What happened to the “student” in “student athletes?” There was been a lot going on in college sports, especially football. As the season is coming to an end, you here a lot about how athletes are getting ready for the upcoming bowl games and the mental preparation and practice that will happen in the time in between. What you don’t hear about is all the finials they will have to be doing at the same time. When did we forget about the school their playing for is actually a school.
I was reading an article in the LA times in late September and when the RB for USC Stafon Johnson dropped the weight bar on his throat and had to go to the hospital. The paper s and the news media all where talking about how this could potentially end his career in football, but didn’t give a second thought to how this would affect his schooling. He ended up missing a whole month that must have really affected his grades. But we live a society where we put athletes above other based on how they play or how their team does, not on the charities they help out with or in the case of college athletes how well they do in school.
B.Ott
kin 332I.S2
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/09/usc-stafon-johnson-weightlifting-accident.html
3 comments:
This brings up some important components that we have discussed in class. In our society it is no secret that many division 1 athletes get so called "passes" in college. They recieve priority registration to ensure that they are put in the "easiest" classes with little to no homework along with ensuring that most of their classes are filled with other athletes. Although some colleges have an "academic probation" policy that applies to all students, it seems that it does not apply to athletes which further deconstructs the idea of a "student-athlete". I think Kerrie brought up a good point in class discussions on this topic when she mentioned the idea that this has further consquences after college. After they are done being a college athlete sports no longer are going to be something that they are can make a career of (Less than 1% of division 1 athletes go pro) So what happens when people are no longer buying there books, or creating study guides for them? How will these athletes behave once the preferential treatment is over and they return to the "student" world?
- C. Carr
KIN 332 sec 3
I think that this issue is one that is easily overlooked in the media today. People have often complained that student athletes shouldn’t receive any special treatment in college because after all, they are students like everyone else. Many athletes at the Division-1 colligate level, transfer from community colleges because their grades out of high school are far below the average required for admittance. Once at the division-1 level, grades still have yet to be enforced in the student athlete lives. Student athletes must attend mandatory tutorial/study time at all colleges for a certain amount of hours a week. Many athletes as reports show, simply show up to study hall and leave when finished, studying very little and waiting for the next day to get back on the field. In Shaun Powell’s Souled Out he makes a statement about African American athletes that can be summed up for all athletes. “Athletes are using college as the starting line when they should be using it as the finish line.” With this unfortunate emphasis on sports and not on school, athletes will continue to fall short with pro-careers offering a slim chance for success.
Matt Tsurumoto Kin 332I Sec3
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