I have a real problem with people saying that we will overlook fabricated grades because it will give a kid a better life. The College system was never meant to rehabilitate or give opportunities to kids who can't pass high school. University sports were meant for students. Even though College Football is big business there are still minimum requirements and plenty of deserving players available to fill available scholarships. Yes, there are people out there who can play sports and go to school. Are they the best players? Some are, some are not. But, you can't discount the fact that they did not have 6 hours a day to spend on the basketball court, because they had to study everynight. I played four sports in high school and I can tell you, from experience, I would have been even better if I could practice all night and not study. The University system is not a charity. I do not have a problem with accepting underpriviledged kids, who made less than stellar grades in ahead of someone who did better in school. Especially when those kids had less guidance and no support system. But I draw the line at fabrication. If a kid needs special assistance, because he has no support system, then that is the area to focus on. Then if his character is strong enough, he will take the opportunity and make the best of it. I worked as the Basketball strength coach, for one year as a graduate assistant. It was under Dana Kirk but I won't single anyone out. There were some young players who had no work ethic and zero character on that team. I would try to get them to lift weights. Their excuse was that they did not want to be fat when they were older. Yes, some people still believed muscle turned to fat in 1981. When we ran in conditioning they would loaf and do just enough to get by. They were extremely talented, but they would not attend a class if it killed them. I would have to go check their, "Marriage and the Family" and "Driver's Education" classes. (I'm not kidding) to make sure they at least showed up. Generally they did not. If you look at where these promising players ended up, you can see where their careers eventually went. Character rises to the top eventually. On the opposite end, our football team was 50-50 black and white. I could not name one player, off that team that did not work hard and attend class. We did not have a single academic problem, and when it came time to lift weights and run, everyone participated to their fullest abilities. Although the program started deteriorating at the end of our tenure, I was proud to be associated with everyone of those people. So don't misconstrue this as a racial topic. It is not.
I have changed my position on this over the years. I believed it did not matter if a college athlete graduated. At least he would have the opportunity to say he attended Memphis State in a job interview even if he only had a minimal education. Maybe he would learn something while he was there. But I have seen the waste that still occurs because an opportuntiy is given to someone who does not deserve it and I stopped supporting that ideal years ago.
I spent three years, with two other's, trying to help a young man, in middle school, who was very underpriviledged. He lived with his Grandmother and had not had any parental supervision for years. He lived in one of the worst neighborhoods you will ever see. 4 and 5 year olds roam the streets at 2:00 in the morning, while everyone knows if you wanted drugs, you could just drive down this street. Police stopped venturing in because nails were strategically placed in the street to flatten car tires on any vehicle that did not belong. This was one of the best athletes I have ever seen. I believe he would have been a different story if he had supervision at home. But he did not and eventually ended up out of school. Yes, our local school could have kept him enrolled and he would have ended up being a can't miss major college athelete. But it would not have been right.
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The Making of Michael Oher - from NY Times Magazine
