Interresting Q&A with NCAA Prez

[SoonerPr8r]

One of the more interesting bits:
Q: On that same track, do you think there will ever come a time where college athletes will receive the same sort of class credit consideration that say a student studying theater or dance gets for practicing their craft in college?

A:I've had some lively discussion with faculty about that, with some faculty saying, "Help me understand why basketball is fundamentally different than dance?" We as society apply fascinating double standards to that. If a young man or woman comes to the University of Washington and dances for a year or two, then the New York City Ballet calls them up, we say, "Isn't that great?" … If a young woman comes to us and says I want to dance ballet with a professional troupe, we immediately take that kid, put her in touch with all the professional dance troupes we can, get her summer internships. Another kid comes along and says I want to play professional basketball. We say, "Great, come (play for) us. But by the way, don't ever talk to us about that again. Don't ever talk to anyone in the business. If you do, by the way, we're going to make you stop playing basketball." There's some component about it that doesn't make any sense. … There's some part of that we have to fix."

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bryan-burwell/article_02e70d4a-5890-56e9-ae65-a8869ee5e0c4.html

[badger]

For a second there, I thought they were gonna talk about basketball degrees, or football degrees.

I think that's the difference - you get a dance diploma, but basketball and other sports are extra-curricular...

But why can't someone major in football education? This would be perfect for those proponents for more minority coaches in college football. Major in football education, with the intent to become a football coach someday. Essentially, an education degree (because most high school coaches are also high school teachers) with some required classes in coaching football. The capstone could be preparing a resume and application for college graduate assistant jobs.

Also, I think that football education would be something worthwhile for athletes that don't like school very much. This is something that directly relates to their interest and something that they would find useful for their post-college career if they don't end up playing professionally... but in essence, it's just fooling them into loving teaching more and they may just end up being a teacher in the classroom, not the football field. :D

[EatLeadCommie]

So who gives the grades for football? Stoops? Seems like a prime way to **** off players...or kiss their ***. If somebody never plays, how do they get a grade? Can you fail players to get them off scholarship?

Seems to be a lot of potential for abuse...

[badger]

Ever take pass/fail courses? Yeah, it can be just like that and it will be legitimately accepted too. I hear that's what Harvard does for their law courses now so that their grads aren't cut off by arbitrary GPA rates that are inflated at not-as-tough competitors

The big involvement with Stoops will be recommendation letters and reference phone calls, just like he likely gave Kevin Wilson for Indiana, just like he gave Adrian Peterson for Minnesota before they drafted him.

[MeMyself&Me]

So who gives the grades for football? Stoops? Seems like a prime way to **** off players...or kiss their ***. If somebody never plays, how do they get a grade? Can you fail players to get them off scholarship?

Seems to be a lot of potential for abuse...

I sure as hell was graded when I played high school football. I was never told by what standards the coaches used to apply the grade but after each game our grades were posted in the locker room.

I think for transcript purposes it was either an S or a U though but I can't remember for sure. We did get a half credit for our participation for it. I assumed that college students got some sort of credit for football too but by the way the question was asked, it doesn't look like it.

[jkjsooner]

Ever take pass/fail courses? Yeah, it can be just like that and it will be legitimately accepted too. I hear that's what Harvard does for their law courses now so that their grads aren't cut off by arbitrary GPA rates that are inflated at not-as-tough competitors.

Are you implying Harvard doesn't inflate grades? The elite public schools generally are tougher on grading standards than the elite private schools. (Private schools want the money to continue to flow in - maybe less so with Ivy schools since their endowments are so high.) I can't speak for Harvard law but it's been reported that Harvard in general has been suffering from grade inflation.

[badger]

Are you implying Harvard doesn't inflate grades? The elite public schools generally are tougher on grading standards than the elite private schools. (Private schools want the money to continue to flow in - maybe less so with Ivy schools since their endowments are so high.) I can't speak for Harvard law but it's been reported that Harvard in general has been suffering from grade inflation.

>implying
>implying
>implying

:D seriously though, no. pass/fail grades are probably the least inflatable grades possible though

[agoo758]

It would certainly be a great opportunity for someone who wants to become a coach but may not necessarily have the desire to put in all of those hours practicing the game and flying all over the country, not to mention the overall quality of coaching around the country would go up.

[Frozen Sooner]

Ever take pass/fail courses? Yeah, it can be just like that and it will be legitimately accepted too. I hear that's what Harvard does for their law courses now so that their grads aren't cut off by arbitrary GPA rates that are inflated at not-as-tough competitors

The big involvement with Stoops will be recommendation letters and reference phone calls, just like he likely gave Kevin Wilson for Indiana, just like he gave Adrian Peterson for Minnesota before they drafted him.

Yeah, that's not why Harvard does that. Trust me, if you have HLS on your resume, you're not losing out in the job search to someone from, say, Alabama, no matter how good his grades are.

Harvard went to Low Pass/Pass/High Pass (which, by the way, both Yale and Cal also do) because they had too many kids who didn't understand that SOMEONE has to get a C if you're on a curve. The kids who get into HLS likely never have before. They were going off the deep end in droves.

[Leroy Lizard]

Are you implying Harvard doesn't inflate grades? The elite public schools generally are tougher on grading standards than the elite private schools. (Private schools want the money to continue to flow in - maybe less so with Ivy schools since their endowments are so high.) I can't speak for Harvard law but it's been reported that Harvard in general has been suffering from grade inflation.

Correction: MASSIVE grade inflation. It's been a problem that even Harvard recognizes but can't seem to do anything about. Suffice to say that it is easier to get an A at Harvard than OU.

[Scott D]

Yeah, that's not why Harvard does that. Trust me, if you have HLS on your resume, you're not losing out in the job search to someone from, say, Alabama, no matter how good his grades are.

Harvard went to Low Pass/Pass/High Pass (which, by the way, both Yale and Cal also do) because they had too many kids who didn't understand that SOMEONE has to get a C if you're on a curve. The kids who get into HLS likely never have before. They were going off the deep end in droves.

you make that last sentence sound like a bad thing ;)

[Leroy Lizard]

For a second there, I thought they were gonna talk about basketball degrees, or football degrees.

I think that's the difference - you get a dance diploma, but basketball and other sports are extra-curricular...

But why can't someone major in football education? This would be perfect for those proponents for more minority coaches in college football. Major in football education, with the intent to become a football coach someday. Essentially, an education degree (because most high school coaches are also high school teachers) with some required classes in coaching football. The capstone could be preparing a resume and application for college graduate assistant jobs.


I actually favor this idea.

The problem with giving out degrees in "football" is that coaches would have to adjust to viewing their roles as faculty more than staff. Too many coaches, however, act more like drill sergeants than teachers.

Also, the curriculum would have to become more academic. Until that occurs, football should remain an extra-curricular activity.

You cannot compare dance to football because the latter is a lucrative competitive sport.