...College athletes should not be paid. Why should college athletes be paid, when it’s their choice to play the sport or not? College athletic programs can’t afford to pay athletes. There is a lot of money being put into athletic programs, but there is also the same amount going out and a lot of the programs are working at a loss. Most college athletes get sports scholarships, which should be payment enough. The athletes mostly always get their full tuition paid for, or at least discounted. Millions or even billions are given to athletes every year. The athletic scholarship for a school overtakes the school’s tuition. Even if a student doesn’t actually get money towards tuition, they get “freebies” for housing, meals, etc. Playing sports...
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...impressive and gives the University positive credit. The University would also benefit greatly from the agreement that is between them and the athlete. College athletes should get paid to participate in collegiate sports because it would offer the athletes time management skills, decrease the athletes stress about financial needs and provide the athletes the opportunity to graduate from college debt free. Currently in the United States there are millions of athletes. 3% of those high school athletes will continue their athletic career in college. Many of those college athletes don’t have the financial requirements to attend college; that’s where the scholarships come in. The average high school athletes dream is to play their beloved sport get offered a scholarship and further their career collegiately. Not only is the University giving an athlete their dream; they are giving the athlete the...
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...hurt. Isaiah, a 13 year old boy, had a dream to play football in high school. At football camp, a year before his dream was going to come true, he was running with a ball and was tackled. He smacked his head hard on the turf. He was rushed to the hospital where he was told he had a concussion. Isaiah had to sit in a dark room for two weeks so his brain could heal. After he healed, Isaiah decided to quit football. Injuries in sports are causing players to give up on their dreams (Belson). Unsurprisingly, football is the number one injury causing sport in high school. Two dozen high school football players died in recent...
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...A defining moment in my life that has helped me shape my dreams and plans for the future is the day I decided to play basketball in 3rd grade and get to be around all the athletic trainers. I’ve always had the dream to be an athletic trainer and be around the sports atmosphere the rest of my life, and playing a sport where it is common to see sprained ankles, torn ACL’s, muscle tears, such as the meniscus, and just minor injuries like a jammed finger or a rolled ankle. Seeing the trainers do everything they can to help rehabilitate the athlete to get back out there, made my interest of being an athletic trainer even stronger. Seeing the trainers run out on the field, or court, when a player is down has always caught my attention and made...
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...Obstacle vs. Opportunity During the course of her interview on The Wendy Williams Show, with Wendy Williams, Lolo Jones explains how she uses her past failures as motivation to achieve her dreams. Through everything she has been through, Lolo never quit. She never took the easy way out and always kept her eye on her dream. Her story is “not complete.” (qtd. in Rashaad Jorden) and in this interview it is clear that she is continuing to focus on the opportunities in front of her. Lolo Jones is not just an inspiration to track athletes; she is a role model to different types of athlete and non-athletes. Many people with various backgrounds, can relate to her and use her as an example in their own lives. As a professional athlete, Lolo also uses her sponsors as way to give back to many communities and charities that she is involved with. Despite encountering obstacles many times in her career and experiencing failures, Lolo Jones has never given up the pursuit of her dreams. She continues to be an inspiration to many athletes and people around the world as she has for the last decade. Lolo Jones faced a great deal of adversity to get to where she is now. According to Lolo, she grew up in Iowa and had very little money or material possessions. Her father was in and out of jail; her mother raised Lolo along with her four siblings as a single parent. Eventually Lolo was discovered in high school and worked herself to a full-ride scholarship at LSU where she won a national...
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...Being a student-athlete at a higher education institute is a dream that many young athletes dream about, but only a few of these athletes actually get the chance to live this dream. What some may not realize is that there’s a lot more to this dream than just being able to go to school to play your favorite sport. In the article, “The Shame of College Sports” by Taylor Branch, Branch takes the time to create an argument about how the NCAA created the term “student-athlete” to use in certain NCAA statements/contracts to discuss the regulations, policies, and advantages that these athletes receive and have to follow. As Branch goes through the process of describing the these points, he uses a variety of facts and statements through evidence,...
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...Professional athletes should be more aware of their actions because of their celebrity status making them role models for children. With all the media surroundind athletes in every aspect of their lives, one would think they would want to be more aware of their actions, role models or not. If an athlete gets a speeding ticket, everyone knows. If an athlete has an affair, everyone knows. I am not saying athletes should be perfect, because no one is. I am just saying they should think a little more about what they do because children look up to them more often than not. This is evident in the amount of sports posters, pennants, and clothing that are for sale everywhere. Just look on the walls of most children's bedrooms and you are bound to find at least one sports figure on their walls. For instance as long as there have been professional sports ahildren have idolized athletes, just remember the baseball card collections and how collectable they were and still are today. There are more than just baseball cards now. The card collections have grown to include all sports like football, basketball, hockey and even soccer. Some of these cards are worth more than some homes. The children who collect these items may trade them for ones they dont have and keep them safer than anything else they own. Some children may just want the cards of their favorite athlete, not worrying about the monetary value of the card, just the value it holds for them. The fact that the card is...
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...Richard Sherman: The Rejected Embodiment of the American Dream If I work hard enough, I can do anything. If I put my mind to it, I can make all the money in the world. If I give it my all, I can get everything that I want and more. This rhetoric is what our great country is built upon: The American Dream. No matter who you are and where you come from, with determination and persistence, you can fulfill your wildest dreams. This concept represents several key American values: racial equality, capitalism, and an emphasis on merit over social status. Although the American community preaches equality for all, its racially-fueled disapproval of Richard Sherman’s “outburst” is a microcosm of Americans’ selective application of the American Dream, the tendency to view those who come from underprivileged neighborhoods as inherently and genetically unequipped with the cognitive tools required for academic and professional success. On January 19th, 2014, the day of the NFL NFC Championshp, the stakes could not have been greater; Richard Sherman was just thirty seconds away from his first Super Bowl. Sherman’s Seattle Seahawks led the San Francisco 49ers 23-17, leaving the 49ers with a final opportunity to win the game. The 49ers ran a play for Michael Crabtree, whom Sherman was guarding, who was making his way into the end zone. Sherman, the NFL’s best cornerback, leaped with Crabtree and tipped the pass towards a teammate in a historic play that ended the 49ers season and, in turn...
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...Winning: that’s what it’s all about. The idea of becoming a top athlete is a dream many athletes hope to achieve regardless of the means of achieving this dream. Many athletes resort to the use of performing enhancing drugs, steroids as such, to reach the top and become the best. The film, “Bigger, Faster, Stronger,” by Christopher Bell, released January 19, 2008, shares the struggle he and his brothers faced with the use of steroids while trying to become more like their idolized characters, such as Hulk Hogan, Rocky, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film is a sport documentary that shows the win at all cost lifestyle, that many athletes have taken in, from the viewpoint of bodybuilding and performance enhancing drugs. It also examines the inconsistency of the views on...
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...is continuing to encourage athletes to have goals to reach as a result of giving back to the community. In my opinion this structure will impinge on one another because of how it will help create a sense of unity between all groups through support and encouragement. Generally speaking, it is believed that high school sport athletes are pressured in today’s society to become the next Superstars of ESPN, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, Inc. Sporting events and news are available to the public twenty-four hours a day on television and radio: sports are an enormous industry. The outstanding popularity of the sports industry has profoundly affected athletics and the community. The fact still remains that high school sports help establish many athletes in their moral, intellect, and character. The beneficial effects that I see in high school sports is it encourage athletes to have goals and creates a sense of unity between the athlete, family, and community, yet the concept of goals broaden an athletes horizon, by setting things in a different light. Though a dream may seem impractical, with the right steps in place, the idea can be obtained; therefore, the goal is achievable if an athlete set specific goals such as a state championship, a scholarship, or even going professional. The interaction of high school sports can help athletics realize that with practice and hard work an impractical dream can become a reality. When an athlete accomplishes this goal, there...
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...Understanding the female judoka’s coach-athlete relationship: a British perspective. Katrina McDonald and Maki Tsukada Department of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University The purpose of this study is to examine the coach-athlete relationship, to gain a greater understanding into the relationship between female judo athletes and their coach. To explore what is felt as important, the dynamics in the relationship and does the athlete’s opinion differ from that of the coach. A greater understanding to the relationship between an athlete and coach needs to be appraised so that any proposed theories can be examined in the practical/applied domain and whether the proposed theories behind the complex interactions are offering a great enough insight to the reality. Introduction The researchers for this project are both coaches who currently work in their National set ups for England and Japan. The initial idea for the investigation came from Maki Tsukada’s two year observation of the British system, and also a reflection on the London 2012 Olympics and the coach-athlete interaction. Coaches came under scrutiny from the results of the Olympics, which made it pertinent to examine the relationship between the coach and athlete, to try and ensure that it does not disintegrate. The wider impact of the study will mean that coaches will have a greater understanding of how to build and work at their relationship with their athletes and understand what the important dynamics are within...
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...for equal rights. A key moment in this fight for equality occurred in 1972 with the passage of the Title IX Amendment to the Equal Opportunity in the Education Act. Title IX states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" (Sadker par. 2). This piece of legislation has had a profound impact upon college athletics. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has interpreted Title IX as requiring an equal opportunity for male and female athletes at our nation's universities. More specifically, the NCAA has ruled that in order to uphold Title IX, the money spent on male and female sports must be equal, as does the proportion of male to female athletes at an institution. Though on the surface Title IX would seem to guarantee equality between the genders in collegiate athletics, the practical applications of the law have led to the elimination of...
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...It is the dream of many young children and teenagers to become a professional athlete, most of them have a favorite athlete that they idolize. When children are very young it is important to encourage them to dream, and to pursue their passions. But there comes a time when it is not in the child’s best interest to mislead them into thinking they actually have a chance at becoming a pro athlete. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (2013), only 2% of college athletes are talented enough to play at the professional level. Logically thinking, this means that 98% of student athletes should be preparing themselves in college with a back-up plan for life after collegiate sports, right? Unfortunately, this is not the case. In fact, some people actually support the idea that student athletes should be able to major in the sport they play, and not study for a major that would be more beneficial to them in life. Student athletes that enter college directly after high school lack life experience, and they need guidance when making such decisions that will impact their life so dramatically. It is in these times when we should push students to their limits in order to make them grow to be the best they can be, not let them take the path of least resistance and settle for mediocrity. Allowing student athletes to choose their sport as a major may be the obvious choice for some, but doing so would actually hurt them instead of benefitting them. If we truly care...
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...winning, this mindset forces athlete to take risk; however, does this ideology cause athletes to make bad decisions. One of the biggest issues in sports today is the use of performance-enhancing drugs as a way of “cheating” in order to get an edge on opponents. From the high school level all the way up to the professional level, men and women have been caught using these drugs, which are banned. It is easy to see the positive effects of using these performance-enhancing drugs with athletes becoming faster, bigger, and stronger; however, these athletes and there spectators don’t realize why these performance enhancing drugs are actually illegal, especially college students who are the major risk takers. Attached to the natural benefits of these drugs that make athletes feel closer to achieving their dream of winning are health risk, reputation risk, and loads of other negative effects of using PEDs. Enrolled in the University of North Texas, the authors of this paper have created a blog in order to appeal to the athletes here at UNT in order to help educate them on the exact reasons why these performance-enhancing drugs are illegal and to help persuade them against using them. In addition to reading and learning about the negative effects of PEDs, we have also included a pledge onto the page that athletes can sign to pledge not to use PEDs. Audience The main audience that we are trying to appeal here is the athletes of the University of North Texas. Athletes who excel in their respective...
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...Dear Lukas Raschilla, In your article, “Athletes are artists, not role models”, you claim that you are bewildered that anyone would view professional athletes as role models. By saying that sports figures are "not" and "shouldn't be expected" to be role models in their actions on and off the playing field is in my opinion giving a free pass for bad behavior. As the saying goes...to those who much has been given, much is expected. You claim, "athletes do not choose to be role models", but I feel anyone who holds a position of notoriety and popularity with the public should shoulder that admiration with dignity. As we know, merely by association in any career, be it sports, education, health care, government, and even religion, does not guarantee that the individuals will be positive role models. Instead, moral obligations need to be nurtured and, when necessary, consequences clearly enforced in incidents of conduct not befitting the role that person represents. It is unrealistic to think there will not be transgressions in the athletic arena as they are all human, but even this can serve as a valuable lesson to young fans. Charles Barkley is correct when he says in the Nike commercial that "parents should be the most important role model for kids" and no one expects a sports figure to replace that position, but it also takes a village to raise good citizens. Everyone that occupies attention in a child's life should realize that their actions will be seen and will affect the...
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