One for Academia’s most Important Athletes

7 thoughts on “One for Academia’s most Important Athletes”

1. Good Morning from Omaha,

   OK, I am confused. The buffs are having a bad season, 4th out of 4 and you guys are saying fire Hawkins.

   Thats fine but then out of the other side of your mouth you are pushing academics. It seems Hawkins is trying to make his athletes, student athletes. they are not choir boys but they are seemingly getting better marks in school. ( I can’t believe I just used a term my grandmother used to talk about grades)

   Yes you can do both play football and get good grades but don’t disparage the coach for making the attempt.

   there was a nice story in the Omaha paper yesterday about Patrick Witt who left the huskers and went to Yale to get an education and play football and not the other way around.

   Its hard to turn this football wagon around and try to convince these kids that there is life without football but hopefully more kids will understand that fact. One in million make it big time.

   get your education, they can never take that away from you.

   Strive for excellence, nothing but your best

   Gene

2. Education is a wonderderful accomplishment to have for those who dont have super human talent on a football, baseball, or basketball court and field. For those that do, the entertainment industry is the way to go. Alot of people pay their entertainment bills before even paying the mortgage! We are all guilty! Most smart people with a piece of paper make hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sports mixed with entertainment make millions. A little backwards I know, but this is the world we live in.

3. Drew,

   This looks a little like a self portrait. Was this drawn from experience? 🙂

4. Randy

   No. I flunked chemistry. And math. Those were the two classes I learned to draw in.

5. All pipe dreams… How else do you explain:

   1. Notre Dame Boosters, who’s team is 6-4 this year, calling for a firing of Coach Charlie Weis, despite over a 95% graduate from his players.

   2. Texas Longhorn Boosters, who’s team is 10-0, lauding their coach despite their players graduation rate being a dismal 50%.

   3. 24 solid hours of NCAA Div-1 hoops during a Tuesday, where their players and fans are expected to play/watch these games and still get enough sleep, do their homework and attend class.

   4. One of the Bowl Championship Division’s main arguments for keeping the BCS being, “We can’t have a tournament because students would miss too many classes”, then schedule Thursday night games where their students have to travel hundreds of miles the day of the game and talking about adding more non-conference games anyway.

   5. More and more music programs’ budgets being cut despite direct correlational links finding students who participate in music classes do better in school.

   Look, I’m as big a sports fan as the next guy, and an eternal optimist, but I see no way this will change as long as fans, myself included, keep drinking this cool-aid and buying tickets.

6. Drew–

   Having majored in Chemistry back in college, I find this cartoon to be the absolute BOMB! Thanks for making my day!!

   Best regards,

   Felicia

7. As one of the many Notre Dame fans that is calling for Charlie Weis’s head on a platter (silver, if at all possible), I will commend him for making sure his players are graduating, and graduating with real degrees, and not ones in underwater basket weaving (like Nebraska alumn… 🙂 )

   But that isn’t just Weis, that’s the entire culture at Notre Dame, which is one of the reasons they’ve consistently had a hard time getting “top” players, because they *require* the player can not only throw a ball, or tackle, but also have a brain between his ears.

   It’s a hard balance for coaches nowadays to find that balance of a winning team, go to championship games, AND make sure that their kids are ready for the Real World with degrees in business, and chemistry.

   BUT, I have to say, Drew – I LOVE this cartoon. Oftentimes academia is lost in the joy & love of football, and the Geeks & Nerds (who will someday rule the world, hello Bill Gates) need to be celebrated as much as the guys who bust heads on the gridiron.

   Bravo!