I was looking through an old archive of some past columns and came across this one from two years ago. I think it worth discussion again…..
Remember when student-athletes were students, then athletes? I don’t.
As far back as I can remember student athletes ran the campus and thought they had free reign. When are they going to realize they aren’t above the team rules, school rules, and NCAA rules? Never, that’s when.
Once again an NCAA athlete has been caught for taking money from someone in return for nothing. And what’s the punishment? He’s kicked off the team.
In reality though, he can transfer to another school and play there in another year. Tough life. I know every other school in the country is currently thinking, “Hey, he might cheat, but he is still a great QB”. And hey, if you aren’t cheating you aren’t trying, right? Someone needs to drop the gauntlet on the preferential treatment of athletes. Whether it is from boosters, or otherwise, money for nothing should only happen when listening to Dire Straights.
These players get it easy enough already. And if free school, free room and board, free meals and a not to mention being icons on campus wasn’t enough, do they need free handouts too?
Here at Oregon State it’s no different. And it’s just like anywhere else in the country. The majority of NCAA athletes get an easy ride not only with paying for school but also passing through school.
The majority of athletes get easier grades, easier tests, and in the end have an easier time graduating. And if you disagree you are either blind to the truth or currently an NCAA athlete. In the last year I have noticed first hand how easy athletes have it.
A student-athlete here at Oregon State was in the same class as I and took tests at a later date on the road. I was told that the athlete would look at the answer key online after the test was taken and copy the answers. Then would mark a few wrong on purpose so it didn’t look like they were cheating. This athlete received an A in this class while I struggled through and barely passed.
Why? Did they study harder? Maybe. Was this athlete smarter than me? Maybe. But the fact that they had access to the correct answers on the midterms and final I’m sure helped them significantly.
A separate time I informally helped a group of student athletes the day before a midterm. They informed me that it was no big deal because they got to take the test at a later date then the rest of the class, and in a separate room. They planned to just copy answers off each other, so each studied different material.
These aren’t isolated incidences. This is happening all over the country everyday. Students that come out of high school and barely meet the NCAA requirement for GPA are graduating from college with above a 3.0. Even at Oregon State, student athletes tell me they don’t like taking summer classes because they don’t get to take tests on the road and don’t get an easy time. This must stop. The real students work hard for their grades, and the athletes are just getting handouts.
My guess is, what happened to me has happened to hundreds, if not thousands of students across the country. They have watched their friends who are athletes get an easy slide through school while they bust their ass to make their graduation.
The worst part about all of this is nothing will ever change. This is how the universities work. I can write another thousand articles identical to this and the universities will look the other way. This trend has been happening for decades and will continue to run for decades. And no matter how much any school preaches academic honesty to 95% of the student body, they know it can be stretched for their money making athletes.
If you look at the department of educations website it states that in 1997 that 56% of the regular student body graduated by the sixth year of college, and that number was steadily declining. If you look at the NCAA’s website, it states that 60% of the regular student body was graduating in six years and that 62% of student athletes graduate by the sixth year and that number is growing.
Notice anything wrong there, aside from the skewed numbers for the graduation rates of the general population? Call me skeptical, pessimistic, or cynical but I doubt that is because the athletes are becoming smarter than the general population.
The NCAA needs to take a hard look at how these athletes are getting the grades. Not just what they are getting for grades. And as is stands I think they should change the student athlete’s moniker to athletes that receive easy degrees for playing sports for four years. Because that’s all it is and all it will ever be.
And shout out to the boosters of Oregon State, alumni, and whoever else is slamming phone calls to the athletic department clamming at the chance to get Rhett Bomar. Think about how you want Oregon State to be represented. Do you want it to be known as a place where players do whatever they feel and get off easy because we just want to win?
Too late, it is. So do it right and just myspace the guy and ask him yourself.
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