re: CNN drops bomb on college sports.....

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So, why don't universities just offer a "football" degree course?

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Because when they are one day physically incapable of playing the game, what would they be left with? At least with a Housing degree they have some knowledge or skill set that specializes them in the workforce and offers them a life after football.

I don't think it's any news flash that the term "student-athlete" is a total fabrication. As a student, you're not watching your peers perform. In fact, the team you're watching is a semi-pro team paid for by and affiliated with the university. The reason this is problem is that students who are actually in college to be educated are denied the opportunity to participate in athletics for the team representing the university they are paying tens of thousands to attend. What's more, athletes have their tuition waived with benefits (both illicit and within the rules), while more qualified students are unable to cover the tuition, despite posting superior scores across the spectrum. Think about it. Full-ride scholarships for less qualified students because they exhibit more prowess playing a game.

To those of you purporting that this process betters the student-athlete, I'd ask you to consider the facts. The university has no interest whatsoever in educating them or bettering their status in society. They see them as cattle, able to have their talents exploited for profit. Many athletes don't attend class (source: go to any class with athletes) in the first place and the vast majority of "big sports" players do not graduate, even if they are among the few that remain on the roster the full four years. Those who do graduate have essentially worthless degrees (Matt Leinart majored in ballroom dancing) that no employer requires or appreciates.

This article states that there are people in college, perhaps at the institution you attended, who cannot read beyond an elementary school level, if at all. If you don't think this is a sick atmosphere, I don't know what to tell you. The entire concept of the athletic scholarship is an oxymoron that discredits the institutions that give them (all but the Division III schools and the Ivy League) and the entire concept of collegiate athletics, which were devised as extracurricular activities. Let's not even delve into all the embarrassment these athletes bring onto the university each season through arrests and debauched behavior.

College sports are fun to watch, but don't delude yourself, they aren't a "pure" product by any stretch of the imagination. These aren't students, plain and simple. Yet, despite all of this, much of what we see from the media and fans are articles discussing why these athletes deserve to be paid (legitimate) salaries, in addition to their scholarships and benefits.

All that said, this story overshadows a larger problem within our society. Not everyone belongs in college, and very few people emerge from college now any better for the experience. But we have this idealist notion that everyone deserves a college experience, when many would be better served taking a technical path. We stigmatize blue-collar careers, causing no one to want to take this path, despite the fact that they are more crucial to the survival of society than any white-collar careers. The reason we can see all this corruption and still watch college athletics is that we all accept and know that the college system itself is broken.