Thursday, December 3, 2009

How come college football players get all the glory?

I'm a 2nd year engineering student, and this campus can get pretty chaotic during its game days. People are vocal and very supportive of their teams, and that's okay. However, how come people don't express the same praise towards the engineering students as they do the athletic students?



I don't mean to simply bash them, but our football players entertain people for a few hours for a few days out of the year. On the other hand, engineers design the cars people drive, the computers to monitor life support systems, and even the toothpaste these people use to brush their teeth every single day. Shouldn't engineering students get at least some support and praise for their accomplishments too. How come this isn't the case? How come so few people (compared to our football games) come to our robotics competitions, etc, to show their support for our engineering students? Don't we affect people's lives just as much...if not more?



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I agree with your sentiments. And the concerns you bring up are a microcosm of the real world as well. The contributions engineers and scientists make towards the greater part of societal necessities do not receive nearly enough acclaim. It's funny how Jeopardy is the closest thing that the more "cerebrally-inclined" will ever get to the reception of top athletes. To take it even further, Eli Manning's feats in last years Super Bowl probably holds a higher position in the minds of general society than Albert Fert for his discovery of Giant Magnetoresistance. I mean, compared to other countries, our society stands alone when it comes to rewarding professional athletes. Do you realize that if you took the sum of annual incomes for every professional athlete in the U.S., you'd probably end up with purchasing power greater to that seen in some third world countries? It's pretty disturbing. Ever since the ancient Games held at Olympia, athletic accomplishments and the heroic ideal have been closely intertwined and it's probably not going to change.



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For one, people love football and the traditions that have gone on for years. It brings people together on campus and gives them something to talk about and be involved in. Also Football brings a lot of $ to big schools.



The key to a fun %26amp; successful life is to be the football player and the engineer.
My high school tried to fix that once and sent the cheerleaders along with the math team. Of course, the math team was half girls anyway, and the cheerleaders pretty much felt like they were there to mock us, so it didn't turn out too well.



Don't worry. In 5 or 6 years when the football players finally drop out or manage to finish that communications degree, they'll realize they can't hold down a job or a marriage. And you'll be making a lot more than them - and maybe you'll meet a nice math geek too. Here's hoping.
Football players offer immediate entertainment. Engineers do not. People can unite and relate to the contest. A science fair isn't nearly as thrilling. People who really get into game days are not disrespecting engineers, certainly.



Football brings in a lot of revenue for the school. At many schools, football is the largest income producer and helps fund countless entities campus-wide.



Since the beginning of time, sports has drawn greater interest than any academic pursuit. Grade schools complain consistently about how people flock to the sporting events while no one comes out for Quick Recall or the National Spelling Bee run offs.



It's just how it is.



No one denies the importance of engineering, or the English majors or those preparing to be teachers. But a sports talent will make well into six figures after dropping out ofcollegewhile a talented teacher is hard pressed to break $40,000 after five years on the job.



It's how we are. You can't really bring any logic or rationale to it.
Sorry, I'm an engineer and I don't want to watch anyone fiddle around with nuts and bolts and screwdrivers unless it's my 10 year old son, so I make sure he doesn't hurt himself.



Who the hell wants to watch someone sit in front of a computer making designs and programming stuff? Hmm? BORING TO WATCH.



Science and Engineering are individual pursuits. We do stuff for our own benefit and enjoyment, people can then come by, proclaim how cool it is and then and pay me to buy the stuff I make, thank you very much. Sports are competitive, and it's fun to watch competitions. It isn't fun to watch people sitting at a desk doing math. And I wouldn't want to go to a robotics competition to watch kids fiddle around with something that barely works...I did robotics in high school. If people want to watch stuff run around they're free to do it--I don't care. I don't know why you are so concerned, either.



On the other hand, if they want to watch their favorite sports team play, I would rather watch Tiger Woods play golf, of all things, than watch a robotics competition with nebulous rules and goals.



And by the way, football players from my school go to work at Goldman Sachs. OooOooOooO

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