Joe Posnanski
Joe Posnanski, in this Sports Illustrated article, writes about the issues associated with paying college athletes. He clearly states his main idea behind the article several times, and it is as follows: "College athletics are NOT about the players." An intial reaction to this statement may be disagreement, but Posnanski backs up this statement further on. Joe says that when he looks at the big picture, he can't imagine how paying college athletes could possibly be fair. He makes the argument that big time college athletes are already getting paid. They are being paid with free college tuition, room and board, incredible training facilities, world-class coaching, public relations, national exposure, free travel, the best doctors, direct access to the professional ranks, and all of their priceless experiences. In addition to this, he also discusses a topic i planned to use in my paper, dealing with the difference between college and professional sports. He recognizes that the skill level in pro sports is superior to college athletics. So he questions why people love these college games so much, and then attributes it to the connections people feel to the university. He states that college athletics are FOR the players and not ABOUT the players. It's this connection that drives college sports. Even if Penn State's entire football team quits because they are fed up about not being paid, would people still come to watch the replacement players compete? And the answer is yes.
To make his argument, he first expresses all of the arguments presented by the other side, and then addresses them one at a time picking apart the argument flaws. In his introduction, he states his thesis that "college athletics are not about the players," and then welcomes the reader to stop reading if he or she does not want to hear his argument. He first analyzes the question at hand, and then proceeds into his arguments. He uses claims and backs them up with reasoning throughout. He concludes by discussing what would happen if college athletes were paid. If you take away "college" from the term "college football," and add the word "money," you are left with professional minor league football. He then says, "See how many people go and watch that."
I agree with the author because he made great additional arguments in addition to ones I was already aware of. He is also a respected journalist employed by a well-known source, Sports Illustrated. He is also very knowledgable of the subject and makes several good rebuttals. He let the claims from the other side of the debate set up his own arguments perfectly, which makes the piece very effective.
I loved all the questions Posnanski asks and comparisons he makes in the article that made me feel very involved while reading it. I plan on using some of his comparisons in my argument. The fact that he addressed the other side so much also added a great sense of credibility to his writing and I would like to use this technique as well.
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