Higher Edumacation

This is a redux of a conversation Seamus and I had years ago, but he might not even remember.  I recalled the convo because I just read some articles about people going mental to get into college and missing out on their youth, etc., etc.  That is apropos of nothing.

Basic question: why can’t athletes in college major in their sport?  That’s a silly question, isn’t it?  No.  It isn’t.  To be a successful football player, one needs to study plays, memorize schemes, identify how to react to the other team’s schemes, ad infinitum.  Rather than get a degree in Geology with a 2.01 GPA (since free time normally used for academic pursuits is really devoted to the above-mentioned sports-related things) why can’t someone get a major in football? Or baseball? Or basketball?

When I went to school, most majors required 8-12 courses specific to that field, then another 4-5 related fields, or electives that seemed related but really weren’t.  Are you telling me there aren’t 10 distinct subjects in football that would capture these guys’ interest and relate directly to the sport or sports in general?  I’ll see what I can come up with for football in three minutes: Offense, Defense, Special Teams, Football History, Ethics, Introduction to Physical Therapy, Nutrition, Intro to Biology, Physical Education, and Statistics.

Not bad.  Some of them are stock classes, but maybe they could be geared toward the athlete.

Sure, not all of these kids are going to be professional football players, or even work in the industry as a coach, manager, or executive, but so what?  People can get a doctorate in drama, music, fine arts, or even weirder shit, so why can’t they get a BA in a field that is relevant to them?

I guess I’m saying that the starting nose tackle for BC, BU, or even Zoomass Amherst has more of a chance of being a high school football coach that I ever have of being an art historian, so why can’t he tailor his studies accordingly?

~ by kinshay on 2006-08-30.