October 27, 2005
The Lot Of The Scholar Athlete
Back in the waning days of the Summer, it came to light that USC quarterback Matt Leinart's course load for his final semester at the school was a little bit light, considering it consisted of nothing but a two-credit course in ballroom dancing to complete his demanding degree in Sociology.
The dogged Sports Prof is not impressed:
Now, listen, Matt Leinart represents a lot of what's good in the college sports world, the formerly awkward kid with bad feet who has blossomed into an all-world athlete and potentially a very wealthy man. He deserves kudos for his play on the field, and I'll be among the first to say that.
What he doesn't deserve is praise for his decision to remain in college.
And what he certainly doesn't deserve is any mention as a scholar-athlete.
Because, in this case, he's just an athlete at a college.
And, this year, not a scholar at all.
Which would mean that Leinart is merely following in the footsteps of thousands of other college athletes for whom classes were a minor irritant over the course of their academic careers.
After all, while USC is a serious institution of higher learning, it's one that has decided to field a semi-professional football team to help market itself. There's nothing wrong with that, and if Leinart wanted to take advantage of the rules to avoid being regularly manhandled like a sack of potatoes behind San Francisco's offensive line, more power to him.
Now, does that mean we shouldn't admire those true scholar athletes who manage to juggle a starting spot on any squad as well as excel in the classroom? Of course not, and that's why they still award something called the Academic All-American across every college sport.
Now, is it a travesty of NCAA rules that any player is allowed to compete on the field of play while living a life of relative luxury? Maybe, but as I've written many times, NCAA rules are designed to protect member institutions from each other, rather than enfore some sort of Platonian ideal of intercollegiate competition.
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Who's kidding who? Colleges employ these semi-professional teams to promote the univeristy and generate revenues. Money makng machines these college football programs are. Exploited labor at its best. God love it.
Posted by:
at October 28, 2005 11:40 PM
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