Tag Archive
Interview about ESPN Report on the FSU Academic Scandal
A while back, I did a brief interview for a blog article examining ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” report on the Florida State athletic department’s academic scandal; since I was both a former player (albeit briefly) and a former tutor in the athletic department, I was able to see both sides of the academic support... »
Intellectual Flexibility and Resistance to Unorthodox Ideas in Football, Life, and Religion
Chuck Klosterman has a fantastic article up on ESPN.com. He’s not correct on all the football details (such as referring to former top-ranked prep QB and #1 draft pick Tim Couch as an “ungifted quarterback”), but the article is fabulous. Klosterman shows how “liberal” the game of American football actually is, with its radical... »
Closed-minded America and Changing Minds
John Maynard Keynes* once said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” It doesn’t take an expert to recognize that this this approach does not seem to be a popular one today. On that note, Rudy Ruiz has published an article on CNN.com to the effect that Americans... »
Shouldn’t college composition classes teach, um, composition?
The latest Stanley Fish blog at the New York Times is outstanding. Fish makes the rather straightforward (and obvious, really) argument that college courses should actually teach the basic skills they’re supposed to teach. His initial example, college writing courses, are generally egregious offenders in this area. I know this as well as anyone simply... »