athletic scholarship

Discuss this oxymoron in the comments below.

7.2/10 - (25 votes)

28 Responses to "athletic scholarship"

Elizabeth Hall says:

May 24, 2010 at 8:27 pm

This is not an oxymoron.
ashli says:

May 31, 2010 at 1:20 am

are they saying that athletes cannot be smart?! that is very offensive because i am a very athletic person!!!
Jordan Clark says:

August 9, 2010 at 6:29 am

I believe it's because SCHOLARships are supposed to be awarded for smarts, not for athleticism.
Prof. Silvanus Éimhín says:

October 12, 2010 at 10:49 pm

How true! I've met around 100 athletes this year (counting awards) and none of my students in sports seem to have grades above C- with the exception of a few C's! Jordan is right, SCHOLARships are for SCHOLARs, not for athletes. Why not create training grounds for athletes instead of waste money on these pitiful excuses for underachievement? Back when I taught math, I noticed that many of the Algebra II seniors were athletes…
Prof. Silvanus Éimhín says:

October 12, 2010 at 10:50 pm

(I mean teaching Alg. II in a HS setting, not a college!)
Prof. Silvanus Éimhín says:

October 13, 2010 at 3:49 am

How true! I've met around 100 athletes this year (counting awards) and none of my students in sports seem to have grades above C- with the exception of a few C's! Jordan is right, SCHOLARships are for SCHOLARs, not for athletes. Why not create training grounds for athletes instead of waste money on these pitiful excuses for underachievement? Back when I taught math, I noticed that many of the Algebra II seniors were athletes…
Prof. Silvanus Éimhín says:

October 13, 2010 at 3:50 am

(I mean teaching Alg. II in a HS setting, not a college!)
nikkee dee says:

December 19, 2010 at 12:49 am

At my school the Athletes were at the top of the school with the highest grades all in AP classes
Seimhin says:

January 11, 2011 at 9:01 am

Send me those transcripts. Are you sure they were Advanced Placement and not Alternative Placement classes?
Broski says:

January 27, 2011 at 5:21 pm

Bro, Im a freshman wrestling varsity and Im in sophmore and Junior classes.
Seimhin says:

March 10, 2011 at 12:52 am

If you are, I honestly doubt you would be saying, “Bro [sic1], Im [sic2] a freshman wrestling varsity [sic3] and Im [sic4] in sophmore [sic5] and Junior [sic6] classes.
[sic1]: A student dares call an unrelated, unknown teacher, “Bro?!” Honestly!
[sic2]: Im: what happened to apostrophes? Why are there so many grammar apostates?
[sic3]: a freshman wrestling varsity: hmm, one could make a case for this one by using wrestling as a present progressive verb but the way someone like you would use it, it’s probably a gerund, which would render this incorrect.
[sic4]: See [sic2]
[sic5]: It isn’t sophmore, it’s sophomore. At least get spelling correct, if not grammar.
[sic6]: Junior: why are you capitalizing the, “J,” in, “Junior?” Freshman and sophomore were not capitalized, so why is this different? Is Junior the publisher for the coursework?
Seimhin says:

March 14, 2011 at 1:50 pm

Would you kindly mention why it would not be an oxymoron? Or are you just following the Sheeple [sic1] and their arrogant ideals of political correctness [sic2]?

[sic1]: Sheeple: portmanteau from sheep and people, after their tendency to travel in herds
[sic2]:pc[sic3] is occasionally capitalized in the title case, but it deserves no honor whatsoever. If you have heard what the pc [sic3] people say, you would probably end up feeling indirectly insulted. Unless, of course, you are one of them.
[sic3]:It does not even deserve to have a capitalized acronym. Intelligent people will be insulted by pc [sic3] talk of equality, because that would lead to a realization of, “Harrison Bergeron.”
ProudMom says:

March 21, 2011 at 6:52 pm

You are out of control. You are stereotyping anyone that thinks an athlete has a brain. My daughter is nearing the end of her junior year and has a 3.8 GPA. Not because she’s taking no brainer classes either. She has been taking AP classes, college classes, and medical classes. She also has been on the swim and water polo teams every year. She gets home from practice around 6:30pm, eats dinner, and hits the books. She is often studying until 11pm and is up every day by 5:30am, and off to early morning classes. She is in a college english class, human anatomy, human biology (she figured they’d cover some of the same things and she’d be that much further ahead of the game), Calculus, and so forth. She is also involved in student government, choir, and service clubs. You can pick apart my errors in grammar, capitalization, etc. but it won’t change the fact that my daughter is an athlete and a scholar!
ProudMom says:

March 21, 2011 at 11:54 pm

I was mistaken. She has a 3.9 GPA.
Seimhin says:

March 25, 2011 at 5:32 am

Hmmm, not bad, really. Remember the semantics of my statements? They seem to strongly imply athletes who try to become scholars, not scholars who become athletes are the failures. I will have to make a few exceptions, but I would say that the anti-intellectual backlash has subsided to some extent. I might just return to HS teaching. She turned out well, I see. Of course, from my experience with teaching at public HS’s, that schedule would be a rough load. Choir AND swimming? I commend you for your excellent parenting skills and your daughter for motivation. May she somehow rise to become a Nobel Laureate in the medical fields. I mean this, I am never sarcastic about such academic cases. Your vigorous defense, however, could be toned down. Freudian psycho(logist)s would think you were hiding something. I also give my sincerest apologies for implying that scholars cannot become athletes, but athletes cannot generally become scholars, as clarification. You should have seen the classes back in the 40’s, before the hippies doused everyone in their filthy smoke. I am of the opinion that she is a rare sample of a true scholar. Encourage her to try taking the super-rare AP exams, such as Latin or Music Theory, because they are extremely valuable. I would think that around or less than 0% of public school students try such things anymore, because they’re usually trying some new plant or chemical.

By any chance, how much does she do, in terms of extracurricular studies/research? Exceptions to the Athletes!=Scholars rule of thumb interest me. Perhaps she could start focusing on a desired subject, because apparently, the Europeans frequently specialize their students.

And back to the oxymoron. If you are an athlete, you are not doing any scholarly work in the athletic fields, unless you are researching something about athletics. Therefore, I maintain that athletic scholarships should be renamed to athletic grants or maybe athletic awards to avoid such confusion.
ProudMom says:

March 25, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Over defensive? You must not be a parent. It is normal for a parent to defend their child when they feel they are being attacked.

I do see what you are saying about the difference between an athlete being a scholar and a scholar being an athlete but I still don’t agree. To each his own. How is this different than music scholarships?
Seimhin says:

March 28, 2011 at 6:04 am

With music, I am sure every dabbler or master realizes that composition takes a lot of study. Although it is true that I am not a parent, I can see how you would react to that, and again, I apologize for my brash actions. However, music is an activity primarily focusing on the brain, as opposed to sports. Perhaps, however, neologisms for various activities involving the brain are in order. I have colleagues that refuse to acknowledge music as an academic or intellectual work. I assure you that the fugal form is beyond their current level of comprehension. Perhaps, even cadences are just beyond their grasp.

Besides, who mentioned music scholarships? I think they still work, although perhaps, artistic grants or artistic awards are, again, more specific terms. Music enriches the mind, but sports focus the physical competition, contrary to Freud’s theories. Thus, my point about the athletes attempting to pass off as scholars will not be retracted. However, I will reiterate my point about the fact that scholars can become athletes while maintaining their scholarly positions, although humans would accomplish more had they lost their requirement for such excessive pleasures.

And as a side note (although it is not good to start a sentence with the word, “and,”), perhaps your daughter should invest some time in AP Music Theory, if she has not done so already. This is the perfect complement to her skills and will boost her likely high grades in math. Modern pulchritudinous music is still waiting for a change of both ears and players.
Seimhin says:

March 28, 2011 at 6:05 am

[Wrong place, but intentions probably understood]
ohyeah says:

July 25, 2011 at 2:26 pm

How pitiful. What you say is not all wrong but YOUR vigorous attack against athletes and the way you seem to have a problem with them thinking they are underachievers etc, based on Freudian analysis suggests your are hiding something as well, maybe some deep jealusy for athletics types maybe some buried hate because as a child you would get beaten by athletic kids or something of that sort, maybe even jealusy for people who are smart and athletic all at once, or envy because, thinking so highly of your intelect and being a HS teacher you believe you are an underachiever. Talking about intellect and inteligence and defending them like you are a beacon of knowledge and wisdom. ‘any way have a good day! and please dont try to defend yourself again correcting something as superficial and trivial as grammar or spelling, english is not my mother tungue so i couldnt care less.
Seimhin says:

September 2, 2011 at 8:02 am

So that of which you speak is not Freudian as well?

That seems more like an Oedipus than a Hamlet…
Seimhin says:

September 2, 2011 at 8:06 am

Come to think of it, what am I even doing in this madhouse? How annoying!
Krazy4sccr says:

March 19, 2012 at 8:30 pm

I dont think it is saying athletes are not smart it just means that the base word scholar is for school right. So its opposite because school and sports are not really the sme things. And any way you don’t have to be a athlete to be dumb. And you don’t have to not do sports to be smart it is all in the way you study not how athletic you are.
Krazy4sccr says:

March 19, 2012 at 8:30 pm

I dont think it is saying athletes are not smart it just means that the base word scholar is for school right. So its opposite because school and sports are not really the sme things. And any way you don’t have to be a athlete to be dumb. And you don’t have to not do sports to be smart it is all in the way you study not how athletic you are.
Sean Brady says:

January 31, 2013 at 4:27 am

This is rather interesting. I too am wrestling varsity and playing varsity baseball. Though I am not a freshmen, I am a sophomore who manages to have a 4.0 while taking college classes. So “bro” leave broski alone. Theres nothing wrong with talking with a little colloquial speech. so step off bitch as craka!
Touchet says:

December 6, 2013 at 10:19 pm

lets see how you do in college. My high school was so dumb, I had a 4.5 GPA (they actually gave you MORE than a 4.0 for AP classes, so that means you have a B right? Any way, I had a 100 average and above in most classes due to extra credit.
Touchet says:

December 6, 2013 at 10:22 pm

At many colleges, there are senor sportsmen in Algebra. When I took it as a freshman, there was a senior football player in it. Guess he decided to get serious when he didn’t get drafted to the NFL, along with the ENTIRE football team, lol.
Touchet says:

December 6, 2013 at 10:24 pm

I think colleges need to have a separate school now for vocational football. Give a liberal sports degree in football kinetics or something. For fun they could throw in poker as well.
Touchet says:

December 6, 2013 at 10:27 pm

yes, that is exactly what they are saying. I’m sure some altheletes in intramural are pretty smart, maybe 1 football player every couple of years or decade. The point is, they didn’t get a SCHOLAR ship, they don’t have to take HONORS classes. Their free tuition was based on sports ability, not grades. NEITHER do they have to maintain a GPA other than a D. Now some colleges are different. I think Michigan state is one. They have higher standards. But they are an exception.

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