I Want My Participation Trophy

Without my usual session with Kornheiser and Wilbon, there's a Natinals game on with two guys I don't know. Or ever, since I'll be switching to something else soon enough. Not only because one of them is bloviating about "participation trophies" for juveniles; as in, they're bad policy. And sounding angry about it. I suppose he's all for six year olds' Social Darwinism.

On the other hand, college "student-athletes" regularly partake of participation trophy education.

The NCAA does not require a 2.000 GPA for most athletes until the start of the senior year. The NCAA only requires that athletes pass six hours each semester.

Back when I was in college, ungraded and/or pass-fail courses became fancied in the general curriculum. They've since faded, largely, from the scene. Except, of course, for college jocks.

There were still plenty of athletes who were enrolled in each school's "eligibility" major, with sociology, psychology, criminal justice, and sports management being common destinations.

Participation trophies by any other name. The reading problem never seems to get fixed.

Linda Bensel-Meyers, who worked for Tennessee until 2003, said a university-hired psychologist would diagnose learning disabilities in athletes and put them in a program without the graduation requirements set for other students.

"Many of the records I looked at revealed that these athletes came to us essentially illiterate and still left the school functionally illiterate," Bensel-Meyers told CNN.

It's even more blatant some other places.

Most of the classes are graded on a pass-or-fail scale
...
Many of the universities that boast the nation's most recognizable and successful football programs offer participation credits in football and other sports. Brigham Young, Florida State, Georgia, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State, all winners of a football national championship during the past 25 years, also have similar policies in place.