The "Shock" and "Scandal"

[ExiledInIllinois]

I've always suspected that the vast majority of athletes who make it into professional sports are actually somewhat intelligent. I'm not saying that they graduated from college, or could graduate from college, but they have to be smart enough to perform with a variety of coaches and systems, they have to understand instructions, they have to go places with little supervision, and in general they have to have a little common sense. Not all pros demonstrate these characteristics, but a majority of them do.

What scares me is the kids who THINK they are good enough to go pro, and they really aren't good enough due to either mental or physical shortcomings that are not severe enough to prevent them from excelling in high school or college, but they just don't have what it takes to go pro. Those kids will soon become unemployed and bad things await.

My son was a good football player in high school and he played a little in college. He realized that he could not get a worthwhile college degree in a reasonable number of years while also playing football. He also tore his ACL and had to have surgery. He ended up graduating with a nursing degree, passed his RN exam, and is now making a decent living at a local hospital. He has friends who stayed with football and basketball in small schools and graduated with pretty worthless degrees. One is working for the town as a laborer (he had family connections) and the other is working at a grocery store and hopes to someday become a butcher. These were not the lives that these boys envisioned when they went off to college, but with luck they will turn out ok and be able to be self sufficient in a few years.

 

I see your point, but what is wrong w/being a laborer or butcher? Those are honorable professions. Some people just wouldn't want to be nurse. Yeah, it might pay better, but it is no more or less honorable. I guess it is our culture that puts professions like nursing on a pedestal... I can see the logic if thats what floats your boat, but wouldn't be my cup of tea. My mother-in-law is a retired RN. Now, I have family that married into Mexican culture that was middle class society there. Father was an educator in Mexico. They absolutely frowned up their daughter, when coming to the US, from going into nursing like my mother-in-law suggested. They would have her take a job @ Walmart or McDonald's first! Strange how different cultures view occupations. I take that nursing is considered lowly in Mexico? Yet, I can understand... Me personally, I wouldn't like anything in the medical profession, no matter how much it paid or prestige it had.

 

Just throwing this veiwepoint out. A butcher and laborer aren't bad occupations, just like a nurse... If that is what you like (or even fall into). What I am trying to say is that society pigeon holes what is prestigous or not. Too me, all three occupations are honorable and noble. They all can be daily grinds. Again, me personally, i couldn't stand working in a hospital environment. I would take digging ditches or being a operating engineer , butcher first!

[boyst]

what's a" note it" and how do they sound

nitwit autocorrect. They sound high pitched and girly...come to think of it, ever heard Beerball speak?

[CodeMonkey]

Was just looking through the OSU standardized reading and math scores for their football program that they gave to CNN... one individual even scored a grade equivalency of <1st. Less than 1st grade level competency. How can that person be a student at a university?

He is a student whose major is football, that's how. But he could not possibly qualify as a student in the general sense at even a high school, much less a university.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Just amazed that the recent "news" that a good percentage of college athletes cannot read or write at a college level is actually "news". I thought everyone knew this.

 

Frankly, having attended youth combines, USA Youth Football and NUC events for aspiring high school athletes you run into your fair share of der-t-der kids that you would expect would only have options in JUCO, but plenty of universities will stand in line just to get that rare athletic ability - educational acumen be damned.

 

It is not just the Southern kids coming out of the states that rank low on standardized tests, there is plenty of dumb to go around and at least most of the Southern kids say "sir" and "mam" especially those from military families. I hear that so rarely these days from young adults that it takes you by surprise at first - a pleasant surprise.

 

But the dark side to letting poor students slide because of their athletic ability is that it simply has to involve some level of deception and falsification of grades or tests. That creates a subculture that deception and cheating is not only permissible - it is the norm. And there are plenty of parents and coaches who feel it is their duty to protect this environment that lets those students slide. It is an environment and support structure that is inherently unhealthy.

 

If it was only about helping kids afford college when they could not otherwise do so, that would be understandable to a degree. However, when it is more about bypassing and cheating the system to fast-track kids with exceptional athletic ability one has to ask, what happens when most of these kids wash out, as most will, or when they get injured, what is their "plan-B"?

 

Now it seems, the lady who "exposed" the elephant in the room is receiving death threats. The system is clearly broken and there is so much money on the line for the NCAA and Universities that it will likely just be hidden a lot better rather than addressed, and there are plenty of folks that would make those kinds of threats to protect the status quo.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2....html?hpt=hp_t3

 

My friend's daughter is attending a Div I school on a volleyball scholarship. She is a smart young lady and is making the best of her full ride - double engineering major with a 3.9 GPA. But obtaining a good education whilst playing Div I sport is a huge logistical challenge possible only because she came into the school with a top-notch high school education and organization skills, and I'm sure the "Big Money" sports like football require even larger time commitments of their athletes that make getting a good education even more challenging.

 

For college athletic programs to pretend to be providing educational opportunities for their athletes, whilst admitting kids whose educational background is severely lacking, is a farce. Some kids get an education, and more power to them, but the odds are stacked against them.

 

Baseball's "Farm System" is more honest. The majors all maintain a farm system, pay the players, and collect admission.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

That part holds true for athletes and non-athletes alike. A BS is equivalent to a HS diploma nowadays.

 

Depends upon which BS - that some BS are BS can not be debated.

 

There are a number of interesting points. Of major importance is the sacrifice of trade or "vocational" education to the idea everyone should go to college. In reality, to be a successful plumber, electrician, HVAC technician, composites technician, mechanic, furniture maker etc requires fundamental facility with arithmetic and the ability to read and write competently and think logically.

 

The idea is that "electronic diagnostics" and computer programs will take the place of the ability to read wiring diagrams and think, which is why people with broken dishwashers get charged hundreds of dollars to replace a heating element in a dishwasher where the real problem is in the control board and furniture companies have trouble staying in business due to waste/people who can't measure accurately or set up machinery correctly.

[Alaska Darin]

The whole college industry is a rotten scam

This.