English 101 project due at midnight, presentation to be ready for tomorrow at 10:00 AM in WPC 101, and a CIS 101 exam due; these are the least of a college athletes worries. They also have to worry about representing roughly 60,000 students on the field, ice, or court. The life of a college athlete is one of the most demanding careers a teenager could ask for, and they do not even get paid. There are hundreds of millions of dollars that are made by the Universities of these modern day (maybe a little extreme)slaves. You might ask yourself why anyone would ask for such a brutal routine in college and I am here to talk about why that is. As a freshman myself I know how hard it is to stay on track even without playing a sport; tests, assignments, and exams due every week. I could not imagine what it would be like to add an activity that is just a time consuming as being a student, like these student athletes have done.
Sports over the past hundreds of year have had the ability to bring people together all over the world. Imagining a universe today without the presence of sports and their athletes is a very different place. During the 2004 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Ivory Coast, was able to suspend their civil war in order to bring the country together to cheer for their home; the civil rights movement had a great impact by sports after allowing blacks to play on the same field as whites. We have every athlete in the world to thank for keeping these sports alive, but most importantly we can thank our Arizona State University athletes for keeping the dream alive. If not for these athletes unfortunate children living in inner-cities all across our country would have nothing to look up to. That is why everyone at ASU should see what it really takes to be a college athlete and why it is that they do it.
Here I have Jason Kuta who plays for the Sun Devils ice hockey team talking about what it is that makes him want to practice and spend his time representing Arizona State. “I have really always loved hockey and no matter how demanding, it is always a pleasure to be able to go out on the ice and be able to skate. I have always watch the Chicago Blackhawks growing up and I realize that I will never be able to play at such a level, it is nice to be able to represent the Sun Devils and just being able to tell people that I am on the Arizona State hockey teams is enough for me. I am just grateful that Arizona has been able to provide a club hockey so I wouldn’t have to stop playing hockey anytime soon.” Even though club is not as extreme as playing a D-1 sport here at ASU it is still very demanding. The teams have to sacrifice vacations to travel all across the country to play different collegiate teams.
There truly is nothing like being a football player at this school. Every single player on the team could have continued their careers playing football at some other college, which is way it is something special on its own that they decided to come here to the Arizona desert heat to represent the Sun Devils. This year their hard work is really starting to finally pay off; they beat their rivals University of Arizona, finished 5th in the Pac-12, and they will be playing in a bowl game this year. All these are great achievements are nothing to be overlooked and will be making the school a lot of money. Each player knowing that they will not be making any money after knowing how much money is being made off of them, would definitely be affecting how much effort I put in at practice and in games; but these kids are all out practicing at 6:00 AM everyday for the love of the game and a college education. (football players interview here)
Even though there is a argument that these colleges are in a way extorting all these student-athletes, it is all for the greater good. At some schools football makes enough money to pay for all the other sports. That is why it is such an extraordinary process, the colleges give every sport a chance which gives any athlete a chance. Talking to Nick Bettancourt who plays for the ASU club baseball team it is clear that these athletes are just happy that they are able to play a sport in college. “I have played baseball all my life and was just not ready to give that up. Playing for a college team has given me a chance to meet a lot of great kids and and continue my baseball career and I am pretty happy about that.” College sports are a blessing to this country. It is one of the biggest industries in the world and employs millions of Americans who without these sports would not have a way to keep putting food on the table for their family. It gives kids hope for a better life making more money then they could ever dream of and doing what they love. If not for all these hardworking, unselfish, athletes who are still seen to many as young men then the dream would be over. At Arizona State University the student body should be thankful for all the student athletes at the school, because there is not other people I could should that represents us better.
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