http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqKsrhkM2MU&feature=related
The video is a commercial done by the NCAA focusing on the "student" part of the term "student athlete". It highlights that these athletes are not simply dumb jocks. The commercial claims they are scholars as well, and a vast majority will go into careers that are not professional sports. The video's visual emphasizes the athlete, and the audio emphasizes the student.
Do you think the video should have shown more academics and less sports? Do you think the "dumb jock" attitude is in any way a fair stereotype? Do you think sports take away too much focus from school at such a competitive level?
I went to comment on this video but the ability to post a comment was disabled. What I would have said is that I feel very indifferent about this NCAA ad. It's great that they're making a focus on the student part of the student athlete because college isn't just about practice and competitions for these people. I actually am a student athlete here at OSU and I am extremely against the "dumb jock" attitude. Yes some of our athletes came from hard backgrounds and not that great of schools but that doesn't mean they don't try their best and work for their grades. We have study tables every week which require you to log in at Yunkin for a certain amount of hours a week.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the underlining points this ad is trying to show is that when athletes are at practice or a competion, school is still on our minds and it does have priority over practice. I've seen many athletes, as well as myself working with tutors in order to get a better understanding of a particular class.
Involving yourself in a collegiate sport does take focus away from your studies, but coaches, teachers, and parents remind you every day that you are a STUDENT athlete, and being the student comes first. It's awesome that the NCAA is highlighting this fact but I believe it would have been better if the athletes were in the classroom environment rather than practice.
5. Who Do You Think I Am:
ReplyDeleteIn the commercial, an athlete asks "Still think we're just a bunch of dumb jocks?" I believe the writer thinks the audience is the group of vast people that watch NCAA that when watching a game, they believe an athletes is just amazingly athletic and talented at that sport and that's all. The writer is trying inform this group of people that athletes are not just talented at their particular sport. They are also talented in academics and will be pursuing something after college other than sports. The writer portrays the athletes as authoritative over the audience by displaying the athletes as talented in sports and academics. By displaying the athletes that way, the writer proves the audience he or she is pertaining to wrong in that they are just talented at sports.
ps i sis prompt 2!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePrompt 5
ReplyDeleteFurthermore on what Gregg mentioned, one of the athletes also said "You need to do your homework." Meaning the writer may believe that their audience have not researched about how well student athletes actually perform in school while participating in sports before calling them “dumb jocks”. So he or she is possibly suggesting the viewers to research about it before making unlikely assumptions relating to the athletes. Also the writer could be implying if the spectators do not have something nice to say about the student athletes than they should keep it themselves rather than saying false information regarding the athletes.
In response to Andrew's questions, I think the video should have showed half academics and half sports to prove the athletes can do both and still be good academic wise and athletic wise. Though, the "dumb jock" attitude is not in any way a fair stereotype because it is assuming that all student athletes are "dumb jocks", which is not the case. Lastly, I do not believe sports take away too much focus from school it just helps them manage their time better.
Prompt 6. Stake Your Claim
ReplyDelete( Although the comments were disabled on this particular video, I found another post of the same video on YouTube with comments.)
The main idea of the video is that NCAA student athletes are legitimately intelligent, and not "a bunch of dumb jocks". In stating this explicitly, it appears that the creators felt that this was a stand-alone term that doesn't need further explanation, which implies that the "dumb jock" stereotype is widely perpetuated. Based on the comments, it can be seen that the topic is controversial, as there are comments making points on both sides. On one hand, there are several commenters who are student athletes themselves that feel as though non-athletes don't have the right to judge because they have never been in the same position. On the other hand, there are some comments reflecting strong opposing opinions such as mentioning that athletes get too much attention compared to creative, intelligent minds. Another claimed of first-hand experiences with athletes that skipped class and went to classes drunk and others mentioned that the information portrayed in the commercial was misleading. To persuade the audience to accept the claim of the commercial, the creators had background voices lists information such as that division one student athletes have higher SAT and ACT scores than college-bound students and that the number of student athlete degrees are at an all-time high. The information is stated while energy-charged footage of athletes, presumably students, who are pushing their bodies in the name of athletics, which the creators may have included to inspire watchers. Commenters seem to equally agree with and oppose the message, however there seems to be a trend in who the agreeing commenters are. The majority of those in favor of the message seem to be athletes themselves, which could be interpreted as bias. As far as the specific information given, the sources were not specifically cited within the commercial itself, but I think it is a fair assumption that for the commercial to air, the data would have to at least be accurate as far as the wording alone. Opposing commenters brought up some interesting points such as that the claim that having higher test scores than high schoolers is questionable because NCAA student athletes are in college and are older than college-bound high school students. It could be argued that the age difference makes the statement irrelevant. Overall, I feel as though the PSA was ineffective because most of those who agreed after viewing were athletes themselves and most likely agreed before watching as well, and there was no any indication within the comments that anyone changed their mind after viewing. I think the PSA would have perhaps been more effective if there was more of a visual focus on academics as well, and more well supported facts to support their claim. As far as personal opinions, I do feel as though it can be hard for some to balance education and athletics, but any generalization is unfair based on certain cases only, so I generally agree with the message of the PSA but feel as though it could have been designed better to be more persuasive.
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DeletePrompt 7
ReplyDeleteAfter reading through the comments on this post I do not think that this was a particularly effective post in the sense that it changed many peoples minds on how they feel about student athletes. Most, if not all, of the commenter seem to be in college or have went to college and don't seem to have this skewed view of college athletes. The first comment on this post is by an actual student athlete who knows that the cast majority of college athletes work hard both on and off the field. additionally it does not seem as if any of the people who commented on this post were particularly shocked by what the commercial had to say and did not refute the statements that were made in the commercial.
To answer one of Andrews questions, I do not think that sports at The Ohio State University take too much away from the academics of their students. I know a few student athletes that just have to manage their time better due to their athlete status. They put a stung emphasis on their studies and will often let their social life suffer before academics or sports. It takes a very special person to make a good student athlete and most know what they are getting themselves in for.
Prompt 3
ReplyDeleteThe video I viewed also had the ability to comment disabled. However, I believe I know what most viewers would be commenting or arguing over. There would be those who are student athletes or favor the student athlete side and agree with the ad, and there would be those who disagree with the ad completely.
As for me, I would have to be on both sides of the argument based on what I have seen and heard in real life. From reading the first comment I am persuaded that there are college athletes, maybe a majority of them, that actually do focus on their studies, get tutored, go to study tables, and actually care about their performance on the academic side and not just the athletic side. I believe this because a majority of college athletes know that the chances of them proceeding into the professional level may be slim, so they do have to work hard on their academics.
On the other hand, I also have to agree with the side arguing in favor that some athletes are "dumb jocks." I do not necessarily believe that some athletes are dumb, I just believe that some college athletes are blessed in a situation where they do not necessarily have to try very hard in the academic field. For example, one of my floor-mates was in a class with an upperclassman athlete first quarter and the class they were in was Biology 100. She mentioned that this athlete spent most of his time in class watching videos of himself on YouTube and talking to the students around him. This athlete is expected to go on and play in the next level at his sport. My point is that some athletes, who do not necessarily have to do well in school, may not try as hard on academics as they do on athletics. However, I do believe a majority of student athletes do focus on their studies.