Football has been around for many years. It has become the most popular sport in America. Statics show that four in ten people prefer to watch football over any sport. Many kids grow up idolizing famous football athletes and dream to become the next big star when they grow up. Young people grow up playing recreational football, and for many it becomes a hobby. Others may just find it enjoyable to watch as they are rooting for their favorite team playing against their rivals. Schools and even recreational centers spend huge amounts of money on this sport while trying to have the best gear, equipment, and even the best field. Since this sport is the most popular in America, people don’t mind dishing out money to watch it, therefore there will always be profit to be made off any game. In the article ‘Get Football Out of Our Universities’, Steven Salzberg, professor of computer science, explains his point of view on football. Steven Salzberg gave very detailed and convincing points while effectively using pathos, logos, and ethos to provide proof as to why football should be banned from universities.
The purpose of the article is to stress how many universities are spending too much time and money on sports, in this case, football. Salzberg also makes it known that science is a vital and necessary part of a student’s studies, for example: “But if we stop producing scientists, other countries will make the discoveries that solve the technological, medical, and other engineering problems of the future, and that form the basis for great civilizations”. He explained: “The core mission of our universities is to educate our students, not to entertain them with big-time sports events”. Steven Salzberg wrote this article expressing his negative opinions toward football in universities. He is out to convince his audience that schools are taking away the focus of academics and replacing it with a concentration on football.
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One of the most common rhetorical appeals used in this article would be logos. Steven used logical points to support his claim with real-world examples. Salzberg states: “I’ve watched over the years as football has taken an ever-more prominent role in our high schools and colleges, as football coaches have been paid ever-higher salaries, and as football staffs and stadiums have been super-sized”. He is explaining to the audience about the economic choices the schools are making when it comes to football. He also says that schools aren’t benefiting from their football teams, but schools are still spending money on the necessities needed. Salzberg also used a situation that happen at the college he attended where the school had to fire a coach and had to pay him out two million dollars, but also hired a new coach. He used personal life experiences to give the audience something they may be able to relate to.
Salzberg uses strong words and points that strengthen his appeal to pathos, for example: “It is undermining our education system and hurting our competitiveness in technology, science, and engineering. If we keep it up, the U.S. will eventually be little more than the big, dumb jock on the world stage – good for entertainment on the weekend, but not taken seriously otherwise”. His use of pathos could cause the audience to question certain things that go on at these schools involving the financial situations with football. He tries to get the audience to see how much money is spent on this sport, but how little money is being spent on students’ education. That’s why he mentions that academic departments are cutting faculty and staff. Steven uses a quote from Obama and then states, “Obama is right: Students do come from all over the world to study in our universities. But they don’t come because of the football teams”. He’s implying that the students come to get an education, not for the football team. Steven employs the rhetorical appeal of pathos effectively.
Along with strong logos and pathos appeals, Salzberg also uses ethos throughout his article. He uses Barack Obama to build his credibility. In the article, Salzberg states a quote by Barack Obama: “We need to teach our kids that it’s not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair”. Steven gave examples and cited his sources which show that there’s evidence to support his claim.
In conclusion, Steven Salzberg did a superior job giving rhetorical appeals, sources, style, and examples to support his claim on why football should be banned. Although I don’t completely agree with doing away with football, he gave persuasive points and personal life experiences to back up everything he stated. Throughout the article, Steven used pathos, logos, and ethos to persuade the audience, as well as use quotes to give himself credibility. Salzberg successfully expressed his argument as to why football should be banned from universities.
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