Jock Culture By Robert Lipsyte

In 2017 controversy struck when the NFL tried “taking a stance” and protesting the National Anthem. In this protest, many NFL players one by one knelt down while the National Anthem played at their sporting event. The National Anthem is a song for our country and symbol to represent all of the men and women who have fought in our military. This song is not played just for our entertainment, it is to honor the flag and what it stands for. The protesting was started by Colin Kaepernick, last season, when he was the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He was the first player to take a knee during the playing of the National Anthem, now many other NFL players this season are following in his path and doing the same thing. Many players and viewers claim it is for police brutality and the injustice that is being served, while other viewers see it as entitled millionaires disrespecting the flag and the military. Everyone has different opinions on the issue, but no matter what the country needs to respect one another as humans and be united; the American Flag is a symbol of our freedom and the NFL needs to recognize the National Anthem rather than kneeling and disrespecting what it stands for.

Protesting in the National Football League has been going on, as some of the country’s most beloved and highly recognized athletes are seen disrespecting the United States of America on national TV every weekend. The players’ reason for the protesting is police brutality, you can see them kneeling, raising their fist in the air, or even sit in the locker room while the national anthem is being played. Although I do understand what they are trying to do, I believe that there definitely better ways to go about their protest. The protests started in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick, quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, took a knee during the national anthem. When question about his actions he responded by saying, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of colour”(Lake). While some people sided with Kaepernick most people took offense to his decision to kneel. In him doing this it has caused a league wide outbreak in protest; as players and sometimes even whole teams take a knee or show some type of protest during our country's anthem.

The current debate over kneeling or sitting in protest during the national anthem to protest police brutality was ignited by Kaepernick in 2016, and later adopted by many other professional football players, high school athletes, and professional athletes in other sports, all who have refused to stand for the national anthem. These protests have created disagreement and sparked a public conversation race, police brutality, the flag and if the NFL is the best forum for to protest such issue. Colin Kaepernick has since said “he’s not protesting the flag but police brutality against African Americans. www.Procon.org

A prominent reason why high school sports is detrimental to academic accomplishments of students is because of how sports act as a powerful distractor to education. When a student starts to play sports in school, their mindset shifts from being focused on learning to now focusing on improving at their sport of choice. Sports are just another thing that consumes the time and attention of people. This simple fact clearly presents a problem because it means less effort can be dedicated towards academics. A perfect example of how sports teams magnify this effect of reducing academic effort is presented in the article “Why Student Athletes Continue to Fail” when it explains “Tight-knit student athletes will seek ways of fitting into a culture that they perceive as neglecting academics (by defaulting into majors of dubious merit and spending less time doing homework), knowing that their habits are observed by teammates” (Oppenheimer). Clearly, this statement demonstrates that school sports create an environment where students feel pressured to adopt a callous attitude towards academics. Since sports teams form a strong bond between the members of the team, the impact of peer pressure is emphasized because each student wants to behave like the others simply to feel connected to the group.

A big controversial topic going around in the news over the past few weeks has been Colin Kaepernick and his stand to end the hardship for people of color and police brutality in the United States. This silent stand started early this preseason when a number of different events involving people of color and police officers around the United States not getting along. However, this has started to become more publicized as more and more people in the National Football League have been joining in with Colin Kaepernick and taking a knee or sitting during the national anthem. This stand has become way more than a simple silent stand as many people around the nation are starting to voice their opinions on this subject. Even though everyone argues their thoughts on this subject.

Towards the end of his third paragraph, Fridman delivers a short statement, “Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized,” that strongly projects America’s anti-intellectual values. While “nerds” and “athletes” are two obvious, contrasting beings, the antitheses reflected with the isolation of “nerds” and the praising of athletes heavily pushes the notion that “nerds” are being thrown out of a society that only appears to incorporate anti-intellectual values and undervalues scholars. In Fridman’s eighth paragraph, he illustrates how ballplayers, or athletes, are “much more respected and better paid” than the professors of the most reputable universities. Like before, he displays the divergent individuals with conflicting facts, income and respect in this case, that oppose intellectualism and promote anything but intelligence. Fridman’s use of antithesis deepens the questioning and challenge to overcome anti-intellectualism standards in American

Author, Alexandra Robbins, in her novel The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, describes her quirk theory and establishes its credibility as she centers her theory around seven different characters as she narrates their high school experiences. Robbins focuses on the negative effects of popularity and how social norms can affect an individual, regardless of what social group they belong to. She creates an amusing, informative tone in order to appeal to the geeks, freaks, and popular crowds with relatable experiences and strong essays in regards with the social scene, exclusivity, and how one handles a given situation.

I selected the book The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth by Alexandra Robbins because I was interested to read about an adult author’s perception of a modern American high school experience. I also chose the book because the reviews mentioned that it related to a TV series I enjoyed, Freaks and Geeks. As I read through the book, I found that it centered around the theory that if a student is excluded or dismissed in high school for having different traits than what other students considered normal, those same traits that made them different will allow them to succeed in an adult life after high school. As soon as I got about a quarter of the way into the book I was not as enthusiastic as I was at first glance. I did agree that these traits could benefit someone, but they don’t define what you have the potential to be when you’re an adult. This high school cliché, despite the seven heartwarming storylines, is inaccurate in describing what the future holds for high school students because our future is unpredictable, and a book with a little statistic and seven high school experiences can’t solidify someone’s adulthood. I also noticed that there were no counterarguments present in the book, leading me to assume that Robbins may not have heavily researched both sides of her ‘quirk’ argument. Although I had differing opinions than the author, the seven characters, their storylines, and the promise of a young James Franco continued to perk my interest and

A big problem protesters like Colin Kaepernick and others are facing is that since they don’t participate in the National Anthem people think that they don’t like our country and are unpatriotic. For example Donald Trump and his aides took the situation into their own hands when calling out the protesters by saying, “protests are unpatriotic and disrespectful to the flag and those who have fought to protect the United States”(Tatum). After these comments players fire back by saying they’re exercising free speech by not participating in the National Anthem while standing with their hands over their hearts. Protesting is a

“The protests during the national anthem started last season when former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the Star-Spangled Banner. Very few players protested the national anthem in Week 10 of the NFL season after the NFL Players Association asked all players to observe a two-minute moment of silence to honor veterans before Veterans Day.” First Paragraph.

It didn’t use to be all bad like this with Jock Culture. Sports were a way of being taught leadership, teamwork, responsibility, respect, and bravery. Now, it has become a cockpit of bullying, violence, and a commitment to the “win at all costs” attitude. Which is why Robert is pushing to show the dangers of what Jock Culture actually does to people, especially at a young age. “Pukes” get out casted but grow up and become writers or such while jocks, the “in” group, grow up to be stockbrokers or the like, because of the competitive culture the jobs come with. Overall, Jock Culture is

The first comparison Fridman makes is that most countries in the world, including “all our economic rivals in East Asia,” (38) favor intellectualism over anti-intellectualism. He states that America is one of the very few countries who prefer athletes over scholarly students. By using this comparison, the readers will understand that America can not beat its rivals unless it better appreciates the academics over the jocks like most industrialized nations do. The second comparison Fridman makes is how unlike in America, many other parts of the world value university professors as one of the most renowned and respected professions. However, in America, professional athletes are much more admired and receive better pay than workers at some of the finest universities. With the aid of these comparisons, the readers will hopefully understand that America is falling behind and does not have its values lined up with other industrialized and advanced nations, and in turn change their view about the geeks and nerds of the

The affects of the jock stereotype and and how a young life and mind can be impacted by this stereotype, also what we can do to fix this. Zac Easter seemed like he had his life plan out. To everyone else he was popular, he had a loving girlfriend, good friends and a nice family so that’s why his suicide shocked the small town in Iowa. CTE is neurodegenerative disease found in people with multiple head injuries. Most commonly found in NFL or Football players.

In his essay, “America Needs It’s Nerds”, Leonid Fridman describes the erroneous hierarchy of athletics to intelligence. Fridman recognizes the poor treatment of people who do not excel in sports or would rather be reading than attending parties. He emphasizes the social outcasting of people who are considered “nerds” and how society mistreats them. Fridman develops his argument by describing the American culture and comparing it to the culture of other countries, incorporating a dictionary definition of the word “geek”, and by including rhetorical questions at the end of the essay. Fridman compares American culture to the culture in other countries to strengthen his argument about the dangerous idolizing of athletes over intellects.

Protesting is not a new concept. From the Boston Tea Party to the Women’s Suffrage Parade, protesting has been around for a long time, and from the looks of it, not leaving anytime soon. The most recent case has been not in the streets of Washington DC or the Boston Harbor, but on professional football fields across the nation. The NFL players way of protesting is kneeling during the national anthem. The NFL players protesting against the national anthem and disrespecting our country, should be punished.