Some college athletes play like adults, read like 5th-graders

This is an issue that really aggravates me- the money, resources and respect that our society gives to sports and athletes, especially considering the ones who don't at all deserve it. Why are we giving college scholarships to people who can't even read and write, when a lot of more deserving people can't afford to go to college? Then there's all the corruption and wasted money in college sports. In my opinion we should outlaw money in college sports and get rid of sports scholarships as a first step to ending corruption in our society.

Some college athletes play like adults, read like 5th-graders

www.cnn.com...

reply to post by CB328


How old is a 5th grader?.

reply to post by CB328


Well, this is one I can say I agree with every word you say on it. It's always been a sore spot with me too. Now the true millions go right down into High School level for facilities and services to support sports.

I'm feeling kinda Roman sometimes...eh?

Our culture is sick. We worship idiots, celebritards, athletes and "musicians" while openly deriding, ignoring or mocking anyone smarter than we are.

We are further down the rabbit hole than Rome at its zenith, and the only reason we are still feeling superior is because we prop our economy up with paper instead of gold.

Why don't we have a division that isn't even college bound?

I mean, it's obvious some ppl excel in some areas, and are a bit retarded in others.

Why are we compromising the ethics of the college system just to get retards with huge quads on the field?!

Because conservatives control sports, duh.

boymonkey74
reply to post by CB328

 

How old is a 5th grader?.

10 or 11 years old.

eta: In the US, it is typical for kids that show athletic promise in the 9th grade or so to be shifted into a sort of parallel educational experience I call "Jock World", where they are given falsely elevated grades in legally required classes, and assigned a curriculum for their optional classes that one can only describe as "mindless". They are not only not required to do any real work, they are discouraged from spending any time or effort on learning. So when they get out of high school and have failed to make the grade as a professional athlete, they also are illiterate and unable to do basic maths.

Then then become mechanics or make sandwiches at the local beanery.

It's a travesty. But sports are all in the US. If you make it to university level sports, they start buying you new cars and houses and the like. And you still are "given" grades with no work or education. And the classes you do take are "Theory of Basketball".

CB328
Because conservatives control sports, duh.

Well, I was with ya right up until you went partisan with it.... Oops.. Where is that flag I dropped here?

Sports and Schools don't seem to have much preference between Liberal or Conservative institutions with Ivy League schools running some of the hardest programs...right next to places like West Point and the AF Academy for the traditionally conservative side.

It's all money wasted from Government and Public sources to pure entertainment ..and hence..wrong. Right or Left? Doesn't matter one bit for that, IMO.

Wrabbit2000

CB328
Because conservatives control sports, duh.

Well, I was with ya right up until you went partisan with it.... Oops.. Where is that flag I dropped here?

Sports and Schools don't seem to have much preference between Liberal or Conservative institutions with Ivy League schools running some of the hardest programs...right next to places like West Point and the AF Academy for the traditionally conservative side.

It's all money wasted from Government and Public sources to pure entertainment ..and hence..wrong. Right or Left? Doesn't matter one bit for that, IMO.

I would absolutely agree with the partisan bit, and well, for what my opinion is worth the rest of the post. When college football or basketball coaches are the highest paid public employee in a state government, there is a problem. Without doing the research, I think there are at least 4 or 5 states that fall into this category.

I always thought it was a bit weird how the american university system puts so much emphasis on sports. In the UK you can do sports at some universities but not get credit for it. But it is a very different system, we don't have to take classes in english etc as we don't have any required general education element. I can see the advantage of some aspects of your system. For instance you in the us can take part in a play and get credit forit in a degree with nothing to do with drama.

But we still have the worship of rich sports stars, and yes they still are generally pretty stupid. But our footballers get chosen at a young age and then get educated to be footballers only with a terrible standard of education. But our footballers: you call it soccer: end up in a position where normal rules don't apply at all, even the normal laws seem to not include them.

You also have to realize that steroid abuse in rife in the US. And articulation is effected by hormonal imbalances.

eg...... approx 50% of the testosterone they inject themselves with is aromatized into Estrogen. Which is far more than Mens brain can handle. At that point they get all emotional and cant articulate their feelings ( roid rage ) Then when they bloat up and the imbalance become visable, they take an estrogen blocker and that basically suicides ALL the estrogen. Making them even less articulate and shuts down concentration.

This is a one reason why some of them can not even speak properly.

I suppose in the past education was easier as you had a clearer idea what you needed to produce. The romans were better trained than other armies of the time: but the times gave them a clarity. The roman army needed people who could fight, and give orders and also act as engineers, designers....In the past the only physical activity you needed to train people to do was to fight, march and run. In terms of mental learning there was less subjects and so I suppose languages, mathematics, science, engineering, literature was all that was needed. Also there was less of all these elements: for instance there was much less mathematics and equations than there exists now.

I mean in the modern world things aren't mainly about war for most people. People need managers, accountants, journalists, computer people, programmers.....

CB328
Because conservatives control sports, duh.

Considering that I am a conservative, and I was a collegiate level athlete who got lucky enough to get recruited and run track and field for a major division I university, I think you don't much about what you're talking about there.

For one thing, let's be honest for a second about some things when it comes to athletic talent. There actually are some body types that are better suited to some sports, and there are some ethnicities that tend to have those body types. A shorter torso will give you a higher center of gravity and lend toward making you a better runner, and African Americans tend to have that body type more than Asians and Caucasians do. That means, they will tend to run faster because they have longer body levers to work with.

I am lucky. I was born with that body plan, so was every other white kid on the team. But, we were a minority. If you look at swimmers, they tend to have both long arms and legs and long torsos. This is where Caucasions tend to win the body plan lottery. Asians are also built this way, but again they have a disadvantage in that they tend to be shorter overall and lose length that way.

Now, back to my point. Given the culture most African Americans in this country tend to come from, they are often at a serious academic disadvantage by the time they get to college even though they often have the physical ability. I know for a fact that my university spent and lot of time and effort getting its athletes caught up and educated. It took great pride in getting them educated, and many of them get their degrees and not just in soft disciplines. But then again, my alma is one you only go to if you are serious about either your sport or your grades or both. It ain't exactly a party being out in the back of beyond like it is.

However, this idea that because some places don't bother and kids get by without even trying means we should shut all kids out does a disservice to the ones who do use their talent as their only means of getting out. I knew plenty of that type, and I know I could not have afforded college without the scholarships myself.

But, hey, what would I know. I probably can't read at anything beyond a 5th grade level. Plus, I'm a conservative.

Yes, the culture is seriously messed up, and I believe it stems from an overwhelming majority of uneducated, ignorant people who support it.

For instance, I'd say a small proportion of NFL fans are actually educated and intelligent. The rest are your average beer-drinking, ignorant fools who work dead-end jobs and spend their money supporting these teams and buying $200 jerseys, instead of saving or investing. They'll do this even in a RECESSION, when money is tight. ($7.50 for a beer, $30 for parking, $70 for a ticket, etc.)

This inevitably results in athletes that cannot read, but yet make $37,000,000 signing bonuses.

It's absolutely ridiculous, but when roughly 70% of the US population doesn't even have a bachelor's degree, it's essentially what you get.

CB328
Because conservatives control sports, duh.

I was under the impression that most universities were ran by progressives. They wouldn't be hypocritical enough to let money influence their judgement. Lol sorry, couldn't keep a straight face on that one.

Universities can make a lot of money from sports programs so don't expect them to drop sports any time soon.

College athlete graduation rates are at an all time high.
More than 80% get a degree in 6 years compared to 56% of non scholarship freshmen.
Pointing out an example of one kid does not make him the standard.

thinkprogress.org...

thinkprogress.org...

reply to post by Quixotic3038


Nearly all of my friends and family are NFL fans and all of them are college educated / professional people and many have post-graduate degrees. I don't understand where you come up with your facts. I guess it is just your personal stereo-type.

reply to post by CB328


Some people just can't help falling into the trap of partisan politics. You had most of us on your side until you revealed your true motives and nature. Why not just argue ideas and not the illusion of partisan politics.

Partisan politics is much like religion. We can all be better off without them.

Ok, so I'll bang my alma's drum a little bit. This is just football, but it's likely what everyone is thinking about.

K-State saw a school record 11 football players earn first-team honors, while five others were named to the second team as the Big 12 Conference announced its 2011 Academic All-Big12. The Wildcats broke the school record of 10 first-team selections by the 2000 team, while they totaled the second-most in school history to the 17 selected in 2000.

This continues a long tradition of academic excellence at K-State, the finest land grant university in the nation. Kansas State's football and all-sports graduation rates have led the Big 12 Conference in each of the last four years.

Head Coach Bill Snyder has established a track record of encouraging academic achievement, and the effort of those student-athletes has not gone unnoticed. K-State has had 11 Academic All-America selections under Bill Snyder, plus eight CFA National Scholar-Athletes.

In 2011 DB Tysyn Hartman was named a First Team Academic All-American and was a finalist for the Campbell Trophy, also known as the "Academic Heisman".

According to Diverse magazine, K-State ranks 10th in the nation among all Division I football programs, and tops in the Big 12, in graduating African-American student-athletes.

And this year's team continues to have good student-athletes. We have Tyler Lockett, who is an All-American and an academic All-American although I can't count him as much because his dad was in the NFL after playing at K-State. Then, there is lineman Cornelius Lucas who is also first team all Big 12 and another academic standout. Neither are studying Kinesiology, either.

But, I guess they and the others don't deserve their scholarships because they play football, even though they clean up in the classroom too.