Stereotypes Of Student Athletes

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.

Neil H. Petrie writes an essay on how statistically “Athletes” in collage get special treatment. The author explains how Peter feels that, “the system uses and then discards after the final buzzer.” He mention that a, “football player that went pro’s only went to college just as a step to a six-figure contract.” Even though he felt that it was wrong to just past a player off he also seem to feel remorse. (On page 32) he mentioned that they are capable of getting the grades it’s just “the trouble is that the grinding hours practice …rob students of precious study time.” The system that is known to be stereotype is described to be a parasite. His opinion is that a student should not be showed any favoritism based upon what they are doing

In the article Athletes and Education, Neil Petrie argues, that some colleges let student athletes get little to some amount of homework or projects in classes, while other students have to

Anecdotal information found in interviews of former student-athletes reveal the effects of NCAA regulations on the academic proficiency of student-athletes. Rashad McCants, a former basketball player at the University of North Carolina, discussed the academic proficiency of students when interviewed in the 2016 documentary, “The Business of Amateurs.” In his interview with director and former collegiate athlete Bob DeMars, McCants opened up saying that students lacked the most basic academic skills, and “You got kids that are reading and doing math at a third grade level, but when it comes to these universities, these kids keep getting passed along for what they can do on the field, on the court, in the gym; when in actuality they should still be in elementary school” (DeMars).

I am a girl. I am blonde. I am a college student. I am an athlete. I am a girl, so I am only concerned with my physical appearance. I am blonde, so I am unintelligent and gullible. I am a college student, so I go out and party every weekend. I am an athlete, so I do not do well in school.

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 ).

“SLAVES OF BIG-TIME COLLEGE SPORTS” by D. Stanley Eitzen explains that college athletes are not being treated fairly and we need to change for the athletes best interest. First off, it states that players are exploited economically, making millions for their teams, but provided only with a subsistence wage of room, board, tuition, and books; they are controlled with restricted freedoms; they are subject to physical and mental abuse by coaches. Later in the text, it explains how “These rules reek with injustice. Athletes can make money for others, but not for themselves.” (Eitzen 3) This source will be used to describe and give examples of the opposing views and skewed image of these college athletes lives and privileges.

The NCAA believes “that a student-athlete is a student first and athlete second.” Student-athletes benefit more than from playing a sport that they love. The graduation rate is higher among the student athletes than the general student body. “NCAA studies show that student-athletes enjoy high levels of engagement in academics, athletics and community: have positive feeling about their overall athletics and academic experiences: attribute invaluable life skills to being a student-athlete: and are more likely to earn similar or higher wages after college than non-student athletes.”

Black student-athletes are taught to value sports over academics at a young age because it is seen as the “only way out”. Black student-athletes are heralded for their athletic prowess from middle school up, so they begin to focus less on their education and more on their sport. Unfortunately, so do the teachers. Black student-athletes are more often than not just given passes, as schools value what their athletic abilities could do for them over the academic success of the athlete. Even normal black students can be seen the same way just because of the perception that they might be an athlete. The sad truth is that the athletes that don’t make it to the professional level are left without the education needed to be successful.

The ugly truth behind the money machine that is college sports is that, every year, college athletes are deceived by the institutions the compete for into making them millions of dollars, with relatively little in return. Athletes are said to be given a chance to attend college and to attain a free college degree. However, research has shown that this is not completely true for two reasons. For one, the student athlete will spend most of their time in preparation for competition. Secondly, what education the student athlete does receive hardly serves them outside of maintaining eligibility just so

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

Literature surrounding athletic participation and its impact on the college experience is well documented (LaForge & Hodge, 2011). Many scholars purport that athletic participation enhances the academic experience, while others argue that it creates a divide between colleges’ missions and student-athletes lived campus experiences. To support this claim, Lawrence, Henedricks & Ott (2007) found in their study that nearly one-third of faculty who responded to their survey indicated that they believed that academic standards are lowered to achieve success in the sports of football and basketball. One question that is often posed by

Some jocks may also take on the role as a “class clown”, risking the thought of the other students seeing their behavior as ignorance. One action by a single athlete can ruin the whole image of what being a student athlete

As Earl Campbell has said “I Try to get them to remember that they’re not just athletes, but student athletes”. This quote is relevant because it tells how being a student is just as important as being just an athlete. Most people agree with being a student more than an athlete and having a good GPA because it makes athletes worry and work harder towards their GPA. First of all if they have to keep a certain GPA it will make the student athlete maintain their good grades to stay in sports. Secondly it will show how hard the student wants to work in the class to stay on the playing field. Lastly it is better to hold students who represent a University to high standards to prove how well they can do on and off the

Student athletes have to deal with a lot being a college athlete and representing their university. Kihl, Richardson and Campisi (2008) argues that athletes encounter multiple of corruptions that they had no part of but suffers greatly for it. Consequences that these athletes may encounter can be lost of scholarship, probation, or loss of revenue. Athletes also have to deal with their will for perfectionism which tends to set high standards for themselves which eventually burns them out (Chen, Chen, Kee, &Tsai,2008).