Argument and Counter-Argument

Argument: The business of college sports lends into the costs of college athletics; athletes are being exploited for economic gain, while many are not fully aware of the sacrifices that lay ahead when signing their letters of intent.

College athletes make numerous sacrifices throughout their 4-5 years of college. In addition to the apparent risks, such as injuries and lack of time, athletes also face risks for their future. Most college athletic programs force athletes to put athletics over being a student. This sacrifice comes in many forms, such as choosing a less challenging major, forced to take certain professors and classes, or even to a lesser extent as just being too tired from practice to study. Centering life around athletics makes student-athletes miss out on the joys of the college experience.

Counter-Argument: As Donna Menke discusses in her dissertation, athletes have more to gain than to lose from participating in athletics. Athletes gain support, an education, as well as gain exposure to the pro leagues. According to Menke’s research, support comes in the form of academic tutors, boosters, teammates, coaches. One of Menke’s study participants even went as far to say, “If you needed to get out of jail, you had help.” Menke analyzes the same aspects as my research, but with a more positive spin. The counter-argument lays out the case that athletes gain more resources, values, and skills to take with them into life after athletics, as well as assistance to help them succeed. The dissertation also states that, “Student-athletes have a positive perception of their experience,” but is that perception born out of the glitz and glam of college athletics used to mask the darker side (Menke 40)?

Menke, Donna J. "Inside the Bubble": A Look at the Experiences of Student-Athletes in Revenue-Producing Sports during College and Beyond. , 2010. ProQuest, https://search-proquest-com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/docview/1881751988?accountid=13626.