Coach Carter by Jasmine Jones

In the article, Class and Cleats: Community College Student Athletes and Academic Success, Horton first examines the statistics of evidence showing college athletes and their underachievement. There are many instances of concern about college athletes and their poor grades having an affect of their athletic responsibilities, though this belief is usually denied due to a student always being a student before anything else. This study researches the idea of the way that college students and college athletes view success. Many college athletes tend to state that success is passing all courses and being more successful in their sport, rather than academics coming first (Horton, 2009).

When people generally think about college, the first thoughts that come to mind are: academics and athletics. There is the gaining a degree side of college, as well as, the game day side of college. In Roger Pielke Jr.’s editorial “Why Not a College Degree in Sports”, he attempts to introduce the need for the merging of these two sides of college. He does this by introducing the idea of making sports a major. With the help of multiple scholars, Pielke explains the need and availability of such investment. The money-making aspect of the profession should be taught in the classroom to the upcoming athletic classes, and professors giving insight to the students on the abuse of athletics can help these athletes further succeed in their sport. The

No one can deny the social segregation between nerds and athletes. We see it in the media and reality. Most turn a blind eye to this social occurrence, some put an emphasis towards it. A passionate writer by the name of Leonid Fridman wrote a passage titled, “America Needs Its Nerds,” which expands upon our nation’s social treatment of scholars. Fridman emphasizes the need of individuals who place their focus on learning to help advance our country versus one focusing on less important aspects such as athletics. Fridman uses dramatic tone and ethos to convey to his readers how “geeks and nerds” are undermined instead of admired in our society.

In “The Case Against High School Sports,” Amanda Ripley, a journalist for The Atlantic, states that America is spending more money on high school sports rather than on academic purposes. “High School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics, “ written by Daniel Bowen, a postdoctoral scholar at Rice University, and Colin Hitt, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas, discusses the benefits that come out of sports programs to improve the classroom and the school’s social capital. Co-founder of a sports recruiting social network, Kai Sato’s article “The Case For High School Sports,” focuses on how school does not just involve scoring well on a math test but to educate us to be productive in what lies ahead. Ripley’s article discusses how

Intercollegiate athletics have been a part of the college experience dating back to 1852, when Harvard and Yale competed against each other in their first annual regatta race. Initially, the entry of collegiate sports onto America’s college campuses was the result of professors’ realization that a complete college experience required more than accomplishments in letters (Lewis, 1970). Furthermore, Shulman & Bowen (2011) assert

Its no secret that college sports brings in the big bucks, and without the athletes preforming day in or day out universities would lack the funds to support a school needs. The college sports industry makes 11 billion in annual revenues (Mitchell, Horace, U.S. News Digital Weekly). 11 billion dollars made off of college sports alone is enough its self to pay these student-athletes for their contribution to a school’s success because without them there wouldn’t be this much income. They need these athletes and the NCAA should quit exploiting them for their talents and compensate them. Student-athletes are amateurs who choose to participate in intercollegiate athletics (Mitchell, Horace, U.S. News Digital Weekly). Indeed, they are amateur but in sports the word professional has a different meaning since in all sports there is a 1-2-year stint before an athlete can go from the college level to a professional standpoint. Meaning it only takes a year or two

Every time you step onto the stage the movement you show reveals you as the dancer but also the dance that was created. A ballet isn’t as simple as an arabesque or balancé de côté that are put together to provide a show. Each ballerina on the stage brings their own personal approach to how they dance, it’s a little more psychological than one may think. As said by Likolani Brown “you have to work hard but also not lose track of who you are and you have to remember why you do it. You do it because you love it and you have something individual to give to the art.” For a dancer it’s not just the determination but the personality in dancing that fully brings one to the art. In ballet or any form of dance there are two elements which are inward and outward. Inward being the choreography or creativity of an artist tied together with the outward putting pressure on that artist to create a product. This product of art has to keep the ballet world spinning even though so little is understood about the ballet. So, how can we as ballerinas can we really communicate the inward with each other or with the audience when the pressure of the outward lies so heavily? A ballerina will speak no words but will be heard because the movements that we make is our own form of communication. Movements, choreography, terminology are all things a ballerina would use to really say something, to explore and discover more about each other. For dancers this form is so unique and special to us because we

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is charged with the regulation of athletes, and all athletic programs in affiliated universities and colleges across the United States. The N.C.A.A. is the association charged with developing and implementing policies regarding athletics in colleges and universities. With such a role, the association is mandated to specify the minimum academic requirements for a student to participate in any sporting activity. The association claims that it aims at creating a balance between sport and education. The heart of the association 's mission is student-athlete success in classroom and on the field. N.C.A.A. comes up with policies that provide a student-athlete with the opportunity to learn through sporting activities. This is a noble endeavor, but some institutions as presented in the article by Sarah Lyall (1) have misused it. In the article, one can see that the University of North Carolina denied some of its student-athletes the learning opportunity envisioned by the N.C.A.A. Sarah Lyall (1). By offering the students free grades, U.N.C. was doing the students a great disservice, which only served the interests of the university.

Whether an institution in the social order whose primary purpose is the development of the intellectual life can at the same time serve an agency to promote business, industry, journalism, and organized athletics on an extensive commercial basis? Can it (the university) concentrate its attention on securing teams that win, without impairing the sincerity and vigor of its intellectual purpose? (Johnson)

They view participation in sport as an aspect that goes along with one’s studies. This mindset is symbolic of collegiate authorities from the late 19th century who strongly worked towards maintaining the academic integrity of the institution that they were a part of. One of the things that makes this topic so special is the fact that millions of dollars are made every second off of collegiate competitions and days continue to pass where a solution is not found to make this fair for everyone.

The argument of sports in our high schools will not go away, as kids go to high school and experience the American obsession with high school sports. High schools are supposed to be a place of learning, so we must ask ourselves what are they really? As posed by Ripley, “If sports were not central to the mission of American high schools, then what would be?” (1). I feel that the focus of our high schools should be academics, not how good you are at a sport, because we come to high school for learning and

Because of the immense amount of hours devoted to their sport, college athletes find it extremely difficult to make time for their studies. While having the title, student-athlete, education should be the first priority for these young men and women. However, as of now, athletics seems to be their biggest priority and their studies little to none. This is where the principle of Amateurism comes in. Amateurism is what distinguishes these young men and women as student-athletes, not professionals. Amateurism helps keep academics the main priority, and sports second. Additionally, Amateurism does not allow for any employee relations or benefits such as professional contracts, salary, prize money, benefits, or other affiliations with professional teams (“Amateurism”). Since they aren’t getting paid as employees for all of their hard work, why put in so many hours? College athletes clearly lack the necessary time to devote to their education

From the start of his article, Berry appeals to logos by using a quote from George Bernard Shaw, famous Irish playwright and critic, indicating “Progress is impossible without change” (552). Throughout the rest of the introduction, he gave the reader advantages and disadvantages on the current standing the NCAA has on the compensation of student-athletes. The argument he makes for both sides is sincere, and with every claim given there is a logical reason proceeding it. For example, he explains the current model “compromises the quality and scope” of student-athlete education by correlating it to the clustering of majors, where large quantity of athletes ascribe to the same major (Berry 555). The terminology in the introduction is simple and does not pertain to an audience only focused in law. The author then follows the intro with his first main point of defining amateurism. He defines amateurism figuratively at first as “for the love the game” before using historical context to explain amateurism in England during the nineteenth century (Berry 557, 558). The author illustrates during the next couple of pages the evolution of the official NCAA definition of amateurism from the early twentieth century to the mid-twentieth century. For an article in the field of law, not much jargon

On Saturday November 4th, I visited Maine South High School to observe the athletic training room facility. I had emailed the Head Athletic Trainer, Jerry Bornhoff prior to my attendance to make sure I was allowed to shadow him for the day. A Maine South football game was scheduled for the afternoon, and the facility was packed with football players. Throughout the time I was there, I made sure I noted the whole process of an athlete from when they first arrived and when they left the training room facility.

One of the biggest complaints about interscholastic sports is the belief that sports take focus away from academics. Amanda Ripley, journalist and author, elaborates on this very issue. She provides many examples of the ways that sports play a negative role in American schools, and how she believes that they are the reason to blame for the shortcomings of American students: “Sports are embedded in American schools in a way