BY SAMMY BLUNT
Since we first started getting homework early in our school years, parents have told us to stop playing sports, and come inside to do homework. We high school students are starting to realize that, as we near senior year and college applications, our parents made a mistake by calling us inside. Lately, star athletes are having an easier time getting into their college of choice while star students are having a harder time.
The University of Michigan, for example, has always been known as a school with good academics and great athletics. The pride and joy of the University of Michigan, however, has always been its football team. Michigan has one of the biggest fan bases and alumni networks in the nation. In fact, the fans helped the Wolverine nation land a ten-year deal with the ESPN and ABC networks, plus a decade-long deal with Fox Network’s Big Ten. Because of all the attention Michigan gets, many have high expectations for their football team. When Michigan football recruiters visited San Diego in 2008, they found what they thought to be the future of the prestigious football program in Tate Forcier.
Forcier’s freshman season, although not bad, was not enough for Wolverine fans, who forced the program to replace the sophomore quarterback. Soon after, rumors spread about his poor performance in school, eventually leading to his expulsion from the football program and the school.
It has become obvious that colleges have completely sold out to the attention they gain from media and funding they gain from their athletic programs. Tate Forcier was a C-grade student at best who took precious spots at Michigan away from A-grade students. Universities and colleges are using up star athletes with low grades and then throwing them out when they are no longer needed.
My question is, what should we as high school students be spending our time on? Is it fair to have a B-minus student who is a great tennis player beat out an A-plus student applying to Harvard? Or were all of those years studying to get to college a waste of time?
