The Travesty of College Athletics

[SteverinoNY!]

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebaske...his-first-book

The link says it all...UCONN Star and national championship game MVP Kemba Walker (who recently declared for the NBA draft) announced to the world that he read his first book from cover to cover and will be able to walk across the stage with his fellow classmates with his sociology degree despite not finishing his degree requirements. What farking bullshit this is. According to the article, Walker will finish his degree requirements online and will get internship credit through an NBA team (by playing obviously) and will be granted a sociology degree. This is a freaking mockery of the college education system in this country that this drooling moron can get an education without doing any of the work it seems. Of course he also is going to college for free, an advantage you or I don't have because he happens to be really freaking good at basketball. So you say he wouldn't be in college without basketball...well I call bullshit on that one. He could have still gone to college...there is nothing wrong with community college. But apparently because he can put an orange ball into a hole ten feet off the ground, universities and colleges are drooling all over him (and now NBA teams are). Its freaking frustrating as an educator to see these ridiculous people continually game the system and receive honors and accomplishments that other people have to work for.

So frigging ridiculous!

[Greenday]

To be fair, you could walk at graduation at any time you want at my school. You didn't have to be actually graduating to do it. Never made sense to me.

[SteverinoNY!]

Okay even if that is true, he's still getting the easy way out of his classes and the internship requirement just because he is a famous basketball player. I would imagine if a doctoral student in mechanical engineering came up to the admins at UCONN (just an example) and said I am in the midst of this massive research project and the US Military wants to fund the whole thing but I need to drop out of school for this to happen, but can I still take classes online and use my work for them as an internship? they would laugh at him and say go back into the lab nerd...how is it fair that this student would not get the same opportunity? Just because he happens to be good at basketball and is going pro does not mean the university needs to bend over backwards for him. You want your degree, find time to sit in the classroom and do a normal internship like every other student.

[Ginger Tea]

even though I read the article and know what book he read, I can't help but think and reinforce the jock stereotype, that his first ever book he read cover to cover (and just recently at that) began with

See Dick, see Dick run, Run Dick run.

[Racket_Man]

and people wonder WHY the graduation rates for College B-Ball is only 30% and Football is only 55%?????

God help this player if he is injured in his first season.

[Mytical]

While I agree that it's a slap in the face to those of us who have to work to pay our way through college...don't forget there are criminals who receive free education thanks to the government. Yes they actually have to study, but unlike the honest people..they get everything paid for .. without loans. Then there are the ones who's parents can afford to pay for everything..and not have little Johnny or Suzy work...so they can focus on education.

Now don't get me wrong, more power to Johnny and Suzy, and the other cases are MUCH worse..the only time Johnny and Suzy irk me is when they lament on how hard they have it .

[blas87]

This is why I never had any respect for jocks in high school, and still hate them well into adulthood, since a lot of them skooted along through college on basketball/football scholarships or their doctor/lawyer mom and dad paid their way. Most of them could barely spell their own name.

[Ladeeda]

Doesn't only happen with jocks. The valedictorian of my school had her parents go in and pressure the teachers anytime she got less than an A. Despite my having pretty much the same classmates in all the Honors and AP classes, she was conspicuously NOT in the AP Government class, since that was the one teacher who did not take bullshit, and would not have bowed under pressure to change any grade, even an F to a D.

[Sarah Valentine]

Didn't go to college, can't afford it. I did however have 4 people in my high school graduating class that COULD NOT READ! (one of them was a jock) They were handed diplomas and as well as the rest of us were told that "You can do anything, now go out into the world and make a path that's truly your own!" (lame and cheesy I know )

[AdminAssistant]

What's bad is that the schools who do these kinds of things make ALL athletic programs look bad. There have been athletes in my class, and they've never been a problem.* The profs fill out reports a few times during the semester, and periodically a coach will actually take attendance. Student athletes are excused from class to attend games and such, but they're pretty good about providing us with letters ahead of time.

*Because we require them to attend performances, we never have basketball players, and that may be a bit different.

However, at my undergrad, coaches would call professors and try to bully them into giving athletes passing grades. Ridiculous.

Why does this guy want to graduate at all? If he gets picked up by the NBA, he's pretty much set, right? Even if he gets injured, I think they still have pension or something...meh, whatever. Although, personally, I think it would be better for both the NCAA and the NBA to require students to play 4 years, if not graduate. The NBA gets players with that much more experience, and college teams aren't always scrambling to replace their best players. We've got a kid here who's leaving after playing for one year. My university went to all the trouble to recruit him, he played his year, was an integral part of our loss to VCU (*grumble*), and is now off to the NBA.

[Stormraven]

It does make the good athletic programs - and the good athletes - look bad.

When I was in Jr. High/High School, several of the top football players were also top scholars, in the highest classes. But because of these situations, those people would likely be tarred with the 'idiot jocks' brush.

[Greenday]

Reminds me of freshman year football. Coaches rounded us up and asked us who was in danger of failing two or more classes. Only me and two other kids didn't have our hands up.

[smileyeagle1021]

Why does this guy want to graduate at all? If he gets picked up by the NBA, he's pretty much set, right? Even if he gets injured, I think they still have pension or something...meh, whatever.

Don't know about pensions, but if they are smart they have insurance. You can buy insurance on anything. It is not uncommon for a surgeon to insure their hands against injury, or a professional musician their fingers, or a singer their voice, or... well you get the idea. A player can very easily go out and buy insurance against injuries that will pay him his income when he gets injured and is permanently unable to play.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

This almost certainly happens at all the major colleges and universities. Every. Single. One. It's not just UCONN.

Some schools will even have staff members write papers and take exams for the most valuable athletes (see Minnesota, University of).

There's just too much money involved. At most schools the football and/or basketball programs fund all the other sports, plus there's the tournament/bowl game ticket sales and revenue, and all the team merchandise.

[AdminAssistant]

This almost certainly happens at all the major colleges and universities. Every. Single. One. It's not just UCONN.

I can tell you with certainty that it doesn't happen at one, because I teach there and haven't experienced it. I haven't personally had any football or basketball players, but I've had friends who have, and they haven't experienced any problems either.

Rock Chalk, eh?