Friday, January 1, 2010
College Athletes
Nowadays our college athletes are becoming more of an athlete than ever before. Those who receive full scholarships are practically being paid to attend the universities (mainly basketball and football players) and it is becoming less and less about the academics. In basketball many top players choose their school based on the basketball or whether they can get into the school or not, such as the case with Derrick Rose and Memphis. The stars nowadays are being treated as the future NBA or NFL stars they will become, but they are not their yet. The NBA and NFL put in the age restrictions for players so they would not be hurt in the pros, but they are instead being paid for by colleges to attend for one year before they go to the pros. I love watching these athletes however you have to consider that they got into that school at the expense of another applicant. They also take lots of money out of the school and are treated as the schools number one priority students at many colleges. I realize that these athletes have worked very hard to get where they are and play at the Division I level but is it fair for others who worked just as hard if not harder in school to lose money and tons of perks in college because the athletes are being treated as if they are a higher social class. I'm not sure if the pros of treating these athletes as stars outweigh the cons, but as a society we are allowing it to happen and supporting it. What do you think? Do you think the treatment the college athletes get is fair?
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I have always been a believer that college athletes, no matter how talented, should not be treated like gods. Some argue that because the top tier recruits are good enough to go almost anywhere, schools should be honored and grateful to have them. There is some logic to this argument, these athletes will bring success and publicity to their chosen school. Alum are always more generous with donations when the sports teams are successful and fans are always more eager to buy gear. It's actually quite impressive how much a single athlete can help a school. Despite all of this, "student" still comes first in the term "student-athlete". For every all-star athlete with a full ride there are 1000 hardworking students who would kill for a scholarship. No matter how highly an athlete is sought after, a free education is still an unbelievable privilege. Pampering all-star athletes until they become ungrateful and arrogant seems to be the new trend and it needs to stop.
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