An Education Is More Important

Collegiate sports have turned into a billion dollar industry and are probably just as popular, if not more popular than professional sports. College athletes put their bodies on the line to play a sport they love, many with hopes and dreams to one day make it to the professional leagues. Athletic facilities are the major money makers for all universities. Colleges bring in billions of dollars in revenue annually, yet athletes do not get paid. Some fans believe athletes should not get paid due to their sports level being “amateurish.”; however, this is far from the truth. There is much more to being a college athlete than just practicing and playing games. These student-athletes must practice, weight lift, go to meetings, travel, go to tutoring and study groups, all the while maintaining sufficient grades. This is very tedious work and is very time consuming. College athletes have a high standard to live up to (Frederick Web; Huma Web; Patterson Web ).

Professional baseball players have a season with 162 games before post season. Baseball players aren't the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest. A baseball player can be any size and that is what makes the game so special. Anyone can be a baseball player if they put in the work to do so. However, baseball is not a sport one can just start playing and expect to be exceptional at. Baseball requires players to be in tremendous

Schooling is very important to NBA athletes for numerous reasons. A degree could save an athlete from becoming bankrupt if he cannot become successful in the NBA. It would give that athlete the skills and knowledge to work another job. Another reason why an education could be important to any professional athlete is the knowledge to manage and spend their money correctly once they earn their big paychecks. The capricious management of money occurs far too often in professional basketball players. Former NBA all-star Shaquille O’Neal recalls spending “1 million in 30 minutes”, according to espn.go.com. O’Neal also agrees that college athletes should stay for at least three years in college, and that an education is the most important thing to

Secondly, there is a major difference between professional sports and college sports. “Students are not professional athletes who are paid salaries and incentives for a career in sports. They are students receiving access to a college education through their participation in sports...student athletes are amateurs who choose to participate in intercollegiate athletics as part of their educational experience, thus maintaining a distinction between student athletes who participate in the collegiate model and professional athletes who are also students” (Mitchell). The collegiate athletes’ incentive is the access to an outstanding education. College athletes playing a college sport is not a career or a profession. “The NCAA plays a critical role in the maintenance of a revered tradition of amateurism in college sports”(Ross). This quote is laudable because

The NBA “one-and-done” rule was first implemented in the summer of 2006. This new rule concerns the eligibility for recent high school graduates to forego their eligibility to play college basketball and enter straight into the NBA draft. The informed high school basketball players that they had to be at least one year removed from high school and had to be at least 19 years of age in order to partake in the NBA draft. Currently, the league does not require players to play NCAA basketball as you can be drafted after playing a season overseas. However, for many high school graduates attending college has becomes their only option in pursing the dream to one-day play in the NBA.

The NBA is a billion dollar business and known as one of the largest and most prestigious organization within American sports today. It is also home to one of the most controversial rules in all of sports, which is known as "the one and done rule." The one and done rule restricts high school basketball players from entering the NBA draft out of high school and going to straight to the NBA. According to Article X, Section 1 of the NBA's 2005 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the policy for player eligibility states:

As of July 18, 2014, Albert Breer on nfl.com, noted that for players who do make an NFL roster, an average playing career lasts 4.74 years, and that only 1.6 percent of college football players make it to the pros. Therefore I have conducted my interview, survey, and observation based on active roster members of Gannon’s football team, and Gannon athletic staff.

Ever since Kevin Garnett, a teenager who by-passed college, was drafted as the fifth overall pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, more and more high school teenagers have been making the jump straight to the pros. Since the league draft of 1995, 17 first round picks have been high school players. This means that about 7 percent of first round draft picks in the NBA have been high school teens skipping out on their college education to make the jump to the NBA (Chylinski).

College-athletes have to be skilled in their area and also book smart. After all they aren’t paying that much just to leave without a degree. According to a NCAA survey, Division I baseball players said they spent 40 hours on their sport, 32 on academics. In men's basketball, it was 36.8 hours on their sport vs. 33.9 hours on academics. (Wieberg)

All the expenses that they have to acquire overwhelm many students that attend college. When this occurs, they tend to dropout, or struggle with taking on college courses and working. What is so amazing is that high school athletes think that is they attend college for a year or two, they can go on and make a career on a professional level. They do not understand that if they do go professional, it will not always last. They will eventually have to go to college anyway. So, why not go ahead, get a good education, and have a successful career.

Major baseball teams would hire high school players than college players. This made high school players costly. Oaklands A's strategy is to hire College players to save on resources. They argued that college players have already gained substantial exposure and competition.

For prospects that are forced into the minor leagues for development, the road to the majors has proven a grueling process and the majority of players never make it to the major leagues. Extremely low salaries and bonuses in the minor leagues has become an ongoing, controversial topic between MLB commissioner Bud Selig and minor league players 17. A fast food worker makes between $15,000 and $18,000 a year, which is two or three times as large as minor league players’ average salary, so minor league players are forced to have multiple jobs throughout the year 18. The majority of minor league players lie below the federal poverty level and while MLB salaries are rapidly increasing, minor leagues salaries remain constant. The MLB receives exemptions

The first reason why the one-and-done rule should be eliminated is because players who leave after one year of college do not have a secure future without a college degree. A college degree is a very important part of having a successful career, and although an NBA player already has a job, the average NBA career only lasts only 4.8 years (“Athlete”). Due to the fact that an NBA career is usually short, it is important to finish college and have a degree in case a player’s career is unexpectedly ended because of injury. An example of a player who left college after one year was Greg Oden. Oden attended Ohio State University for one year before declaring for the 2007 NBA draft. Oden was selected with the first overall pick, but his career has not turned out like many expected it to due to injury. His career is now at the lowest point it has ever been, and he is now at risk of his career being over without having earned a degree (Wallace).

Colleges also don’t offer baseball players the same opportunities as other athletes. This is centered around the lack of scholarship money given by most colleges to baseball players. According to Tyler Kepner “Division I college baseball programs offer only 11.7 scholarships, divided among many more players. For many young athletes from low-income families, choosing baseball over other sports makes little sense.” (Kepner) Those 11.7 scholarships don’t go by year either, they go by team and most Division I baseball teams have more than 11 pitchers on their roster alone. Not only is this a disadvantage to baseball players everywhere, it hits African American families especially hard since many can’t afford to pay for Division I college tuition.

Education is a weapon, whose effect depends on who holds it in his hands and at whom it is aimed. Values in life are what people live for everyday. Having values gives them passion, motivation, and happiness in the things they do. Everyday America wakes up looking forward towards something that they love to do. A student at Fort Dodge Senior High values education and freedom. Education to her is a huge value in life, she loves attending school. When she is asked why she values education she will say, “ Education is the most important thing in life. Without education we would not be able to help others and teach them what is right and what is wrong.” Education is a value she will always have. The young girl realizes that many do not have the choice of education and she wants that to change. Because of education, she is very smart, mature, and hard working. Education has motivated her to become a teacher when her near future hits. Teachers are idols to her as for many other teens, idols are singers, actors, or athletes.