<p>two responses … </p>
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so when an athletic department provides this service for it’s athletes it’s considered bad? How about when honors programs do the exact same thing? Is that a bad thing or a good thing?</p>
<p>For those who believe the article should have mentioned academic info about the athlete I assume you have the same expectation when the local paper talks about the school play, concert, musician headed to a great music shool, etc … or is that somehow different?</p>
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<p>O please - they enjoy the SAME privileges as all other athletes - as well as the honors program students who are not athletes - at most schools - don’t single out certain athletes just because they are non-money producers. </p>
<p>Yes - I agree athletes do - at many - not all schools - can garner priviledges that other students are not privy to - tho they are privy to them if they seek them out thru other resources should they choose to.</p>
<p>3togo, I’m not saying it is bad 
Just the opposite. Some athletes are actually Honors students, too! Some take Swahili…</p>
<p>Jeepmom, I was talking about UW.</p>
<p>The comments can be applied across the board BUNSEN - not just applicable to one school. From the power-house DI schools to the small DIII - student/athletes usually do have some priviledges - but if a non-athlete is in need of similar services - they are usually available - maybe thru another venue - but still available - they are not just in place for the touted student/athlete. Coaches also differ in how they apply to their athletes the programs that are in place - some a great about it - some could care less - some require certain things of their team players - some could care less - it completely depends on the school - the AD - the coaches in place.</p>
<p>First of all, at my D’s college, Brown, they could not mention the GPA for an athlete in a sports article. Brown does not calculate GPAs! For anyone. If a grad school app wanted a GPA for my D, she had to calculate one based on her transcript as there are no GPAs on the transcript, just grades. I can’t imagine a sports article mentioning GPA anyway but in her case, they’d have to list all her grades, LOL, as she has no GPA. </p>
<p>Actually, at the championships in my D’s sport, they often try to have athletes fill out a little profile and so sometimes the announcer will mention their major, but this is not the case during the season.</p>
<p>To my knowledge, an athlete has to have certain grades in order to participate according to NCAA rules. In fact, as I mentioned earlier about a team my D competes against which is a very easy college to get into and as I mentioned, a mom on the other team who told me the huge number of recruits the school took for this sport (that my D’s school could never be allowed to do), also told me that several boys that were recruited could not participate in the competitions because they had poor grades. So, they were recruited as athletes at a school with a fairly low academic level of selectivity but still were not allowed to participate in the events according to the rules due to low GPAs.</p>
<p>By the way, at my D’s school, I know of NO special privileges due to being an athlete. There is no special tutoring or mentoring and certainly no first dibs at registration. To the contrary, some students, like my D, are mentors themselves. For example, my D is a freshmen advisor (had to be selected for this), a department leader for her major (had to be selected for this), and last semester was a TA for a course. Further, registering for classes has an added obstacle as they have to schedule around practices which are substantial and which knock out certain class options.</p>
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<p>That could not be more wrong in the case of our quarterback who committed to play at Stanford next year. He was named the top offensive recruit from the state of Texas by Dave Campbell’s highschool football guide (a recruiting bible for colleges), he is a 4 star athletic recruit according to rivals.com ,and he has won and been highlighted in many of the coops around the country. He was featured in the nationally televised high school armed forces game and is a high school All American - I could go on and on, but you get my point. He has been HIGHLY recruited by football powerhouses all over the country</p>
<p>BUT, he chose to go to Stanford for the ACADEMICS! He won’t get to “showcase his talents” for NFL scouts by attending Stanford like he would have if he went to Texas or USC. But, he wants to major in engineering and he felt that Stanford would give him the best education.</p>
<p>He is this year’s valedictorian at our school with top test scores, has won every academic honor locally and statewide. He DESERVES to go to Stanford even without the athletics being considered.</p>
<p>So, CGM, you are just plain wrong!!!</p>
<p>ag…thank you for sharing that young man’s story. At my D’s high school, the majority of the top ten students in D1’s class were also athletes. She was val and a three varsity sport athlete who exceled at her sports. I recall the salutatorian being recruited by Middlebury for basketball. The girl ranked third and the girl ranked fourth were top softball (and other sports) athletes and were recruited. I could go on. At our school, the top students exceled as well at sports. </p>
<p>As mentioned, my D was not a recruited athlete. She got into college the regular way. She was a top student but she also exceled in several EC areas. Smart kids are also athletes. What a concept!!!</p>
<p>Such students (my D and the boy you mention) CARE about academics FIRST. However, they are very passionate about their sports and do well in them. It is possible to do both well.</p>
<p>Completely agree SOOZIE - and well said - and yes - what a concept LOL ;)</p>
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<p>That’s nonsense. Pac-10 athletes get to showcase their talents all the time. And btw, Stanford upset USC this year. If he’s any good the NFL will know all about him just like they knew about Jim Plunkett, John Elway, and John Brodie. Somehow they didn’t get ignored while at Stanford. And btw again, a 4-star athlete isn’t the top of the heap–5-star is.</p>
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<p>I don’t think that was the point of the post TSDAD - or necessary</p>
<p>This is just another case of envy rearing it’s head, that’s all. If it’s not atheletes, it’s vals, if it’s not vals, it’s something else…</p>
<p>There are those who HAVE to find fault in someone else’s success simply because it’s not theirs. So it can’t be a good thing. </p>
<p>Someone places standards upon a kid to just make them look bad for something they have earned that you couldn’t. Some folks are displaying their narrow view of the world and as a result, they “ain’t” making the athelete look that bad… </p>
<p>It falls back to the old family moto “why couldn’t I be bitten by radioactive spider and have super powers?” In other words, your whine is pretty silly.</p>
<p>Stanford was losing football games, lots of them, because they had bad coaching and bad recruiting. They didn’t like it and they went out last year and hired a top notch coach. There is nothing special about them. </p>
<p>From mini’s post:
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<p>As an aside given the demands placed on college athletes at any school, especially scholarship athletes who are owned by their coaches, it is a wonder that any of them ever graduate.</p>
<p>It’s not a wonder - it is a tribute to their hard work, and, in many cases, the efforts of their schools to go the extra mile to make it happen. It is a much greater struggle for them than for the so-called scholar athletes, and they should be applauded for their efforts.</p>
<p>“By the way, at my D’s school, I know of NO special privileges due to being an athlete.”</p>
<p>If that’s true, especially for football players during the D-1 playing season, I think that’s very, very unfortunate (but I doubt it is true - because I know it is false at other Ivies, and certainly at Stanford.)</p>
<p>And as for academics being first? Eh. For some (including my older d.) it makes good sense. For others, academics as a way to get on and succeed in their future endeavors are way overrated.</p>
<p>sorry tsdad - he is 5 star
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<p>So, he is the #4 ranked quarterback recruit in the country and a 5 star recruit. </p>
<p>But, like somebody said before, that wasn’t my point. Stanford was second to last in the PAC 10 last year in football, but second to none in academics 
(got to put emoticons so people can take a joke).</p>
<p>And, “showcase his talent” was meant as a joke…</p>
<p>google Andrew Luck and you’ll see what a gem Harbaugh has gotten.</p>
<p>And he chose Stanford for academics…</p>
<p>In many cases - highly ranked college athletes are recruited to the pros in their junior year - and have a choice to make - stay another year at school (and most likely give away their pro possibilities) and graduate - or take the draft and not get a degree but… with the potential for making lots of $$ - the really smart ones that take this option - have a contract that can include just about anything - even like providing the athlete with the remainder of their education/degree. That is one of the reasons you don’t see their stats included in graduation rates - they have chosen another option. But - that said - the % of athletes that take the recuiting option is still extremely small - to go pro - in the grand scheme of college/athletes - there are even some draft picks that are directly out of high school and never step foot on a college campus (even after being recruited).</p>
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<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>Injured, exhausted, told what to do over breaks, required to work out in off season, sometimes subjected to disciplinary systems more stringent than those covering regular students, dangerous van travel in many sports, any social or athletic missteps you make turn up in the press, required to sign away FERPA rights. It can be a tough road for young people.</p>
<p>I find it ironic that no matter how some speak of student/athletes respectfully; there is an undertone that they are generally academically inferior. Most newspapers, articles, newscasts, etc… rarely IF EVER mention a student’s gpa. That’s almost never done. I would say that 4 years of varsity sports, my son has never had his GPA published, printed, or aired. The closest they came to it was in a national article sponsored by the NFF about the Play-It-Smart sports/academic program where he received an award. They didn’t mention his gpa but they did mention his class ranking. That is the closest. We’ve actually be lucky in that my son was accepted to numerous schools; including merit and other scholarships; based solely on his academic achievements. It was only after being accepted to these schools that they then approached him about athletics.</p>
<p>Matter of fact, there was a thread on this forum started months ago about how people shouldn’t brag or mention their kid’s gpa and such. Most people agreed that unless someone specifically asked, that mentioning a gpa; good or bad; was in poor taste. Now, here we are debating because a newspaper article DIDN’T report a player’s gpa or her major.</p>
<p>The bottom line truth is; an athlete is not going to be playing their particular sport unless they are meeting the academic minimum gpa. Matter of fact; for those who aren’t familiar with the NCAA ClearingHouse that handles athletic eligibility; they review your GPA and courses taken in high school to determine if you are eligible to play an NCAA sport when you enter as a freshman. They list your highschool and all the MINIMUM classes that you had to have taken in order to be eligible. If you aren’t eligible, you are required to take the minimum classes in college prior to being eligible to play.</p>
<p>If someone asks personally what my son’s gpa and stats are; I would proudly tell them. I don’t think however that they should be posting them in an article released to the general public.</p>
<p>TSDAD -
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<p>You are absolutely correct - for some student/athletes - it can be an incredibly difficult and stressful road to travel - especially those athletes that come out of high school already being ‘watched’ by scouts. Some will manage to cope with it all quite well - yet others will fail miserably - dreams are made to come true and yet others will be crushed. Many - not all - schools recognize the pressure and stressors that these types of athletes have to endure and manage them very well - others have really done a job on them. But - on the other side of the coin - these student/athletes and their families have made the choice to go the route chosen. Most will never see the light of day as far as a scout is concerned. It all comes down to choices and how to use ones talents - in the long run.</p>
<p>For a few - that athletic scholarship may be their only hope for a shot at a college education - but that number is very very small percentage of total student/athletes. Yet - they still have to meet an absolute minimum requirement to do so. These students in this situation are usually recruited for their very high degree of talent in that sport - not just joe schmoe.</p>
<p>“I find it ironic that no matter how some speak of student/athletes respectfully; there is an undertone that they are generally academically inferior.”</p>
<p>How many of those supposedly “inferior” football players had to take an SAT only hours after being totally beaten up on a football field on the previous night?</p>
<p>Amen mini. Couldn’t agree more. Or the 20+ hours a week after school practicing and having to stay up past midnight to get their homework complete. How about those that come from small schools and wind up playing more than 1 sport. We have many in our school; my son included; who do football in the fall, basketball in the winter, soccer in the spring, weight lifting in between seasons as well as the summer. (Not counting the multiple summer camps they may go to). </p>
<p>And, when all is said and done, I am looking at 13 seniors from the football team who are graduating this year. Not one of those kids was academically ineligible the entire season. Matter of fact, not one kid in grades 10-12 were academically ineligible. 3 of the seniors are in the top 10 in class ranking. Of the 13 seniors, 2 have football scholarships to out of state schools; 1 has an football/academic scholarship to an out of state school; 4 have partial academic scholarships to state “U”; 2 have academic scholarships out of state, 1 is taking a year off for church mission first; 1 has a track scholarship out of state - also a 3.5gpa student; and the remaining 3 have interest in college and have been accepted to state “U”. Probably will get some partial.</p>
<p>I am not trying to say that athletes are better, more special, or more deserving of consideration. I’m just trying to emphasize that the “Dumb Jock” stereotype is not only a bad opinion, but is probably a lower percentage of bad grades than the non-athletes who have bad grades.</p>