TO THE EDITOR:
Recognize how important education is for athletes: All of us are one injury away from obscurity. Core skills are absent from our graduates at great peril to civil society. Discipline is the hallmark of success, even for those born gifted in brain or muscle or coordination. Who is more disciplined than the athlete devoting a lifetime to honing their skills? “Iron butt” Nixon in the Duke Library?
Athletics and athletes require and deserve academic discipline and recognition and bachelor’s degrees. The discussion should be whether the degree is a B.S. or a B.A. The syllabus writes itself; Is there such a thing as a good foul?
How do you finance a Little League team or a university varsity?
What were the social and economic impacts of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ hiring Jackie Robinson or moving to Los Angeles?
What are the psychological roots of home court advantage?
What was the sociopolitical significance of Nelson Mandela and the green jersey?
What are the sexual and social implications of controlled physical competition?
It is ridiculous to put athletes into a separate box from other social movers and shakers and entertainers. Art, music, social science, business, economics, politics, entertainment, mathematics, ethics, health, the humanities, physics, science, et al. come together in the human spirit expressed in backyard sports and organized athletics, modest and local or world class, university or Olympic or commercial.
