Athlete recruitment...

phantasmagoric
Wed, 02 Feb 2011 01:57:58 +0000

How am I on a “pedestal”?


I admitted that squash is a club sport and so was not a good example, but I did provide other examples before that (like rowing).
You base your entire argument on disproving that one point, and then act as though the conclusion–that Stanford lowers its standards for athletes–is therefore the most logical. You fail to address any of my other points, which are the ones that most clash with your conclusion.
Your “common sense” only gets you so far; your conception of the system is extremely simplistic and thus filled with logical missteps. I have offered a more thorough, sound, and at least partially empirically observed and supported conception.
You have failed to provide any evidence that supports your point. Saying “it’s all common sense” is not a valid argument. (If we just thought “well, common sense got us here,” and think our job is done, without acknowledging the many dimensions and variables of an issue, we would be centuries behind in our knowledge and way of thinking.)


On a tangential but intersting note: the past two years, Stanford’s had a Heisman runner-up (Andrew Luck and Toby Gerhart), and both are excellent students who were the top of their classes in high school and continue to do extremely well at Stanford. Funny how that works.