President Obama was on television today filling out his 2010 NCAA basketball tournament bracket. One of my friends and colleagues, Dr. Keith Harrison, recently said in my class that the tournament was kind of like a hot dog--once you know what's it in, you really don't want anything to do with it. I think most people would eat the hot dog anyway, frankly, but what concerns me is that many on the political Right-wing continue to label Obama as a Left-leaning (or lurching) liberal. Here is the deal: If Obama were a true progressive and political leftist, he might have said one of the following today:1. My fellow Americans, until the colleges and universities in the NCAA tournament raise their graduation rates, and close the gap between Black and White players, I cannot in good conscience support them being out of school for days, let alone weeks. It is a disservice to the educational process, and makes the term"student-athlete" more of a sham that it already is.
2. My fellow Americans, while many of you falsely label me a socialist, if you even understand the meaning of the term, I fully support the players-as-laborers receiving a fair cut of the massive profits that the NCAA makes on the tournament. This is clear exploitation, and the refusal to compensate the athlete-entertainers while the power structure and networks make tens of millions of dollars is a debased form of capitalism. I cannot fill out my bracket until this is rectified.
3. My fellow Americans, I will fill out my bracket, but this year, I am picking the team in each matchup with the highest APR score and graduation rate. I may not win the White House pool, but hey, I'm the president and I'm making a statement. In fact, I might as well go on television and fill out the women's tournament bracket, since they graduate, overall, at much higher rates than the men do.
There you have it. On this issue, at least, Obama is as conservative as the Evangelicals. It is, appropriately enough, a slam dunk. Below is a link to the graduation rates for the men's tournament teams. Think about these issues as you drink Dick Vitale's kool-aid.
http://web.bus.ucf.edu/documents/sport/2010_Mens_Bball_PR.pdf
Lapchick noted that “There is again positive academic news for the tournament teams when we examine the GSR and the APR. There was a two percentage point increase for all male student‐athletes to 64 percent. Eighty‐four percent of white and 56 percent of African‐American men’s Division I basketball student‐athletes graduate, increasing six percentage points for white basketball student‐athletes and by two percentage points for African‐American basketball student‐athletes compared to last year’s study.”
ReplyDeleteWOW! Did you hear that guys, a whole 2% they deserve to celebrate like Scotty Lago and get buck wild! Sports are a huge part of our society, but I also believe that our education is what will benefit your future. Perhaps if you are an athlete in college you will know the proper ways to workout and cheat the system by taking the easier teachers (hint help me out haha) but I think that it is important for athletes to have school come first. You are in college to get a degree so don't you think that your school would come to you as a priority rather than practice. If you don't go to practice you can't play, but if you don't go to class you can pass? How does this work? I'd also like to comment that I don't think it is fair for athletes to get priority registration if they can't attend every class because of games. I may not play sports, but I workout everyday (maybe not as intense), have a part time job, am in a sorority, and play intermural sports, but you don't see me getting any priorities. The last two times I have had to register, majority of classes were full and I had to sit in on every class and add them. Some classes I took did not even apply to my major, they were fillers!
I have not watched March Madness this year so I am kind of missing out on what is going on in that department, but I am all for education. Don't get me wrong I give the athletes a lot of credit because they have a lot of pressure, but I also think that if they are representing their school and trying to make their school look good they should be making grades and graduating. As for Obama, I agree with the statements you wrote and hopefully he will preach them sooner rather than later.
I do not understand the student-athlete system. In Singapore where i come from, sports and athletics are fully owned by the government. there is no such thing as universities offering scholarships for sports; they have sports in universities but they're similar to campus recreation that we have here in SJSU. the idea of sports scholarships is inane and absolutely destroys the whole concept of scholarships; they are supposed to be given to people who achieve academic distinction to help them further their studies. in Dr. Masucci's sports philosophy class, i was part of a debate team which oppose student athletes being paid a salary. one of my arguments is the whole student athlete idea is a two way system; if there are people with low enough intellect to sign such an unfair and bordering on exploitative contract, then they should suffer the consequences. there is absolutely no point decrying it, because as long as people are willing to sign those contracts, it will remain in place. So sign away and take it with a smile! :)
ReplyDeleteI think this just goes to show how hypocritical filling out this bracket really is once you know what issues are behind the graduation rates and student athletes. President Obama may be biased in filling out the bracket because he did play basketball in his younger days...and still does. So, knowing the graduation rates and knowing the "student athlete" is absent from class for a lengthy amount of time, taking advantage of and hurting education, filling out the bracket just makes for better television, especially by President Obama. Nevertheless, that's just the way it is and there are many people who would have liked to have heard President Obama decline the bracket but it's just not going to happen. I guess President Obama really likes his "hot-dogs".
ReplyDeleteThe NCAA is essentially a minor league system for the 4 major pro sports. As i mentioned when Dr. Harrison was in class, high school athletes choose their scholarships based on the school that will best showcase and prepare them for a specific league, the NFL in my example. When ESPN conducts interviews of high school football players, and the responses about why they chose the University of Florida are because Urban Mayer wins big games and gets you drafted, it says alot about the NCAA and its scholarship system. Scholarship should go to deserving students, who help out in the community, or are disadvantaged. Not for some football player like Travis Henry.
ReplyDeleteI dont get college sport one bit, a coach can leave the day before the season starts, gets paid, and can sign with a new school that same day. While the so-called "student athlete" doesn't get paid (unless you count the scholarship $) and has to sit out a whole year of eligibility to transfer to a new school. Circumstances like this are mind boggling? How can Duke University, spend $394,000 per player, in the 2009 season? They lost more than $2 million dollars as a basketball program in 2009! How does that make sense?....and they are the cream of the crop in terms of marketability, commercialism, and elitism in NCAA basketball.
I would love to completely overhaul the NCAA, BCS, student athletes/scholarships, the whole 9 yards needs fixin!
It is Madness!...
As a side note, I was glad to see that Obama took your suggestion and did also fill out a women's bracket on ESPN.
ReplyDeleteI watched him fill out his bracket last year, and was just as annoyed this year when watching him do it. There are countless numbers of better things that he could be doing during the time that he fills out this bracket. This reminds me of the disproportional amount of time Congress committed to steroids in baseball, than actual national issues facing the country. I do not want the politicians who are controlling the country to be more worried about the NCAA tournament than the internal problems within our country.
ReplyDeleteI'm tired of the debate of student-athletes. It's time America adopts a system that will enable college age athletes to play at a high level, but have it dissociated with universities. Club soccer teams in Europe is one good example. Players choose between going to play full time as a collegiate level intensity, or to actually commit to going to school. They either get an education or choose to bypass the education. Joining the two together in the system America has now is creating far too many problems, as seen in the issues raised by this blog entry.
Since I see the scholarships going out to athletes, some get a lot others get hardly any. If student-athletes are playing the games so schools can profit, I do think they should get something towards their education. I am on the other side, knowing schools do take in profits, but not sure how it gets divided, that's a question I may be asking one of the athletic directors. Education is the key to success, no matter how much sports you play, if you get hurt what do you have to fall back on?
ReplyDeleteI find this humorous that the president is filling out a NCAA bracket and it is actually WORTH people take note of? I am sure that there are plenty more important things that the president could be shown doing…? Disheartening, however since this was publicized and it is the topic of discussion, it just goes to show that sports are heavily idolized and heroic in the eyes of our country. Being a student-athlete is not an easy task, if you are really dedicated to BOTH schooling and sports. Which I believe due to the impossible expectations and stress put on student athletes over time has become ALL about the sport and school is the after thought…or no maybe not even a thought. The amount of school days missed, and pressure to perform well not only as a player but for your school and to represent them in a good light, is difficult for anyone let alone a 19year old college student, who may have just BARELY graduated from high school. I find it more disheartening that Obama is betting on these athletes and teams. Maybe if he donated money to each sporting team throughout the nation I may be satisfied? The colligate sporting world is a crazy, hypocritical and confusing space that needs to be remodeled, but that would just be wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteChristina Calcagno
First I don't understand why Obama writing some sports bracket is any form of news that needs to be covered...but I find it interesting how Americans can find athletic ability to be so high up on their priority list. In high school everyone wanted to be a student-athlete but when they realized that in college it really meant being an athlete-student most people gave up on sports. What I mean is that in high school grades were stressed so much more than a kid's athletic ability but in college academics is hardly important if you are an athlete. I think if our government funded the sports systems like Yao mentioned the term student-athlete could take on its intentional meaning. Student-athletes are supposed to be people that are furthering their education while also playing a sport. In most colleges the student-athletes are using the school as a way to get recognized as an athlete. Its just lame that the school's make it possible for these students to avoid their academic responsibilities as long as they play on a school team. I have no idea how the student-athlete system got so messed up in America but I doubt its going to get better anytime soon.
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