. You have to be to go to Western. :) But if I got a lesser grade, I knew that I had earned it. I didn't blame a teacher or department for their opposing political views.

But this is the environment we are in now...it's always the other side of the aisle's fault.

You have to be willing to fight for your beliefs. For example, the WMU Herald newspaper has ALWAYS been biased to the political Left. Even 40 years ago when I was on campus. I follow them on Facebook and have been arguing with them that, in a state where 50% of the folks voted for Trump, their one-sided Opinion and Articles are not fair. We argued back and forth for weeks and then-you're going to love this-the Managing Editor contacted the WMU Young Republicans and invited them to write conservative Opinions in the Herald to counter-balance the Leftist bias of their journalists!

All it took was a little persistence on my part, as well as respect for the general talent of some of their journalists, to get them to move in the direction of Fairness. Now Herald readers will get both sides of the debate and make up their minds themselves.

Don't be afraid to go against the grain, I've been doing it all my life and still do it today-at 62 years old. You never stop fighting for your beliefs, NEVER. Just like Chris Riddle never stopped fighting to come back from his injury. That's why I'm glad to see this young man come to WMU-he has something to bring to the program.

I can't believe this thread was turned into politics. I guess you guys aren't getting enough politics in EVERY other place in the world right now. Keep it out of Bronco sports.

Some of you need to re-read Mr. Riddle's and my posts.

This has nothing to do with politics, and has absolutely nothing to do with me, personally.

WMU has many outstanding fields of study with strong, unbiased faculty. Unfortunately, Sociology/Criminal Justice is not one of them. Sounds like Chris is not 100 percent sure about studying criminal justice at WMU. If that is the case, than, yes, he should be aware of the blatant ideological grading bias currently within that department...grading bias that DID NOT exist 40 years ago when I was at WMU.

For all I know, that bias may benefit Chris. If so, fine. But either way, he should go in with eyes wide open and make sure to be aware of other academic options.

Chris' experiences in the classroom will likely be far more important to him in later life than games in Waldo.

I wish him the best years of his life in Kalamazoo!

(04-09-2017 09:30 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  No worries. I've come to expect nothing less from our collegiate institutions. On a lighter note, we held a surprise signing day ceremony for Chris. While he worked most of the day, we rounded up friends and family to celebrate Chris and his commitment to the WMU! #LetsRide

God bless you and your family!

May Chris' dreams come true in Kalamazoo!

Go Broncos!

From the photos, it looks like the Riddle family already has a handle on how special WMU is. Pretty sweet.

(04-10-2017 09:39 AM)Hiller4Hyz09 Wrote:  From the photos, it looks like the Riddle family already has a handle on how special WMU is. Pretty sweet.

Dang!

Some good look'n big bass on the wall.

Someone knows how to fish, baby!

Love the perseverance. Excited to see what the future holds.

Great pictures. That's a special day.

I love this kid and his family. Great to see a young man and his family embrace WMU.

We already know how special Western is, and we have taken advantage of all that Western has to offer while avoiding most of the distractions.

Look forward to watching and reading about Mr. Riddle's maturity throughout the years.

Go Broncos!!!

(04-10-2017 09:37 AM)GullLake Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 09:30 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  No worries. I've come to expect nothing less from our collegiate institutions. On a lighter note, we held a surprise signing day ceremony for Chris. While he worked most of the day, we rounded up friends and family to celebrate Chris and his commitment to the WMU! #LetsRide

God bless you and your family!

May Chris' dreams come true in Kalamazoo!

Go Broncos!

Fantastic stuff, Riddle family!

(04-09-2017 09:24 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 01:30 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  

(04-09-2017 09:48 AM)Stampede your face!! Wrote:  

(04-08-2017 09:58 PM)GullLake Wrote:  

(04-07-2017 12:03 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  Thanks for the welcome. I "believe" he wants to major in Criminal Justice with a minor in Criminal Psychology.

As much as I love WMU, please note that if your son has a moderate/conservative world and political view, it will not mesh well with WMU's Sociology/Criminal Justice faculty.

While good people, they are ideological absolutists. That's fine, however, they are notorious for grading down students who have differing political opinions. That is inexcusable and irresponsible. Diversity of thought is not a value in their department, unfortunately.

One of my finest professors 40 years ago was openly Marxist. Had a framed pic of Marx in his office. He did not demand his students share his opinion, but he made sure they were able to stand-up and defend their opinions with plausible, well-thought, arguments. There was outrageous, respectful and fun point-counter-point in his class. I loved it and learned so much from him.

You won't find that in WMU's Sociology/Criminal Justice program. Agree, or be graded down.

There are a lot of assumptions here. I don't know you, so I don't know if you are involved with the Sociology/Criminal Justice program currently, but you mention you had a professor 40 years ago. Why would you be suggesting to a new student that the department is the same as when you were in college so long ago?

And I know this isn't news to you, but college campuses tend to be liberal in general, unless they are a religiously founded institution. I mean, the University of Michigan is full of students who enter the campus with conservative ideals, yet UM is one of the more liberal colleges around. You may disagree, but I think most colleges provoke thought, not promote ideology. It seems to work for Michigan.

Also, isn't possible that maybe you just hadn't earned a better grade? I'm sure you're an intelligent person. You have to be to go to Western. :) But if I got a lesser grade, I knew that I had earned it. I didn't blame a teacher or department for their opposing political views.

But this is the environment we are in now...it's always the other side of the aisle's fault.

You have to be willing to fight for your beliefs. For example, the WMU Herald newspaper has ALWAYS been biased to the political Left. Even 40 years ago when I was on campus. I follow them on Facebook and have been arguing with them that, in a state where 50% of the folks voted for Trump, their one-sided Opinion and Articles are not fair. We argued back and forth for weeks and then-you're going to love this-the Managing Editor contacted the WMU Young Republicans and invited them to write conservative Opinions in the Herald to counter-balance the Leftist bias of their journalists!

All it took was a little persistence on my part, as well as respect for the general talent of some of their journalists, to get them to move in the direction of Fairness. Now Herald readers will get both sides of the debate and make up their minds themselves.

Don't be afraid to go against the grain, I've been doing it all my life and still do it today-at 62 years old. You never stop fighting for your beliefs, NEVER. Just like Chris Riddle never stopped fighting to come back from his injury. That's why I'm glad to see this young man come to WMU-he has something to bring to the program.

I can't believe this thread was turned into politics. I guess you guys aren't getting enough politics in EVERY other place in the world right now. Keep it out of Bronco sports.

No kidding. I'm sorry I asked.

Welcome to WMU! It's great to see how an amazing young man and his amazing family quickly embrace this university.

The Lester Years (Series 2) are going to be so cool.

Thanks for the advice. We got to KZoo a couple days ago and the Bell is on point!

(04-06-2017 02:48 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  

(04-06-2017 02:07 PM)BroncoMinor Wrote:  

(04-06-2017 01:54 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  Hey Bronco Nation! I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Jon Riddle (yup, Chris is my son). After Chris committed to WMU earlier this week, I started doing some one-off research and ran across this site. First, I know Chris is amp'ed to report in June and to move on to the next chapter of his life. For anyone interested, below is some info to fill-in most of the blanks noted above;

1) Chris is currently 19 and will be till the end of the summer. Unlike many recruits these days, Chris was actually 17 when he graduated high school.

2) Regarding early recruitment, Chris had quite a bit of interest from various schools. Going into his junior year the most significant interest was from programs such as Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, UCF and North Texas. He had additional interest from Georgia and LSU - although he wasn't their tier 1 target.

3) One week before his junior year a scout DE thought he would get overzealous during walk-throughs and horse-collared Chris on a designed roll-out. While he was cutting back in 3/4 speed, the effect was a splinter fracture of his right fibula, resulting in 3 plates and 8 screws to fix. Needless to say this was a season ending injury. Almost all recruitment interest dropped at that point as most programs try and lock their QB recruits in the junior year.

4) Between financial hardship early on for the family in Chris' underclassman years and then my job moving me, Chris endured multiple high school moves. This undoubtedly impacted his recruitment as well.

5) Chris felt that since he sat out the all too critical junior year, he wanted one more opportunity to highlight and refine his skills and opted for one year of prep school. Hind sight, I would have been much more selective with the institution Chris ended up joining. I'll just say that the majority of prep schools just are not worth the investment.

edit: Although his 247 profile hasn't been updated in a while, it does link his senior highlight reel, if you're interested.

http://247sports.com/Player/Chris-Riddle-16496

Anyhow, I wanted to fill in the gaps for you guys as I know these programs are only as strong as their supporters. Now I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching some Bronco football.

Cheers,
Jon

Thanks for all the great info on your son. I wish him the best. You guys will love Kalamazoo & game days @ Waldo. It's a great day to be a Bronco.

(04-06-2017 02:36 PM)Bronc33 Wrote:  

(04-06-2017 02:18 PM)Hiller4Hyz09 Wrote:  

(04-06-2017 01:54 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  Hey Bronco Nation! I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Jon Riddle (yup, Chris is my son). After Chris committed to WMU earlier this week, I started doing some one-off research and ran across this site. First, I know Chris is amp'ed to report in June and to move on to the next chapter of his life. For anyone interested, below is some info to fill-in most of the blanks noted above;

1) Chris is currently 19 and will be till the end of the summer. Unlike many recruits these days, Chris was actually 17 when he graduated high school.

2) Regarding early recruitment, Chris had quite a bit of interest from various schools. Going into his junior year the most significant interest was from programs such as Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, UCF and North Texas. He had additional interest from Georgia and LSU - although he wasn't their tier 1 target.

3) One week before his junior year a scout DE thought he would get overzealous during walk-throughs and horse-collared Chris on a designed roll-out. While he was cutting back in 3/4 speed, the effect was a splinter fracture of his right fibula, resulting in 3 plates and 8 screws to fix. Needless to say this was a season ending injury. Almost all recruitment interest dropped at that point as most programs try and lock their QB recruits in the junior year.

4) Between financial hardship early on for the family in Chris' underclassman years and then my job moving me, Chris endured multiple high school moves. This undoubtedly impacted his recruitment as well.

5) Chris felt that since he sat out the all too critical junior year, he wanted one more opportunity to highlight and refine his skills and opted for one year of prep school. Hind sight, I would have been much more selective with the institution Chris ended up joining. I'll just say that the majority of prep schools just are not worth the investment.

edit: Although his 247 profile hasn't been updated in a while, it does link his senior highlight reel, if you're interested.

http://247sports.com/Player/Chris-Riddle-16496

Anyhow, I wanted to fill in the gaps for you guys as I know these programs are only as strong as their supporters. Now I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching some Bronco football.

Cheers,
Jon

Wow, welcome Jon! You and your family will love WMU. Did Coach Lester talk to you much about his own personal recruitment as a HS QB? He had a leg injury too and schools like Florida backed off. Could be the basis of a great bond with that shared experience.

Stay away from this one Hiller, we all know your track record with player's parents.... lol

(04-06-2017 02:42 PM)GullLake Wrote:  

(04-06-2017 01:54 PM)RiddleMeThis Wrote:  Hey Bronco Nation! I'd like to introduce myself, I'm Jon Riddle (yup, Chris is my son). After Chris committed to WMU earlier this week, I started doing some one-off research and ran across this site. First, I know Chris is amp'ed to report in June and to move on to the next chapter of his life. For anyone interested, below is some info to fill-in most of the blanks noted above;

1) Chris is currently 19 and will be till the end of the summer. Unlike many recruits these days, Chris was actually 17 when he graduated high school.

2) Regarding early recruitment, Chris had quite a bit of interest from various schools. Going into his junior year the most significant interest was from programs such as Maryland, North Carolina, Florida, UCF and North Texas. He had additional interest from Georgia and LSU - although he wasn't their tier 1 target.

3) One week before his junior year a scout DE thought he would get overzealous during walk-throughs and horse-collared Chris on a designed roll-out. While he was cutting back in 3/4 speed, the effect was a splinter fracture of his right fibula, resulting in 3 plates and 8 screws to fix. Needless to say this was a season ending injury. Almost all recruitment interest dropped at that point as most programs try and lock their QB recruits in the junior year.

4) Between financial hardship early on for the family in Chris' underclassman years and then my job moving me, Chris endured multiple high school moves. This undoubtedly impacted his recruitment as well.

5) Chris felt that since he sat out the all too critical junior year, he wanted one more opportunity to highlight and refine his skills and opted for one year of prep school. Hind sight, I would have been much more selective with the institution Chris ended up joining. I'll just say that the majority of prep schools just are not worth the investment.

edit: Although his 247 profile hasn't been updated in a while, it does link his senior highlight reel, if you're interested.

http://247sports.com/Player/Chris-Riddle-16496

Anyhow, I wanted to fill in the gaps for you guys as I know these programs are only as strong as their supporters. Now I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching some Bronco football.

Cheers,
Jon

Jon -

Thanks for posting!

I wish Chris the best at WMU. Welcome to the Bronco family and welcome to the home of Bell's Beer.

May your travels to and from Kalamazoo be safe and may the next four years be the finest in your son's life!

Blessings,

...and thank you for my next beer recommendation! Rest assured, I will be the new guy at the tailgate with a cooler full of Bell's!

Welcome Jon, and welcome Chris. Happy to have you both in the Bronco Family.