I came across this quote on a local website - I do not know if it is true or even if this coach exists but I thought it was amusing. Shelby Metcalf, basketball coach at Texas A&M, recounting what he told a player who received four F's and one D: "Son, looks to me like you're spending too much time on one subject."
One June, on the Vanderbilt campus, I overheard a southern belle excitedly on the phone. She was saying, "I can't believe it. I got a 'D' in the course. Would you believe it . . . he gave me a D." (pause] "That's right. Daddy said that if I passed the course, I'd get the Porsche, and I did. I got a D. Isn't that great."
Can't imagine what that belle would have gotten if she got a Distinction. I think her dad will go Chapter 11......
Well, of course, an athlete can't stay on the team if he flunks out of school. Sure, sports teams have their mindless brutes, but let's not stereotype shall we?
I wish it was easier for athletes to play for a college team without necessarily going to college. To me it's all political. If my dream is to play basketball professionally, why shouldn't I be able to truly attempt that without going to an academic institution. ------ lol/*cringe* @ John.
Why pass up the chance to be waited on hand-and-foot by coaches and administrators? Then there are the coeds....
Devil's advocate question: Why not let students major in their sport and get credit for playing it? Many schools offer credit for PE courses, so if that's okay then why not take it to its logical conclusion? -=Steve=-
This "Four Fs" thing reminds me of something my husband once encountered. When he was in the Marines, he attended DINFOS. (Did I get that right? It stood for Defense Information School, if I remember correctly.) Anyway, apparently he had an instructor who was always saying, "70 is pass. 71 is overkill." My husband was very bemused by the attitude.
There are colleges, like Boston College, that do not relax the admission standards for athletes. So not only do you have to be a pretty good student to get in, you have to be a pretty good athlete.