"Student Athletes" -- a contridiction of terms?

[DeltAlum]

We just debated whether Nebraska (et al) should pay it's football players. Given the in full swing "March Madness" and the number of "scandals" that seem to be coming down all at once, I thought this was an interesting outlook:

College 'Student-Athletes' Don't Need to Be Lectured

By NORMAN CHAD
AOL Exclusive

In the madness that is March, the shattered minds of sports fans are mired in their usual insanity in regard to America's treasured "student-athletes."

At Villanova, the issue is unauthorized phone calls.

At Georgia, the issue is a teensy-weensy bit of academic fraud.

At Fresno State, the issue is a whole lot of academic fraud.

At St. Bonaventure, the issue is one piece of academic fraud in the guise of a welding certificate.

Ah, but before we look at each of these cases, we must remember that, in big-time college athletics, there are no student-athletes, just athletes who pretend to be students.

Repeat:

There are no student-athletes in Division I basketball.

(The only exceptions to this, I believe, might've been Bill Bradley and Grant Hill.)

We love to perpetuate the notion that Joe Quarterback is dissecting frogs in biology class on Friday and dissecting defenses against Penn State on Saturday. When, in fact, "student-athletes" in the two revenue-producing sports, football and basketball, are simply brought onto campus to, well, produce revenue.

We need to accept that college football and basketball players have nothing to do with college other than wearing the school's colors with the intention of filling up stadiums and arenas. Heck, schools should follow this model in other areas of entertainment. Instead of a gymnasium, a university might open a comedy club, recruit Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy and Billy Crystal out of high school, call them "student-comedians" and charge a $15 cover to watch them perform at the Nittany Lion Improv on campus.

(Incidentally, you could do away with mandatory drug testing for comedians -- every comic I've ever met has been on drugs since, like, eighth grade. Why waste time and money finding out what we already know?)

Now, some people argue passionately that "student-athletes" ought to be paid, a point of view I somewhat understand. Others say that "student-athletes" already are compensated suitably with scholarships that provide their free education, a point of view I don't quite understand.

What education?

"Student-athletes" DON'T GO TO CLASS.

"Student-athletes" DON'T TAKE EXAMS.

"Student-athletes" DON'T WRITE TERM PAPERS.

In fact, at the institution of higher learning where I matriculated, "student-athletes" didn't even have to calculate 15 percent of a bar bill for tipping purposes, since they often got their drinks for free if they promised not to brawl.

(At the University of Maryland, my favorite local bar had Happy Hour all day. The 11AM to 3PM Happy Hour was for jocks, who then went straight to practice. The 3PM to 7PM Happy Hour was for the rest of us, who drank whatever beer was left over.)

OK, then, let's take a look at a various brouhahas percolating across the nation.

At Villanova, 12 players were suspended for allegedly obtaining an athletic department employee's secret telephone access number and using the code to run up long-distance telephone charges. The players will be suspended three to eight games, depending on the dollar value of the phone calls -- i.e., you call your aunt in Poughkeepsie, you miss a week; you call an escort service in the Philippines, you miss a month.

(What's so disappointing here is that "student-athletes," like most student-nonathletes, watch a lot of TV, and if you're watching a lot of TV you can't miss Carrot Top hawking 1-800-CALL-ATT or D.L. Hughley pushing 1-800-COLLECT. I mean, don't kids today absorb anything?)

At Georgia, assistant coach Jim Harrick Jr. has been fired. Former player Tony Cole accused Harrick Jr. -- son of head coach Jim Harrick -- of paying off hotel and phone bills, alleged Harrick Jr. did work for correspondence courses the player took before entering Georgia and claimed he received an 'A' for a physical education class taught by Harrick Jr. that he never attended.

(In Harrick Jr.'s defense, the class in question was listed in the course catalog as "Earning a High Grade Without Ever Attending Class 101.")

At Fresno State, university president John Welty declared this year's Bulldog team ineligible for any postseason tournament bid after allegations of bogus grades and term papers written for three players by a team statistician during the 1999-2000 season under then-coach Jerry Tarkanian.

(Welty has an interesting sense of justice. He was the one who hired Tarkanian -- the Jerry Springer of college coaches -- and, yet, he decides to punish this season's players and coaches, none of whom was involved in the alleged fraud.)

At St. Bonaventure, the team refused to play its final two regular-season games after the Atlantic 10 stripped the Bonnies of six conference victories and banned them from the league tournament for using an ineligible junior-college transfer who, rather than having an associate's degree, had only earned a certificate in welding.

(Little-known fact: President George W. Bush got into Yale based on a letter of recommendation from his father and a welding certificate.)

So, good people, is there a lesson to be learned from these woeful tales of student-athletedom?

Make your own phone calls, pay your own bills, take your own tests and don't dribble a basketball while holding a welding certificate.

(By the way, if you could earn a scholarship by being a "student-drinker," my whole family could've gotten a free ride to some JUCO!)

[RACooper]

Well... to give you perspective Canadian universities don't give out sports scholarship so the athletes are treated just like any other student, except that they may get some consideration if the have to be out of the city on the day a test/exam/paper is due. Usually here at UofT that means that they have the joy of writting the test/exam before they leave (less study time); or they can hand their paper in a day or two later.

I have had two brothers (family) play for the school's hockey team.... it's surreal to see the number guys studying or using laptops to do assignments while on the bus.

One way of noting the difference in attitude is the term used to discribe what you call "student athletes".... most Canadian universities call them Athletic Scholars (at least on the books).

[Betarulz!]

This may be the case at some places...but as much as people would like to not believe (particularly those purple pussy cats in Kansas) at Nebraska the student athletes do go to class.

How do I know? Well, simply because I have class with them. The starting shooting guard for the men's basketball team is in my small group in my sociology class. I'm practically in charge of helping him get the material. He's not the only one who has been in my classes. The football teams starting kicker was in my chemistry classes last year, the starting weakside linebacker was in my sociology class last semester...and all of them were always present for tests, and probably had better class attendance than I did.

Do the athletes get perks?Of course, they can get people to take notes for them, they can get tutors paid for by the Athletic Department, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a better test file system than all the fraternities and sororities on campus put together. Do I feel this is fair? Maybe not, but I realize that sports were the way that most of these people were able to get to go to college. This is not true of all student athletes (one of my pledge brothers was on the Tennis team last year) but in my experience I've found that the athletes need the help. I got into school by getting a 34 on my ACT, they got into school by being able to score 34 on the basketball court. I don't need the same type of help they need, but the help they're getting is allowing them to get a college education that they might have never had the chance to get otherwise, and isn't that the point?

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by Betarulz!
I don't need the same type of help they need, but the help they're getting is allowing them to get a college education that they might have never had the chance to get otherwise, and isn't that the point?

I suppose...

Unless, of course, you take into consideration the ones who are just hanging around because the NFL doesn't have a high school draft. Gotta have some time to build up that resume, you know.

Or maybe the ones who just hang around long enough to build that reputation and drop out and join the draft early.

Your own comment has strengthened my my feeling about the situation(s). Isn't your 34 on the ACT a much better reason for being in college than scoring a triple-double? Isn't college supposed to be about learning and academics? Or is college about the big business of sports?

Which one should it be?

Why should they admit people who don't meet the entrance requirements you and I had to meet? Why should they get tutors free when others don't?

I was an adjunct faculty member at Colorado for several years and had a few athletes in my class. Some were good students, some were awful. I didn't seem to have any "average" ones.

I have to say in all honesty, though, that for the most part I haven't been at all impressed with most of the college and professional athletes I've met.

And I've met hundreds of them.

[Kevin]

Perhaps a different perspective... If your goal is to get into the NFL and they won't draft you out of high school your choices are limited. You can either play Arena Football and PRAY that you get to go NFL someday or you can go to NCAA football. You might not go to school looking to get a diploma but you might end up getting millions of $ because you went to college. You'll end up a better person (at least in your line of work) and you'll recieve a top-notch education (in your chosen career field).

If you can make six, seven or 8 figures immediately after or within a few years of graduating college because they taught you to play a sport I say that's just as legitimate as receiving an academic education.

[DeltAlum]

Snake,

Understand your perspective -- and for some professional athletes, at least the ones who probably could have gotten into college on their own, I might even agree.

The real question in my mind reverts to those who would not be eligible for college if not for their physical prowess. How many of them REALLY are educated in anything besides athletics?

A few, I suppose, but for the most part, I think this is a travesty.

And, food for thought, does that person having the same degree you have dilute your hard fought accomplishments?

[XOMichelle]

Um... Where did this article come from?

I know a lot of student-athletes, I live with 6 of them. I go to a division one school where they love sports. They all go to class (just as much as your normal student!), and they all take exams, and they all write papers. Sometimes they take exams at different times, and sometimes they get extensions. Most of the time though, they turn in the papers early. And when my friend who is on a varsity sport needed a chemistry lab and a biology lab to graduate, he skipped practice to do them.

[KillarneyRose]

I don't think you can generalize on this. It all depends on the individual athlete. I knew several money-sport athletes who faithfully attended classes and I knew several who rarely showed up.

My very first class of my freshman year found me sitting in a Political Science class when (huuuuuuge Pitt football player who ended up starting for an NFL team) came in and sat down behind me. While I was trying to listen to the professor explain his grading system ("...attendance is mandatory, ladies and gentlemen"), I felt a *twang* on my back and realized that he was snapping my bra strap! I remember sitting there mortified thinking, (huuuuuuge Pitt football player who ended up starting for an NFL team) is snapping my bra strap! Do I get up and move? Do I turn around and slug him? Do I sit in the back row next class? Do I get his autograph?

Turns out I didn't have to worry about any of that since I never again saw him in class except for the midterm and the final.

[Munchkin03]

Originally posted by DeltAlum

The real question in my mind reverts to those who would not be eligible for college if not for their physical prowess. How many of them REALLY are educated in anything besides athletics?

A few, I suppose, but for the most part, I think this is a travesty.

And, food for thought, does that person having the same degree you have dilute your hard fought accomplishments?

That might be true for most Division 1 schools that can give mega scholarships and where most of their money comes from their athletic programs. Your statements overlook eight schools country--the Ivy League--that were organized in an athletic conference to assure that this sort of stuff didn't happen (on a widescale level). Surely, these schools are not accepting people who are grossly underprepared to attend, and every year, they graduate recruited athletes who came to those schools to LEARN--not to play football.

And no, less-qualified students don't dilute my hard-earned accomplishments. In 2 months, I will get a diploma I worked DAMNED hard for. Someone else will get the same diploma as a result of squeaking by, but I will be a much better job prospect. If the presence of less-qualified students dilutes the hard earned accomplishments of their classmates, the Yale Class of 1967 is in a world of hurt.

So, you see, it's not that simplistic across the board.

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by XOMichelle
Um... Where did this article come from?

As I recall (I found it while surfing and can't seem to find it again), the author writes for ESPN.

Do me a favor and read my last post again. I agree that SOME athletes are in college for good reason and do come out with a bonified education.

However, my disagreement is with those (mostly Division One) schools for whom athletics are (again, this is my opinion) so important that academic standards are disregarded and athletes are given benefits (and problems overlooked) that would not accrue to "normal" students.

[navane]

I think it all depends on the university and the individual students.

Cal State Long Beach has been recognized for the basketball, baseball and volleyball teams. (They dumped the winning football program in the early 90s). Other teams like soccer and golf are highly regarded as well.

It always bothered me that the student athletes got extra special treatment. They get excused from class, they get special tutoring, they get nearly exclusive use of the exercise facilities etc.

This was especially bothersome to me since I participated in the extremely arduous and challenging "club sport" of crew/rowing which isn't exceedingly well-funded by the university. We had crazy work-outs every morning from 6am-8am and *still* had to dash off for class at 8am. We never got the extra special privledges. The same went for when I was on the university archery team.

It's as if they only cared about the "money sports" or the ones which would bring them TV coverage or national recognition. Never mind that my archery team went to the national championships and that most of us were state medalists and regional champions. Sour grapes? Yeah, a little bit.

HOWEVER, as the years went by, I didn't feel as bad about the "special" student athletes. My freshman year, there was one woman in one of my classes who was on the high-achieving women's golf team. It seemed like she was always missing class and always had a note from the athletics department which excused her from everything.

Though, in later years, I had classes with two girls on the women's basketball team, one on the NCAA women's volleyball championship team, and also had a roommate on the more recent women's golf team. All of these ladies did the same amount of work as the others. As a matter of fact, they hardly ever drew attention to themselves as being more important than anyone else. They were gracious and studied hard.

It's all a matter of getting the balance right. The university asks a lot of these athletes; it's ok to offer them exclusive tutoring. Though, I draw the line at covering up for them by altering grades so they can play and nonsense like that.

.....Kelly

[Peaches-n-Cream]

The fact of the matter is that for some athletes, college is merely a way to showcase their talents before going professional. The college gets a good athlete for a few years and the opportunity to publicize and profit financially from this person. Is there something wrong with that? It seems to be a mutually beneficial situation.

The bottom line is money. The student-athlete who drops out to go pro will earn more money in a few years than most college graduates earn in a decade or in a lifetime in some cases. The college knows that the athletic program is a great source of revenue. If they produce a pro athlete, the college will profit from it from donations and from an increased number and quality of applicants.

When I was in college, it was a Division 3 school, so I never encountered this first hand. Anecdotally, my cousin demonstrated athletic talent before she was even in high school. When she was in seventh or eighth grade, colleges began to contact her. By the time she was applying to college, she had her choice among dozens of schools, not only because she is an athlete, but she's a great student. She continued her education at a Division One school where she ran track. The track team had an excellent record during her four years. She had an excellent record as a student, graduated with a Phi Beta Kappa key, and currently attends an Ivy League graduate school. Her athletic experience was one facet of her college experience. Sports didn't define her. I think that that is the difference. Running helped her get into and pay for college. Running was a means to an end for her, the end was a college education and degree. I know that there are many student athletes just like her who value education and use their talent to earn a degree.

edited to add: Cheating, as described in the article Deltalum posted, is wrong and crosses the line.

[CC1GC]

Originally posted by DeltAlum


However, my disagreement is with those (mostly Division One) schools for whom athletics are (again, this is my opinion) so important that academic standards are disregarded and athletes are given benefits (and problems overlooked) that would not accrue to "normal" students.

But this goes all the way down to the fabric of our society. Somewhere along the way we decided that it's more important to throw a football than achieving scientific growth or performing a task to build our communities. And it's not likely to change until the average person becomes so disillusioned with professional sports that they decide otherwise.

[Steeltrap]

Originally posted by CC1GC
But this goes all the way down to the fabric of our society. Somewhere along the way we decided that it's more important to throw a football than achieving scientific growth or performing a task to build our communities. And it's not likely to change until the average person becomes so disillusioned with professional sports that they decide otherwise.

Thank you for the concise explanation. The reason why athletes are regarded highly, and I'm just as guilty as anyone, is because the society does so. The society just doesn't value, for instance, teachers, as highly.

I don't see this changing at all. Professional sports is too much of an amusing diversion.

[mu_agd]

I think a lot of this depends on the University. I was friends with many athletes when I was at Miami University. One of my good friends, who I always had classes, was a football player with an MIS/Accounting double major, which is not the most easy thing to double major in! He always went to class, always did the work, and either turned it in on time or turned it in early if he was going to miss class for an away game. I had a ton of friends that walked-on to different athletic teams, so they were there initially for the education. A few of my close friends were on the synchro-skating team and often had to go to Europe for weeks at a time. Now they had to miss class, but they always received work in advance from their professors to take with them on their trips. Now these students did get some perks: tutors, a brand new work-out facility, among other things. What I think pissed everyone else off the most was that they got to schedule their classes a day earlier than everyone else to coordinate it around their class schedule

In regards to thier missing classes, I don't think they missed any more than I did, and I was just not going because I didn't feel like it. They were missing class for a legitimate excuse, one that publicized Miami very well (usually, aside from the Marshall incident earlier this year, which I still think we were robbed of that win!). Not many people heard of Miami University outside of the Midwest. I know in Boston, people always assumed I would be in Florida. But during my freshman year the men's basketball time made it to the Sweet 16 and the amount of people applying broke records. Miami was starting to get known nationally, which would also help bring money into the school. So I don't think it's all that horrible of a thing if they get some special attention for being an athlete.

Allright, I think it's time for me to shut up now....