DownSwinging.com

I spent most of the time I watched the Celtics-Bulls series marveling at how dominating Derrick Rose was, in just his first playoff series of his professional career. Now it’s come out that he had some sort of fraudalent SAT test to get into Memphis. No one knows who to blame. Rose? Memphis? Anyone? But what happened got me thinking. It got me thinking about how Rose really got his professional career started off with Memphis. I mean sure, we all know that many college athletes, particularly ones as good and high profile as Rose, really are professional athletes when they are playing their collegiate sports.

So, back to Rose and his SATs. Who’s fault is it? Memphis’. And Kansas’. And Florida’s. Tennessee’s. UConn. Kentucky. UNC. All of them. And of all of us too.

When did we decide that tertiary education was more about athletics than academics. And also, when did we decide that college and professional athletes were demi-gods that happen to have to walk around a college campus for at least a year before they can start getting paid like demi-gods.

A good article I read at By the Horns discussed all of the extra privileges that student-athletes get while at their selected University. Sure, there’s lots of money in collegiate sports, but do these schools have to self-respect with regards to the diplomas they hand out?

And as far as the fans go, we’re just as bad. Every time we hear of a college student benched because he couldn’t maintain his C average, I have to listen to constant complaints of “just let the kid play” and I cringe. Those “kids” go to whatever school they do to be both a student and an athlete. And they have to keep up both ends of the bargain if they want to be there. It’s pretty simple: If you want to play, you do your homework. And that’s that.