Scoreboards vs Blackboards: The Myth of the Student-Athlete

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In his essay, "The Myth of the ‘Student-Athlete", Gary Gutting argues that schools turn out more athletes than intellectuals, and that the word “intellectual” has become a swear word. I believe that this statement is very true and relevant to how mass media and education is shifting today. Take a look at how the school system is setup today, schools give out more financial aid and scholarships to students that are athletically gifted than intellectually gifted. Isn’t that backwards, shouldn't you be awarded more based on your intellect and work ethic more than whether if you can dribble a basketball or not? If this is the case then colleges are validating Gutting’s argument, that athletics is more important that academics. There are, of course, many cases of athletes who are primarily students, particularly in minor sports, but what about Division I football and men’s basketball, the big-time programs with revenues in the tens of millions of dollars that are a major source of their schools’ national reputation? Are the members of these teams typically students first?

According to the N.C.A.A.’s own survey in 2011, it showed by a huge percentile that the members of these sport teams do not identify themselves as students first. For example, football and men’s basketball players identify themselves more strongly as athletes than as students, gave more weight in choosing their college to athletics than to academics, and spend more time on athletics than on their studies.

Football and men’s basketball players are admitted and given full scholarships almost entirely because of their athletic abilities. Academic criteria for their admission are far below those for other students. Their average SAT score are about 200 points lower...

... middle of paper ...

...and statistics, Gutting wasn’t far off with his statement that, “schools turn out more athletes than intellectuals”. If this continues, then the unemployment rate will continue to rise and also the amount of uneducated citizens in the United States.

Works Cited

Gutting, Gary. "The Myth of the ‘Student-Athlete", Gary Gutting

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/the-myth-of-the-student-athlete/?_r=0

Weissmann, Jordan. "53% of Recent College Grads Are Jobless or Underemployed—How?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 23 Apr. 2012. Web. 12

NCAA. "NCAA Publications." N.p., 12 Oct. 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. .

Thamel, Pete. "Athletes Get New College Pitch: Check Out Our Tutoring Center." The New York Times. The New York Times, 03 Nov. 2006. Web. 12 Mar. 2014.

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