"Athletes get special privileges." satire

Essay by wruz6High School, 11th gradeA+, April 2005

download word file, 7 pages 3.0

Justin Choi, John Chun, Gary Moliver

03.29.05

Dear Editor,

Just a couple of weeks ago, I happened to come across your editorial. As if the title weren't ridiculous enough, I believe you spoke about this inane idea that athletes unjustly receive benefits and rights as opposed to the "layman," who does not do anything, but expects everything. To start off, let's just say that the First Amendment was not created for your own amusement. Secondly, you obviously cannot see the burden our athletes of today have taken upon themselves, such as going to practice if they're not busy trying to make ends meet. Not only do athletes have tougher days than the factory employee who works an eight hour day, athletes must compete in games, matches, or fights for nearly two hours at a time in some cases. Starting at a scholastic level, athletes need to be pampered by society and be treated better than others because they are such special and benevolent persons who decided to take on the burden of entertaining the common man.

With the growing difficulty of achieving good grades and playing sports in school, it is only fair student athletes receive some benefit for their efforts. Student athletes must practice day and night to improve and perfect their athleticism while simultaneously doing their school work; whereas, students who do not play a sport can concentrate more on school work and receive better grades. Thus, it is only just that students who play a sport receive special benefits that allow them to be on par with those who don't. For instance, student athletes do not have as much time as other students because they must attend practice and compete in competitions; hence, they must be given additional time to complete their school work. Furthermore, statistics show...