The same would hold true for tennis, hockey and golf. As a society, we don't care about the education of our athletes in those sports. In fact, what are the only two sports that we seem to care about when it comes to the education of athletes? Football and basketball. Which just so happen to also have the largest percentage of minority athletes. That's got me wondering, isn't our society guilty of racial paternalism when it comes to sports?
If I stacked every article ever written about the necessity of obtaining a college education, how many of them would focus on baseball? Any at all? Then think about how many articles you've read about the value of a college education when the players compete in basketball and football. Compare the two. It's shocking, right? No one ever -- and I mean ever -- questions the right of kids to sign baseball contracts directly out of high school. No talking heads ever pound their hands into a desk and wax eloquent about the need for a college eduction, millions be damned.
When I saw the pathetic percentage of major league managers and players with a college degree, the double standard was suddenly jarring. Unavoidable. But what was even more jarring was the silence. No one ever talks or writes about the dearth of major league baseball education. That's despite the fact that, every year, the basketball and football drafts, two and seven rounds, respectively, only select a little over 300 players for their leagues. The baseball draft, on the other hand, is epic -- more than fifteen hundred players will be selected before it's over. The vast, vast majority will never step foot on a major league baseball field. At least basketball and football draftees are immediately competing for the big contracts at the top levels of the sports. In fact, baseball alone selects almost five-times as many kids for their sport every year than basketball and football do combined. As if that weren't enough, given that basketball requires players be at least one year removed from high school and football requires three, neither of those leagues drafts an 18-year-old straight from high school. Baseball drafts hundreds every year. And no one utters a word of criticism about these kids forgoing their college education.
Why?
I think all we need to do is look at the racial make-up of the players in each of the four major league sports. Based on 2007 stats, 79 percent of NBA players and 65 percent of NFL players are black. The most recent numbers show that only 8 percent of baseball players are black and just 2 percent of hockey players are. Guess which sports allow 18-year-olds to come straight into the league?
But I'm sure that's a coincidence, right?
Look, I'm not saying that we as a society have decided that black athletes need to go to school and white ones don't. I don't think the decision is that simple or that most people make that decision consciously. After all, plenty of minorities support the guidelines put in place by the NFL and the NBA. You can even argue that the NBA and NFL draft systems make more sense than those put in place by the NHL and the MLB. Personally, I think they do. In fact, why don't all players get the right to go through the draft after their senior year like baseball players do? Give kids the right to see how much money they can make before they decide whether or not to go to college. As is, the NBA and the NFL require any kids who leave school early to do so without a parachute. Go pro and give up college forever, young man. Even if you don't get drafted. Talk about a draconian punishment. Every league should have a system just like major league baseball -- if a kid is good enough to get drafted at 18, give him the opportunity to take the money and pursue a professional career. Every contract in those leagues should then contain the language that if he fails at baseball, the team will pay for him to attend college.
But that's my prescription for an equalization of treatment across the board. What I think is the more interesting question is this: why does our society allow these disparate treatments and not think twice about it? Why have we set up a system where black kids playing in the NFL and the NBA are much more likely to have college degrees than white kids playing Major League Baseball or in the NHL? I think the answer is that our perception governs these situations. We think that young black kids should go to college and so the leagues (in cahoots with the NCAA) dictate this policy, making college a de facto minor leagues. We're willing, even eager, to allow it to happen in these sports but not in any others.
Again, why?
I don't claim to have an easy answer that every person is going to agree with, but I think it's a question that every fan should be asking of themselves. Why is it okay for NHL and MLB players to go pro without ever sniffing a college classroom, but it isn't okay for football and basketball players to do so? Is it simply because we want those players to play for our college teams, that we care more about college basketball and football than we do college hockey and baseball? Is that really a justification, these athletes should go to college because they entertain us when they put on our college's uniform? I don't think so.
I think this is about something deeper and more firmly ingrained in our national consciousness than anyone cares to acknowledge, I think the disparate systems are a vestige of racial paternalism. And what's the ultimate irony of today's system? We're ensuring that would-be white athletes get worse educations than would-be black athletes. For the people who claim that race isn't a factor at all when it comes to the disparate treatment, shouldn't they be outraged by the relative lack of education of NHL and Major League Baseball players?
I won't hold my breath waiting for the hue and cry of national outrage to swell up on a tide of indignation. The fact that you won't either should really make you reexamine why you don't care that only 26 major league baseball players have college degrees, but you think all basketball and football players should go to college.
Comments (Page 1 of 2)
It is not race, it is money... what is the tv market for college basketball and football versus the market for college hockey and baseball? I'll help you mister sports writer... it is a lot more dollars in FB and BB (predominantly black sports you write of)... race has nothing to do with it... the only color being counted is green... by the ncaa. Without the great players, the ncaa fb and bb is ruined.. so atheletes must go to college in order that the ncaa gets money... the fact they are one color over the other is not important.
Honestly you are a shameless ass and one could argue a racist yourself for writing this article, but hey race wars always get blogs... all about somebody keeping somebody else down. Please stop.
Well stated Cjg. Not only is it about the money, but another thing to take into account is that when you get drafted by the NFL or NBA teams you go right into the NBA or NFL. When you get drafted by a MLB team you go to A ball. You get drafted by an NHL team, you go to the minor leagues. You play golf or tennis you play in the junior circuits before you can play at the professional level. This writer is nothing more than a pot stirrer who is way uninformed on what he speaks of. Not every f'in thing that is done is racially based, and the people who make it out to be like that are racists themselves.
so your saying the NBA and NFL willingly just sacrifice millions of potential revenue by allowing competition with the NCAA because..... they just dont want to make THAT much money?
Actually, I wanted to make your main point about money. However, the money issue only further strengthens the article. Basically, most football and basketball players are getting an education, but they are not being paid for their play which is incredibly more interesting than the professional level for many fans. Many college players are not getting a piece of the pie while the system makes lots of money. The system is more to the benefit of the business elites like our politicians who are predominately white men. I am a white man who does not run with the elites, e.g I am glad I wasn't in a secret society.
to add on to my point the reason going to the minor leagues verses going right to the big league clubs is relevant is because the younger kids have a chance to develop their games in the minor leagues in sports like baseball or hockey. For football and basketball college is the minor league type of place for the kids to develop into a place where they are ready for the biggest league.
Pretty much everything this jackbag writes about is race this and race that.YES CLAY is a RACIST,HE justt happenes to be Protected by(Political Correctness)because he HATES on White Anything...IF he can blame a White Person for something,anything HE WILL DO IT.Racistt biggtto is what he is and always will be.He is just nother KEVIN BLACKSTONE. He can't write or come up with a good article so he always wants to stir the pot and Scream RACE WAR,RACE WAR...lol If it wasn't so sad and serious this EVIL GAME that he and his buddies like him PLAY,YOU would think you were watching a SOUTH PARK episode and just think it is low brow humor.
mr travis is white by the way. while i think his premise may be a bit bogus, it is worth exploring
Unfortunately for you, Clay Travis is very much a white man. This was verified by his inability to run the 40 in less than 5 seconds, despite being from SEC country.
While I think Gs thought the author was black, I don't think the race of the author is really relevant in terms of racism. It is absolutely possible to be racist against your own race. Racism can come in many forms, and is very ugly no matter the race that is being discriminated against. My opinion, and again this is just an opinion, is that the whole " the reason this is done is because it is mostly black people that participate in this activity" card is used way too often, and that most of the people who use it are racist against the " big bad white people." In this particular case I think it is pretty obvious that reasons 1-10,000 that the colleges fuss about basketball and football players graduation rates is because of how much money they make off of college football and basketball. March madness and the bowls are huge money makers for these universities. Of course they want to have their best players stay longer so they can make more money off of them. I have no problem with the topic of the article sans the referencing race in it. To me bringing racism into the reasoning for this topic is grasping for straws at best, and mudslinging the white race in a situation that has very little validity to it because you are racist against the white race at worst. I don't think that racism against any race should be tolerated, and racism is not something that should just be thrown around in an accusation without much to back up the accusation.
Great article, we need to know the FACTS. Life is based on perception. But perception should be based on facts. The reason why we haven't focused on these things are the same reason you are getting all the hate. This isn't the message that a lot of people want to hear.
I would have loved to see this article ripped to shreds had you posted it at Deadspin, Clay.
Even if you neglect the money aspect (which, unfairly but definitely, plays a major role in the discrepancy between sports), the other major difference that you fail to mention is the time necessary to make it to the big leagues.
MLB and NHL have minor leagues that most draft picks have to progress through to even sniff the major leagues. For the NFL, college is essentially the minor league because realistically, how many 18-year-olds would be physically able to compete in the NFL?
NBA's the true exception, but the 1-year rule has been all but been successfully circumvented by Brandon Jennings.
Wow dude. People are already burning you at the stake. Go Vols!
I think society is/was ignorant to the fact that such a low number of athletes in baseball have college degrees. I don't think society as a whole has taken a racial swipe at basketball and football. If so, blacks and hispanics are just as responsible for this as whites.
Maybe the people at the top in the NBA and NFL just want better educated people as a whole. Maybe they don't want a bunch of uneducated buffoons representing their sport to the media. Or maybe they do have cash deals with the NCAA. So many possibilities that don't deal with race.
If there were a problem, I'm sure the NAACP would have snuffed it out already.
Besides, who gives a crap about baseball? They're far less educated than football and basketball players, so that point in itself makes baseball players uninteresting. Besides, the players chose baseball as their sport of choice. Stupidity.
Football season is right around the corner, then basketball. I'll sleep until then.
Clay, I am a fan of yours, even though you are a Vol. However, I think you swung and missed on this one. More and more blacks are playing baseball these days as MLB teams realize that speed can be a huge asset. Nobody questions whens blacks go straight from high school to pro baseball. I don't think its a race issue... just that the NCAA wants a reason for their big money sports (football and basketball) to be an exciting, high-quality product, and uses education as a way of extending their stars' collegiate career. The stars in those two sports more often than not happen to be black.
Football and basketball have a somewhat legitimate reason to keep players in school to develop, as most basketball, and no football players would not be physically ready to compete with pros, whereas baseball players have extensive minor league systems setup for them. That is essentially what college football and bball has become, just with more rules.. like going to class and not getting paid. But that is a whole different conversation.
This is an interesting observation and I think you have presented evidence in support of your hypothesis. However, you have not supported evidence to dispute alternative hypotheses.
The most obvious alternative hypothesis is that less popular sports attract less scrutiny, and thus less criticism. College basketball and college football attract tremendous audiences and borderline insane followings. I would be shocked if people _didn't_ come up with irrational and unethical reasons for keeping their favorite athletes around as long as possible. Is there any evidence that contradicts this hypothesis?
I whole-heartily agree with two points you make here: 1) the MLB system for drafting players is the most ethical/intelligent one, and 2) the NCAA does not treat student-athletes fairly in football or basketball. Insomuch as these policies disproportionately affect a particular ethnic group, they could be construed as racist.
However, I think your entire point is oversimplified: Baseball and basketball and football are just different sports. The reason baseball has the draft system it does is because it predates serious college athletics (the same is true for tennis, hockey, etc.). That's just not true for football and basketball, where the professional and collegiate games evolved much more closely. The particular histories of these sports play a huge role in how they function today...hence we're really not comparing apples to apples here.
Someone shut this clown up or he might get a beating from all the hard Latin Americans who bust their butt's every day in sandlots in third world country. I call this idiot a fan of Liberal Paternalism! Who says education is always better? Why go 4 years and learn from people who have never even worked in the workforce?? You learn more by life experiences not by some liberal loser with his 4 year degree in journalism. And yes btw I have a B.A and a B.S. from Boston College. My dad never went and he knows 10 times what I know!
Horat, do you really think that creating a positive image for yourself by promoting something like staying in school costs the NBA and NFL millions of dollars? The money the may lose out on a kid for 2 years while he is in college is made up ten fold by creating a positive image for your product. That positive image makes more people want to show support for your product.
i think ultimately it is a question of money. college football and basketball are ENORMOUS businesses and dwarf college baseball, hockey, golf, tennis, etc.
BUT, what you point out, this racial paternalism, is used as an implied rhetorical device to justify the shepherding of under-compensated athletes to college teams.
so i think your emphasis is wrong. there isn't really a causal relationship between the NFL and NBA's age requirements and american society at large presuming to know what's best for young minority athletes in a way that it doesn't for young white farmboys from the midwest or whathaveyou. but the latter, in its rhetorical force as a little narrative our society tells itself to justify the things that it does, reveals an unspoken (and sometimes explicitly spoken) assumption that young minorities don't know what's good for them, and that they need to be told what to do. (i will stop short of making a comparison between this assumption and the disproportionate amount of young minorities in incarceration, but...)
this, by the way, is coming from a young college-educated minority.
Nobody hears about Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson squawking about the total lack of white running backs in the NFL.
There's nothing wrong with thinking or writing about this subject, however, it just seems like such an understatement to describe the massive commercial exploitation of college football and basketball as "paternalism," when, for example, a NY Times sports columnist has written a book describing it as "slavery" (because the athletes are creating huge revenues for the schools but not getting paid).
The WSJ piece, "Who Has the Brainiest Team in Baseball?" is not sociology, it's a light-hearted piece that merely asks if there's a correlation between winning and higher education (having team members with either a college degree or some college education). The results, which place Oakland at the top and also includes Toronto, Baltimore, San Francisco, and San Diego among the top ten "braniest" teams, should speak for itself :)
James Blake, the No. 17-ranked tennis player in the world, left Harvard in his sophomore year to pursue his professional tennis career. In individual sports like tennis and gymnastics which require a high level of proficiency at a very young age, you're more likely to find athletes who either defer their college education until after they've finished competing or realize at an early age that they're never going to make it to "the show," and so they accept a scholarship and play college tennis instead.
When he states that only 8% of Major League Baseball players are black, he is misleading us into thinking that it is 92% white!
Let's have the WHOLE breakdown, not just what he wants to highlight. The white percentage is around 60%. AND, he doesn't even explain that there are less blacks playing youth baseball due to a number of factors.
To simply paint the issue as racist is irresponsible. EVERYONE should have the choice when they turn 18 to go to college or turn pro in any sport. If you are good enough, you'll make it at any age. The NFL may be the only exception due to the maturity and size factor.