My Understanding Of Sport Sociology

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 ).

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

In his article “The Shame of College Sports,” Taylor Branch (2011) describes how universities are focused on advancing and receiving money from major athletics and having star athletes, but how the universities are not caring for the “student athlete.” The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has made college sports into an unmerited business. However, as years progress more athletes are getting smart and are taking the NCAA to court. The more students that challenges the rules by the NCAA and take them to court, the secrets and undermining values of the NCAA come out and the closer the NCAA comes to an end.

I believe that college sports should be considered a profession. Athletes deserve to be paid for their work. College athletics are a critical part of America’s culture and economy. At the present time, student-athletes are considered amateurs. College is a stepping-stone to

Harker said, “On some campuses the pursuit of athletic dominance has eroded the ideal of the student athlete.” The Delaware coach explains how those student athletes already face problems being students before athletes and he believes that if athletes were to be paid it would distract the students even more. In sum, Harker is stating that athletes do not have to sacrifice their free education to reach their full potential as college athletes. College is a time where young adults learn the values of responsibility and realize that education will have a more positive impact on their future than sports.

Collegiate athletics is a multibillion dollar business. Competition across basketball, football, and other popular sports generate just as much money as they do excitement and entertainment to sports fans and the casual viewer. The driving force behind this behemoth are the athletes that don the uniform of the competing universities. These athletes, the most of which are black, dedicated time synonymous to working a full time job on top of being student in order to serve this money machine. What is so damning about this system then? The truth is that the student-athletes do not see a penny of the millions they earn for their schools. On top of that, they are stretched beyond reasonable means in order to serve their athletic program. In return, they are compensated with scholarships to attend the college. However, what might seem like a coveted opportunity is not what it seems.

Waking up before the sunrise is a daily routine. Early morning film sessions, class, then practice, which dominates the day. There are few moments in between for food and socializing, but the life of a student athlete is anything but ordinary. Sleep, eat, practice and school are all an athlete knows, and with the pressures of campus life it becomes even more difficult. No time for much of anything, let alone getting a job. Like most students, these athletes need money, but do not have a spare moment to work. Without any source of income, athletes are put at a major disadvantage. Their full-time job is athletics, in addition to rigorous college-level courses. The possibility of becoming a professional athlete and making millions

This is backed up by the fact that many athletes themselves deny that they were or are “exploited” in college (40). More importantly, college athletes receive an expensive education which, for scholarship players, is free. They also get perks, including preferential treatment from some professors who may tell athletes “just show up in class and you’ll get a ‘C’ grade.”

In order to justify the compensation of college athletes we must look at the current programs in place. Right now college athletes are spoon-fed an education, giving them a distinct advantage over other students. Universities provide them with free private tutors and review sessions to help further compensate for their time on

There are these ongoing stereotypes that student athletes are “dumb,” “lazy,” and “privileged.” It’s understandable that people believe these stereotypes, news magazines and reports are always talking about how athletes are “coddled” and “cheat” their way to success. Though it is nowhere near true for the majority of student athletes, a select few situations encourage this negative categorization of us, thus putting student athletes under even more pressure to perform. Student athletes are constantly misjudged and the assumptions are affecting us.

Now why is Exploitation of College athletes such a huge thing in my opinion? Well here is why. Most of the college kids that play basketball or football are just focused on playing the sport they play. They aren’t focused on the kind of grades they get or anything just playing the sport they love to play and trying to reach the highest level of that sport. Now I know you are wondering how do they get away with getting bad grades in college so I will explain. College athletes that play football or basketball are a huge part of their institution that they attend. Because of them they the school receives millions of dollars. That is extra money that is going into everyone’s pockets in that works at the school, but none to the players. Since the college

The article “Football Major, Basketball Minor?” by Ben Strauss (2015) asserts that whether athletes in college engaged and focused on general classes more or typically focused only on practicing sports. Ben mentioned that many athletes are spending more time on the practicing sports, and there are vast majorities of athletes in college are majoring in sports instead of learning general knowledges. However, he introduces two arguments from two professors separately, David Pargman and William D. Coplin. They all provided a beneficial ideas for the situation that commonly existed in college. Athletes majoring in sports may learn the knowledge which is about professional sports training skills and they can easily use these skills for future games

Zirin goes into depth about how sport writers get pampered with expensive gifts from corporate sponsors and how the NCAA is making money off of uncompensated young athletes. While Ajmani goes into detail about how students are not getting fair treatment, "College students are pawns in a huge chess game" (Ajmani 209); students don't benefit from the games, as they are the ones getting played. Student athletes put themselves at risk just for the love of the game; if they get hurt on the field or court, they don’t have worker's comp for injuries, according to Dave Meggyesy. Both authors believe there is corruption in the NCAA system but focus on different

The blogs states, "To successfully manage today's increasingly sophisticated amateur and professional athletics programs, you need a broad-based academic perspective and a range of practical experiences. Our program provides both: a rich, interdisciplinary examination of the social, ethical, economic, legal, political, and business principles that affect sports organizations, and hands-on fieldwork and internships, so you can apply those principles. This degree will prepare you well for either graduate study in sport management, business management, law, or a career in sport management. Your coursework emphasizes ethics, business, and sport management electives that address various facets of the sport industry; you'll also follow a core curriculum in management taught through the School of Business. Many of your class projects will have a unique real-world component, such as developing policy recommendations for the National Basketball Association or Major League Baseball and writing strategic marketing plans for sports organizations and events.

When searching for this research study, I used the database SportDiscus through the University of North Florida’s Library access. I used the terms, ‘Athletes’ and ‘Major selection’ when searching for this study. I selected this study because it discusses why/how athletes choose their major when they are in college, in addition to the authors asked the athletes if they felt there were “athlete-friendly” majors at their universities. This study is worthy to analyze, because it shows the athletes point-of-view of the academic reform and how they come to decisions about