I will be taking some of the annotations from the text, and a few of my own for the first 7 paragraphs of the text.

“We would quit being half ashamed” – Who is we?

“The NCAA should stop treating athletic departments as ticket offices … and instead treat them as legitimate academic branches” – They look at athletic departments as a dollar sign which is part of the issue. Also, her claim.

“Why shouldn’t we let kids major in sports?” What would that major entail? History of sports, how you play them? Would it be for only one sport or all sports? How is a sport academic?

“… just like music or dance or film makers do.” Jenkins reason as to how athletic sports could be majors.

Introduction to Sports Law, The Origins of Sport, Sports and Public Policy. – All potential areas of curriculum in a sports major.

“Less worthy” Paragraph 7 – Who considers them less worthy? From what I know, college and professional athletes are held in very high esteem.

Paragraph 8: “The worth of an athletic scholarship would become clearer” – How is it unclear already? It almost sounds to me that she doesn’t think playing the sport on a professional level is deserving of a scholarship despite the degree program that the athlete intends to pursue.

“We could stop worrying about exploiting athletes and whether to pay them.” They may not need as much money as they are given but with the amount of time and hours spent learning and practicing the sport, they deserve some sort of compensation.

Paragraph 9: “Too many presidents harbor the secret conviction that athletics are trivial,” – Too many? How many though? Too many to some could be 5.

“We can’t have that” – I feel in a way this is an emotional appeal. Athletes work hard for what they do and to be told “we can’t have that” for receiving limited college credit could anger a good group of people.

Paragraph 10: This entire paragraph really makes you think about what it takes to be such a high level athlete. I know I never considered some of these ideas.

“and create something beautiful despite it” – A bit of optimism.

Paragraph 11: The NCAA Stated Mission – the NCAA goes against their own Mission statement if you ask me. College athletes spend hours and hours every week on top of their school work to stay a college athlete.

“mandate that athletics be answerable to an academic dean.” These are some really solid ideas that she’s laying down.

Paragraph 12: Former NFL football player – makes for a stronger argument by bringing in someone who has been in the profession and knows how the athlete/college relationship works.

“Now an associate dean and literature professor” – If he had majored in athletics, what would his career outlook have been? I degree in athletics could not get you a job as a literature professor after athletic retirement.

Paragraph 13: ” Devote as much time to their craft as a student violinist.” – A bit of logic, especially considering that many would hold a violinist to a higher standard than an athlete.

“that they are academically illegitimate” – athletes have to maintain a certain level of academic excellence. They are not academically illegitimate, it’s just that their academics are currently separated from their athletic abilities.

“Without vocational students, our cars wouldn’t start.” A witty way to say it, but it makes you realize that even vocational professions are a necessity.

Paragraph 14: “Lifelong discovery” How so? I only ask because the human body can only take so much as you get older and after you know all there is to know about sports how can you keep discovering? This may just be close minded thinking on my part.

Paragraph 15: “Then why have sports on campus at all?” Sports and extracurricular activities can supplement their lives without being their entire life. There is something to be learned and gained from all of these activities.

“Well, why does a university build a hospital?” Strong rhetoric. They build hospitals because they are important and they serve a good purpose, stadiums and sports could do the same instead of only being there for profit.

Entire paragraph raises questions as closing arguments.

Paragraph 16: Conclusion – College sports are salvageable. But first, we have to correct an underlying fallacy – that despite all that money, they are worthless.”

“What a concept” Detecting a bit of sarcasm here.