Backboards & Blackboards

This is one of the novels I read by Patricia and Peter Alder. It focuses on athletes mental state during their recruiting process and college seasons. A quote that really jumps out at me is, "You could get B's and C's by just showing up (to high school). I never really had to try or to study. I would go to practice, eat, and go out. I never even wrote a research paper until senior year, and when I got to college it was all research papers"(Adler 35). Some athletes were not prepared during high school and these colleges didn't really care. As long as these athletes won games for their programs, then they would find classes that these athletes would succeed in. Another athlete was disappointed, "How could I get into this shit? They got me takin' nutrition, mental retardation, square dancing and camp counseling. I thought I was goin' learn something here. It's a bunch O' bullshit" (Adler 134). Kids were thrown into classes that the school knew they would not have any academic problems with which is unfortunate.