Signing day frenzy: Sign of how important sports are to us. Are they too important?
Given the attention this week to college “signing day” for high school athletes, I understand that sports are highly valued by parents, schools and the culture. I also understand that some parents are more invested in their child’s athletic careers than their academic ones,
The entire South watched Wednesday as top high school athletes signed letters of intent with colleges. Is this media and public attention to high school sports too much?
perhaps believing that their teen’s chances for success are better on the playing field than in the classroom.
As I have said here before, I was surprised to find that parents hired private coaches to help their kids improve their athletic skills. I had one brother talented and driven enough to play college sports, and the most my parents did to further his ambitions was put up a basketball hoop in the yard.
So, it’s hard for me to understand a parent who gets so distraught and agitated that he punches out a coach. But as the AJC reports today, it happens and now a Cobb father may be going to prison for punching a high school football coach because his 17-year-old son was told to run laps as punishment.
According to the AJC:
After deliberating about an hour on Wednesday, a jury convicted Ronald Lee of aggravated battery to a teacher, aggravated battery of a school employee and cruelty to children because the fight happened in front of students.
Coach Preston Moses’ injuries required him to have surgery.
Lee, who faces up to 20 years in prison, admitted that he confronted Moses on the field, but the father testified that he hit the coach only in self-defense.
“He dropped the whistle out of his mouth and he came towards me and I reacted,” Lee said according to a WSB radio account of the father’s testimony. “He went down on one knee … I was just kind of stunned for a minute because of what happened. And then I just walked off the field.”
Sometimes, it seems from media accounts that parents come in two speeds: There are the underpowered parents who never show up or respond to anything at school, and there are the parents in overdrive who react too strongly and too often.
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62 comments Add your comment
Wounded Warrior
February 4th, 2010
9:17 am
Why isn’t an article done on DeKalb employees going to Hollywood, CA…for teachers’ conference…$400K that could have been spent on teacher salaries. The Dekalb spokesperson says that this is the only way for educators to meet with other educators from around the conference. Does the lead PE Super not know about the internet and meetings that can be done online?
Uncle Commode
February 4th, 2010
9:19 am
Thats the problem. Every parent thinks that their non-talented two left feet little johnny or susie is the next sports Super-Star. Even if ones little mutant is talented one must look at the odds of success.
There are only so many of these high dollar sports positions available and Im afraid your little mutant isnt gonna make the cut.
CH
February 4th, 2010
9:44 am
As a coach, I always have a parent meeting after final cuts have been made. I let the parents and athletes know my expectations of them. I make it clear to the parents about the procedure I have for addressing concerns. Furthermore, I let them know the boundaries as to where they can be if they want to “watch” practices. I also let them know up front what some of the consequences may be if their child chooses to break one of the school or team rules. This way they know what to expect. As a coach, I love all of my kids…sometimes its tough love but they all understand that I have their best interest at heart and would rather see them become a better person, not just a better athlete. This parent obviously had some emotional issues and should suffer the consequences.
Northview (Ex)Teacher
February 4th, 2010
10:05 am
Not to beat a dead horse, but yesterday UGA announced that its Athletic Director will make an obscene salary: more than $500K, plus incentives. This on top of $750K for a football coach. We always have money for football, and never have money for such inessential things as paying professors and teachers the salary they signed a contract to work for.
Don’t get me wrong: the posters here have shown than many secondary coaches are dedicated, hard-working people who love students and make every effort to help their kids succeed on and off the field. Kudos to the coaches who try to do the right thing in tough circumstances. We all do/did the same thing.
However, the jock mentality that drives our universities and schools is, simply put, a disgrace. Instead of seeing how sacrifice requires something from everyone, students see how people who work in the classroom have to sacrifice while jocks get all the breaks. What a message for our young people. At least there’s no doubt about what our priorities are in this state. We have a pot of money for the coaches and not a pot to p*ss in for the professors and teachers.
Many of these rabid Dawg fans are the same people who used to go to the coliseum to watch the gladiators. Since their own lives are so limited and lacking in imagination, they can only fulfill their destructive fantasies of violence by watching young men take it out on other young men. Meanwhile we don’t even provide these young men with an education worthy of the name.
I feel kind of sorry for them all.
Woof, woof, woof.
Vee
February 4th, 2010
10:06 am
Too often parents don’t want to accept their children’s limitations whether it be on the field, court or classroom. So many parents try to live vicariously through the children and it hinders them from becoming the person that they are destined to be. This also speaks to the lack of disrespect that so many children in this generation have for authority. Let’s face it parents, it takes more than just you to shape your children. But maybe some of these coaches or teachers are being assaulted because they are requiring what the parents are not, which is R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
TTPB
February 4th, 2010
10:13 am
No, sports are not too important – they are very important! It’s the parents who cannot behave like adults or accept their kids for who they are (or are not). It is parents like this (the ones who stand out because of irrational behavior) who give rise to absurd changes in the system that only supports undisciplined, disrespectful, spoiled children. I hope the parent is punished and the rules do NOT change.
atlantaphotog
February 4th, 2010
10:20 am
Sports should be eliminated from public schools – period. One of the reasons American school children have the same intelligence level as children in many third world countries these days is because more emphasis is placed on basketball and football in many schools here than science and math. Kids should go to school to LEARN, not PLAY.
For sports teams outside of school, there should be firm rules in place. The FIRST time a parent acts up and starts trouble, the parent should be banned from every game afterward. Too many Dad’s (and in some cases, Moms) have the “living my past failures through my kids”, issues. They can work that out with a shrink – there’s no place for it on the ball field.
Lee
February 4th, 2010
10:27 am
I have been blessed by two daughters who were actively involved in sports and other extra-curricular activities. They played soccer and softball, ran cross country, marched in the band, cheered, and danced their way to adulthood.
My wife and I have spent countless hours at practice and games. Along the way, we socialized (and commiserated) with other parents. We made lasting relationships that continued long after the girls moved on to other things.
I never pushed my daughters to try out for a particular sport or activity. My only admonition was that if they joined a team, I wanted them to stay with it for that particular season. If they didn’t want to do it the next year, that was their decision.
I have witnessed over-the-top behavior by parents, athletes, coaches and referees. I’m guessing here, but they were probably the same ones who would jump a teacher for disciplining or giving their kid a bad grade.
That said, I think there is far too much emphasis on athletics these days. I’ve often said on this blog that the most powerful individual in education is not the superintendent or principal, but the president of the athletic association. Why? Because he is about the only person who can flood a school board meeting with 75-100 irate parents. Do that and you can get everything you want, every time.
ellijay dawg
February 4th, 2010
10:29 am
photog states that sports should be eliminated from public schools because kids should go to school to learn, not play. I attend Georgia public schools in the 60’s and 70’s and played sports every year, usually multiple sports every year. I graduated in the top 10% of my class and have gone on to have a very successful business career, currently in a C level position. When attending school and playing sports, I knew very well that if my grade average dropped below a certain point I would no longer be able to play sports. This was required by my coaches but also by my parents. My love for playing sports made me concentrate on my studies and grades when otherwise I could have cared less whatever my grades would have been.
It is not an over emphasis on sports but an under participation by parents in the learning, schooling, education process. If it had not been for my parents holding me to a certain standard and my coaches pushing me to be the best I could be, I would not be the person I am today.
once again
February 4th, 2010
10:52 am
Once again professional sports hater Northview (Ex)Teacher is bloviating and beating a dead horse. Listen here ex; you couldn’t hack it in the classroom so what mekes you think people here want to hear the opinion of a failed educator?
Tony
February 4th, 2010
10:58 am
Where are the signing days for our top scholars from schools? It speaks clearly of our society’s priorities and values when more attention is given to athletics – MEDIA IS THE NUMBER ONE CULPRIT – over scholarship. We are fed a constant diet of Hollywood stars’ and professional athletes’ personal lives and not-so-stellar moral choices through television. We do not hear about how the top scholars of our schools get scholarships to top universities.
Financially, our society is willing to pay obscene amounts of money for entertainment via movies and sports. Then, we sqwawk very loudly when we say more money is needed for the schools. We even subsidize the sports venues through tax revenues with hardly a peep. Yet, to ask for money to upgrade schools’ facilities and technology is just too much for the taxpayer to bear.
Where is the balance? Our priorities clearly show that we are willing to freely pay for athletics over scholarship. We are passing on to the next generation the same values and it is greatly contributing to the crisis in our nation with regard to poor student achievement.
Ole Guy
February 4th, 2010
11:16 am
CH, your words remind me of my 8th grade football coach. During every post-practice session, he would troll the locker room in search of “wayward items”…socks, jocks, and the like. Prior to dismissal, following his usual pep talk, he would hold aloft the lost items for reclaimation. As each kid retrieved his stuff, the coach would administer a pop on the ass with that paddle…nothing major, just a reminder. As time went on, these pops became a sort of bonding ritual…kids were “accidentaly” misplacing stuff so that they would be included in the process. THANK YOU SIR MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!
Thanks for the memory, Coach.
Northview (Ex)Teacher
February 4th, 2010
11:24 am
Once again,
Actually, you are a loser with nothing to say. You know nothing about me, or the choice I made.
Woof, woof, woof.
Elizabeth
February 4th, 2010
11:31 am
Where is the frenzy to sighn teachers to a contract? No where! It seems athletes are more valued than the ones who teach them.
Nature Dude
February 4th, 2010
11:38 am
It’s a simple equation. Top prospects can make colleges millions of dollars…teachers don’t. By the way, before you come at me I am a teacher, trying to get out of the classroom because I anticipate seeing my pay get worse. Not saying it’s right, but look around you, that’s how the world, and especially the USofA works.
Zeke
February 4th, 2010
11:46 am
One thing that many fail to realize is that sports programs are funded differently than academics. The AD at UGA’s salary isn’t being paid by student fees. It’s being paid by the athletic boosters who raise their own money. In other words, they aren’t taking your tax money that is designed to be spent for instructional purposes and giving it to coaches and ADs.
Aubrey
February 4th, 2010
12:11 pm
Wounded warrior, I would LOVE for them to do a story on Dekalb going to Hollywood because if you truly had the facts you would realize it is totally sensationalized. The conference is taking place in an average rennaissance hotel (just like the one by our ATL airport) at group rates comparable to anywhere over here. The conference alternates coasts from year to year and BELIEVE me they need to be out their learning how to improve their schools. It’s hardly like they are on a ritzy california vacation. Do your research. And don’t trust photos from a hotel’s website. How many times has the hotel you stayed in actually looked as nice as their website.
Ole Guy
February 4th, 2010
12:15 pm
Zeke, I think you just highlighted the problem, and the arguements posted. When it comes to sports, people can’t wave their dollars fast enough. When it comes to education…well, picture the venerable Jimmy Stewart with his heming and hawing. In short, sports fans notwithstanding, our priorities are all screwed up.
V for Vendetta
February 4th, 2010
12:16 pm
Northview (Ex)Teacher,
You’re beating a dead horse by continuing to mention untrue information. Athletic department funds at the university level are heavily influenced by booster contributions–not public taxes. Get your facts straight.
As a former high school and college athlete, I think sports teach kids valuable lessons about themselves and others. In my opinion, the most logical solution for addressing the disparity between student performance and athletic ability would be to raise the minimum GPA needed to play high school and college sports. I’m surprised no one has really brought this up.
To play sports in high school, a student need only pass four out of six classes in one semester. (However, he or she must immediately make up those grades or “fall behind” in credits.) Instead of basing it on GPA, why not base it on both GPA and cum. averages? Why not show the untalented people that there are many high-achieving student-athletes out there. (Is that rude? Sure. But I take offense when people start whining about athletics and grades. I was an honor grad and one of the best in my sport in the state of GA. It wasn’t easy to do both.)
For every person lamenting the state of education versus sports, there are at least five or six kids walking through my door every day who are obese, wimpy, and lethargic to the point of comatose. Some people are more physically gifted than others, but this is ridiculous. I think physical fitness is as important as mental fitness, and we must hold BOTH to a higher standard. A lot of problems would be solved if we did.
justice
February 4th, 2010
12:17 pm
why did someone that killed a guy with only one punch only get 3 years for involuntary manslaughter (serving only 2 years) and absolutely no probation. I think 5 years is a bit harsh…I’m sure that man would learn a lesson after spending a year in prison
Shake Your Money Maker! » Blog Archive » Signing day frenzy: Sign of how important sports are to us. Are …
February 4th, 2010
12:17 pm
[...] post by Maureen Downey Possible Related [...]
dawg26
February 4th, 2010
12:33 pm
It’s kind of hard to rally around a math class.
catlady
February 4th, 2010
12:41 pm
Zeke, I would argue that the taxpayers ARe subsidizing the college coaches, since the land, students, etc. are on taxpayer owned land (which could be used for something else) In addition, the taxpayers support (through the subsidy taxpayers provide EVERY student at the university) the students whose existence gives work to the coach.
ABC
February 4th, 2010
12:42 pm
Well said @Tony. They should do a signing day for the top high school students academically. Let’s see, should I choose Harvard or Stanford? Sports have their place, but we need to shift our priorities to academics if we’re to remain a world leader.
Mike T.
February 4th, 2010
12:43 pm
Why is it, that some jerk punches out a coach and its the sports fault.
People need to learn how to act and behave.Like it or not sports are
an important part of our society, sports teaches teamwork,how to set
and accomplish goals and work through and around obstacles that stand in the way of those goals. All education is not math,science and english,remember the saying, “a sound mind in a sound body.”
catlady
February 4th, 2010
12:43 pm
Ms. Downey, can we discuss the proposed broadening of the taxpayer funded scholarship program from “special needs” to cover non sped military and foster children? What’s next–children whose grandparent served in the armed forces? Children whose parents have neglected them (but were not put in foster care)? Anyone who didn’t see this coming needs a checkup from Dr. Reality.
Zeke
February 4th, 2010
12:54 pm
Catlady, I’ve yet to hear anyone complain about the land used for athletics. Quite the contrary, actually. Let me know what would happen if UGA decided to replace Sanford Stadium with a classroom building. Besides, I was specifically addressing the salary issue, not land. People WANT good athtletics at their schools, and they lend to a better overall student experience.
Common Sense aint Common
February 4th, 2010
12:56 pm
I’m amazed at the lack of common sense with some of the people that post, but then again I always tell my wife that common sense is not common. I’m a hs teacher in year 15, a teacher that went to school on a full athletic scholarship. Nature Dude hit the nail on the head when he briefly mentions the millions of dollars the football teams bring the universities. These monies are also used for the regular student body. In no way shape or form should sports be eliminated from schools, sports are such an important part of our society in every aspect, especially socially. Athletes deserve the monies they are paid. Your worth is essentially based on what you generate and if you generate $100 million in sales shy shouldn’t you get your $20 million? I will also like to end by saying that many of you posters are attacking education the wrong way, we have to stop throwing more and more money at the problem thinking that will solve it. If you really want to make education better in Georgia then put more money into Pre-K, make it mandatory for all kids and start Pre-K at the age of 3 instead of 4. There are far too many kindergartners that don’t know there ABC’s, can’t count, don’t know there colors, days of the week, and months. Of course if they learned those essentials at home from the most important teachers in the world education would be great. Oh yeah the most important teachers in the world are there first teachers, their “PARENTS.”
what's right for kids???
February 4th, 2010
12:58 pm
dawg26, that was funny. Made me giggle. But I do think that there is too much hype on sports and not enough focus on education.
MeaneyMouse
February 4th, 2010
1:00 pm
His ass should go to the joint. Serves him right!! /(*..*)\
Northview (Ex)Teacher
February 4th, 2010
1:06 pm
Zeke and V for Vendetta,
I hear the same old thing from folks like you all the time. In the interest of dialogue, I want to ask why athletics should be allowed to consider itself separate from the university. On some level, all these overpaid jocks are employees of the UNIVERSITY of Georgia. At a time when budgets are being slashed mercilessly, it rings a bit hollow to hear time after time that the money comes from a different pot. So what? If football is our priority to the exclusion of everything else, why not just admit that?
Personally, I wouldn’t mind a bit if you all would take your football team away from the university and set up a little pro franchise. In all other parts of the world, there is no such thing as “big-time” college sports. There was a recent report in the Chronicle of Higher Education that college presidents are finding themselves extremely concerned about the increasing influence of sports in what are nominally at least supposed to be academic institutions.
You all seem to think that making a statement is the same as explaining a claim. You seem to want to make an assertion and then stop all others from expressing a different point-of-view.
I’m asking a serious question of you: what difference does it make where the money comes from? Do they work for the UNIVERSITY of Georgia or not? Also, of the football team is such a financial boon to the university, as you claim, where is the proof of that?
Atlantajimmy
February 4th, 2010
1:10 pm
Sports can be a very good thing, until parents get involved. If the father is a coach, sure as sunrise its “Daddy Ball”. Their child plays, gets special coaching or one on one instruction.
Unfortunately kids learn early on that they will play or they won’t. Some kids are the stars and are encouraged, nourished and pushed. The kids that aren’t stars don’t play. When they don’t play they get frustrated, bored and quit. The problem is this is happening WAY too early in a child’s life and we may never know what talents we are throttling. (Michael Jordan wasn’t anything special in HS!) The kid who is fast and quick at 10 may never grow big enough to take a hit, but the kid the coach benches gets bored and quits could grow to be a Monster. Hmmm we’ll never know.
ForsythTeach
February 4th, 2010
1:19 pm
To paraphrase Bear Bryant, “80,000 people never showed up to watch a chemistry test.”
rmh
February 4th, 2010
1:27 pm
I have noticed that there is always money for boys sports. Yes, I know that it comes from a different fund. However, many of our young men play sports convinced that they will be a superstar and make millions of dollars. The reallity is that many great high school players and college players never make it in the pros. Yes, too much importance is placed on sports.
Zeke
February 4th, 2010
1:27 pm
Ex Teacher…it’s simple. The mission of athletics and the mission of academics are not the same. That’s why they need to be kept separate. There are already professional athletic organizations out there, but the tradition of school sports is very strong in this country. Countless student-athletes have benefited from both sports and academics.
And no, the athletes are not employees of the university. No more so than a great dance student who is on a scholarship.
And no one has tried to stop you from expressing your view. I will simply say that a little less paranoia would make you sound a little more credible.
Northview (Ex)Teacher
February 4th, 2010
1:37 pm
Zeke,
Read a little more carefully, please. Everyone knows that student athletes are not employees. I asked specifically about coaches: are they or are they not employees of the university?
Again, you simply make an assertion and expect us to take it at face value. More nuanced thinking would make you sound a lot more credible.
Zeke
February 4th, 2010
1:48 pm
Ex Teach
Hmmmm, you did say “On some level, all these overpaid jocks are employees of the UNIVERSITY of Georgia.” I guess my reading skills are satisfactory after all.
Now as far as coaches go, yes, they are university employees. So are professors and janitors. I hope that answers your question.
And you don’t have to take my assertions at face value. I certainly don’t take yours that way. But I do expect others to stop whining about their opinions being censored when no such thing has happened.
catlady
February 4th, 2010
1:56 pm
Okay,Zeke, point taken. But the taxpayers DO subsidize sports by providing the land for facilities and the subsidy for classes to be put on for students.
Think of what would happen if GA Tech sold off Grant field for in-town housing (like Centennial Park area). Quite a bit of money for academics, eh?
Northview (Ex)Teacher
February 4th, 2010
2:14 pm
Actually, Zeke, your reading skills seem as weak as your ability to write a coherent argument. “Overpaid jocks” could not refer to student athletes, who are not paid, so far as I know. In fact, the football program at UGA resembles nothing so much as an antebellum plantation in which overpaid jocks take fabulous sums of cash for the labor of unpaid players. In return, the players don’t even get an education, much less do they develop any skills that might help them after their football career ends (which is the point that they no longer have any eligibility). What was the last job you heard of that requires a fast 40?
Now, if overpaid jocks are in fact university employees, then why are they paid differently from other university employees? Either they are or are not university employees, right?
It seems that you are incapable of considering anything that disagrees with your assertions. Any view other than your own is just “whining.” If you want to be taken seriously, please try to write more thoughtfully.
Zeke
February 4th, 2010
2:15 pm
Sure, you could sell off a lot of things for the sake of academics. Of course you’d have to deal with the fallout that losing a lot of donors would cause. Because as I said before, people want athletics as part of their university experience. Take that away and the academics will still suffer. Of course you also seem to believe the myth that money will solve everything. Those of us who work in education know better than that.
Zeke
February 4th, 2010
2:19 pm
Ex Teach, I’m only guilty of failing to understand the nonsense that you are putting forth. No wonder no one else will bother to try to discuss anything with you. My pappy told me once, “Don’t argue idiotic things with an idiot. He’ll only beat you with experience.” I do thank you for no longer poisoning the minds of our students with this kind of paranoid blather. Good day to you.
dawg26
February 4th, 2010
2:33 pm
Why are we taking things that students enjoy doing and trivializing them so? Because we have rapidly evolved into a daddy-ball/helicopter mom society. What is unfortunate is that the apple does not fall far from the tree. The amount of kids that signed to play college football yesterday pales in comparison to the amount of student-athletes so far this year that have benefited from a good role model, development of character, discipline, mental toughness, and being self-less. These are all things that are excluded from the modern “standards-based” curriculum and student-athletes learn through participating in athletics. Plain and simple.
Take the advice of our founding fathers…”Leave all the afternoon for exercise and recreation, which are as necessary as reading. I will rather say more necessary because health is worth more than learning.” – Thomas Jefferson
Let the kids play, and the coaches coach….
Northview (Ex)Teacher
February 4th, 2010
2:56 pm
Zeke, you prove my point. Anyone who does not accept your assertions is to be demeaned and called names.
So sorry you feel you have to take your ball and go home.
Woof, woof, woof.
Signing day frenzy: Sign of how important sports are to us. Are … | Drakz Free Online Service
February 4th, 2010
3:07 pm
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dawg26
February 4th, 2010
4:15 pm
Ex N-View Teacher: How do you explain all of the funds that are channeled into academics via athletic revenues? Amidst all of the whining about Mack Brown (Texas Head Football Coach) receiving a salary increase it was revealed that the athletic program under Brown has had no subsidies or deficits and has channeled $6.6 million into academic programs in recent years. So, do a little research and dig beneath the surface before you bite the hand that feeds you.
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Fair and Balanced
February 4th, 2010
5:39 pm
Five years is way too harsh a penalty for the crime. The father has no previous record. Who is going to pay for his incarceration for all of those years? The people of Georgia. Ridiculous. Let’s have some sanity and balance when it comes to sentencing.
Tony
February 4th, 2010
5:39 pm
The real truth about this whole discussion is that people put their money where their priorities are. As I said earlier, sports and entertainment rake in the dough with no protests. Education, on the other hand, can not even ask for money without being chastised for waste. Go figure!
Fair and Balanced
February 4th, 2010
5:59 pm
Tony, I agree with your comments.