Athletic Graduation Rates

Athletes are often times looked upon as the "dumb jocks" stemming all the way from their highschool days, and continuing to their collegiate careers, this trend needs to come to an end. A 2003 study shows that the graduation rate for all UT students is 81 percent whereas the graduation rates for student athletes is only at 62 percent. However when looking at the sports under the most survellience such as football, there is only a 49 percent graduation rate. When you put this number under an even bigger microscope such as minority, there is only a 37 percent graduation rate of African Americans and roughly a 70 percent graduation rate of  Caucasian Americans. This is about a 32 percent difference in the graduation rate of the two races. The problem with this statistic however is that it does not take into account the players who forgo their senior seniors to enter their perspective draft therefore the statistics are in a sense somewhat skewed. These statistics are not only somewhat embarrasing for the athletic programs, but they also upset other faculty. The athletic staff not only employ some of the highest paid people on campus, but also some of the highest paid in Texas as well. Since the majority of teachers look at student athletes through the student only lense it appears as if the athletic staff is not really doing their job and therefore should not be paid nearly as much. Much of the faculty take the standpoint that these diminishing athletic graduation rates make the University look worse and ruin the graduation rates of the University as a whole. There will always be a difference in opinion between the faculty and the athletic staffs, so it is best that both parts just do their job adequately.

Sports Labor Union

There has been a constant disagreement between the athletes and the managers for some time now, yet they have always found a way to find a happy medium between the two and allowed the sporting events to continue. This appears to be coming to a tragic hault as the upcoming 2011 NFL season appears to be in jeopardy because the athletes and the managers cannot come to an agreement. The Leauge and its managers want to extend the NFL season to 18 games without increasing the pay of players and as one can assume this poses obvious problems. That would be an additional two games that these athletes are putting thier bodies and lives at stake, and for no pay seems ridiculous. The managers however only see things through a financial lense, and see an increase in the NFL schedule as an increase in income for their teams and themselves. For the sake of the National football league it is in the best interest of the players along with the owners to come to some sort of  agreement prior to the 2011 season. Individual franchises cannot afford to lose any sort of income, and if players are forced to sit out for a year there will be major repercussions upon their reinstatment. Disagreements between athletes and ownerships have been brewing for a while now and they appear to be at an all time high.

Sports and Violence

The sporting world has begun to influence violence in the lifes of teens very negatively and it is not so much the fault of the sport, but rather the effect the media has had on the sports themselves. Wrestlers have for years been icons to many kids all over the world and in this world of wrestling kids often try to immitate and mimic the moves and stunts they see these wrestlers attempting (not realizing that these moves are rehearsed and in fact nothing but acting). Fast forward some years later when the newest form of sporting entertainment for kids to mimic is UFC (Ultimate fighting championship). This is essentially pro wrestling on steroids, its much more violent, much more dangerous, and much more real. These sporting events are often broadcasted on pay per view only and the primary audience is male teenagers. These kids for hours stare mindlessly at the telivision and as soon as the match is over go to there secluded areas and attempt to act out some of these moves they just spent the previous hour watching. Many report have surfaced of kids who have been wrestling around and ended up getting seriously injured all because they wanted to attmept a move they had seen on t.v. One cannot blame the sport itself for this problem, but rather the media and the thoughts they instill into our youth are the ones to blame.

Religion in Sports

Religion has been on a major decline in sports and sport industries along with society are doing their best to take religion itself out of the game. People have begin to wonder, is there even a place for religion in todays sporting world? My answer is simply yes. Sports themselves started with religion as the first athletic event is thought to be derived from a race to the alter of Zeus. Based on this fact how can you find it necessary or even appropriate to take religion out of sports. Many athletes play a sport because they filled called to do so or because they are trying to bring glory to God. By taking religion out of the games you are removing an athletes motivation for playing and by removing their movitation you are also removing their passion and enthusiasm for the game. If you remove indivuals athletes love for playing the game it will inevitbly ruin the game itself. Since the game is comprised of individual athletes it will be diminished one by one as each athlete loses its desire to play. Taking religion out of sports would be inexcusable and it should not be permitted by those who are in power. I feel as if religion should not be forced upon athletes however it should not be removed from the game.

Modern Day Sports

Sports have continually evolved over the years, and they are ever changing even to today. The first sporting games started in the ancient times. There was actually a religious aspect to the games as they initially started with a race to Zues' alter. The olympic games had many rules and restrictions as in the first games woman were not allowed to participate. Within the following hundred years or so women were allowed to participate however there were restrictions for peasants and those who were of the "lower classes". The games continually change and religion is beginning to be taken out of sports. Sports have now been turned into a country verse country affair. Looking at the World cup, countries are turned against countries and nations are turned against nation. The Olympic games were initially brought in place in order to bring nations together however as times have evolved they are doing the opposite. Many athletes in fact leave their native countries in order to participate for another country, and this always stirs up hatred for the athlete from the country. A prime example of the Olympics going wrong is when Hitler attempted to use the platform of the Games in order to show off his country. Sports are continually evolving and it will be interesting to see where they continue to go.

Doping in sports

Doping has been a challenging issue in the sporting world for years now. Though it is continually growing as an issue in sports annually. Doping is nothing to play with in sports as the integrity of the game is being lost with each individual issue. There is no simple solution to solving this epidemic of doping in sports as athletes have found a way to stay one step ahead of the testing agencies. Many athletes have been caught doping such as Barry Bonds, Mark Maguire, and Jose Conseco; these are just a few notable athletes who have been caught doping. These three baseball players have in a sense single handedly ruined the view of modern day baseball. Mark Maguire set the MLB record for homeruns with 73, however the following year baseball instilled random mid season testing and no one hit over 50 homeruns. Thats almost a 33 percent decrease in homeruns and this is no coincidence. These athletes have displayed the effect that doping can have on the game of sports, and there is no room in the game for it.

Concussions in Football

The epidemic of concussions or head trauma is a growing issue in today’s sporting world, and whether or not the leagues are truly trying to protect the athletes, or just protect themselves, the issue of concussions and the necessary treatment following concussions has become a blooming issue.  In boxing, the main objective is to knock out your opponent by shots to both their body and their head. In mixed martial arts, there is a similar objective, to force your opponent into submission via different holds and application of pressure points. However, this is not the case in the game of football. In football the objective is to score if your on offense and if on defense to limit your opponent from scoring. No where in the game is the objective to knock your opponents head off, and you are in fact penalized not rewarded for hits to the head. The game of football has already adapted so much modern day as opposed to how the game used to be played, and there are not many more changes that could take place in order for football to be played the same yet be considered safer. Football is a violent sport by nature, and society has to come to that realization. There can only be so many rules inforced until football loses its luster and I believe the majority of these changes have already taken place. Now it is up to the athletes to take accountability and keep eachother safe.