Ever since sometime in the middle of high school I’ve had to walk a fine line between athlete and academic. On any team I’ve ever been on I’ve been the de facto nerd and in most social groups outside of sports I’ve been the jock (GK1, as of late). I’ve always been pretty aware of this balancing act, and in high school it usually amounted to petty comments like “shut up, Grover, you’re a nerd.” Yet in Amherst the divide is much more visible…all over the Jolt or the Student or the Confessional or Val I can see/hear people bitching about all the dumb athletes infecting our fine institution.
When I come across these sentiments I’m unsure as to how I should react. Part of me is pissed off that people will so hastily label all athletes as assholes undeserving of admission to Amherst - usually without much justification, and almost always without offering any solution other than “get them the fuck out.” The other part of me is pissed off that there is a particularly loud group of athletes who fit the description and bring these negative stereotypes down upon the rest of us.
The problem stems from both sides. One of the biggest problems is the issue of “spots” being granted to athletic teams. I’m a huge supporter of fielding competitive athletic teams, but I would like to see the number of these spots reduced or eliminated entirely. Amherst isn’t a place that should breed professional athletes, and I think that with proper recruiting we can still be competitive without having to unduly sacrifice academic integrity. That issue aside, after some news report revealed that these spots exist, they became a very public sticking point for most critics of athletics here…I’ve heard many people lament about them. But I think that these critics don’t realize that spots hardly make up a majority of the athletes here (you really think that an appreciable number of one third of the student population got in solely based on athletic ability?! Give our school a bit of credit). Making these blanket statements about athletes based on how you think we all got in is terribly misinformed.
Athletic culture has issues of its own outside of academics. The self-segregation is troubling; I’ve had a teammate remark that he’s never made a friend with anyone in his classes. Obviously, athletes deserve some of the blame for this as they should do more to get outside of this restrictive social sphere. On the other hand, I feel like part of it involves some sort of a defensive mechanism…strength in numbers. Because a majority of the student body expresses such vocal disapproval for them, why should they bother to try? You’re going to judge them from the outset, and they’re going to tell you to go fuck yourself while they seek solidarity with other athletes. I think this explains why I see a lot of very intelligent athletes sink to the lowest common denominator.
I guess my message is twofold. To those non-athletes who instinctively view athletes as inferior and unfit to be here, get off your high horses…because unless you take the time to get to know them, you’ll have no idea. To the loud, self-segregating athletes that take away from our school’s academic integrity…uh, stop. You’re not doing yourselves any favors, you’re justifying all of the things they say about you, and you’re making my life stressful. I see no reason why either side can’t take a couple steps closer to the other…there shouldn’t be a reason that introducing myself as a recruited soccer player versus a double physics and math major should merit such polar responses.
This doesn’t quite cover everything and probably doesn’t properly address many key issues…but, whatever, it’s a blog, and I need a nap. Maybe you’ll look at athletes differently, or maybe after analyzing my writing you’ll come to the conclusion that I shouldn’t have been admitted either. I’d like to hear what people think…
-Jeff aka GK1