2008 Woodie Awards
Football players not all regal
Curtis Thom/Collegio Reporter
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Sports
- Page 1 of 1
For the third straight year, our university homecoming king just happens to be a football player.
Zac Robinson, an All-MIAA offensive lineman, was selected by his fellow students to be a regal kind of representative for the school. And while this is a prestigious honor, the title of king has started to lose its exalted luster, and has supplanted itself as a backdoor popularity contest.
Out of the 68 king candidates nominated since 2005, only six have been football players. And yet, each year, football players took the crown.
If this university wants a football player as its homecoming king, then let's not beat around the bush - just offer up the Gorilla team roster and let's have the students choose from it. At least then there might be less predictability as to who might win the title.
We could easily change the name of this contest to: "Who is the smartest, coolest, strongest, fastest, wittiest, funniest, hottest, buffest, biggest football player on campus?"
When the notoriety of someone's athletic endeavors begins to overshadow other accomplishments of less athletic prowess, the competition for the homecoming king has become a loaded system and is not ever worth celebrating.
While the simple definition of a king is someone of importance while keeping a hulking appearance to convey his power, it is, in fact, to find someone that does this with his personality and charm, rather than with his shoulder pads.
Zac Robinson, an All-MIAA offensive lineman, was selected by his fellow students to be a regal kind of representative for the school. And while this is a prestigious honor, the title of king has started to lose its exalted luster, and has supplanted itself as a backdoor popularity contest.
Out of the 68 king candidates nominated since 2005, only six have been football players. And yet, each year, football players took the crown.
If this university wants a football player as its homecoming king, then let's not beat around the bush - just offer up the Gorilla team roster and let's have the students choose from it. At least then there might be less predictability as to who might win the title.
We could easily change the name of this contest to: "Who is the smartest, coolest, strongest, fastest, wittiest, funniest, hottest, buffest, biggest football player on campus?"
When the notoriety of someone's athletic endeavors begins to overshadow other accomplishments of less athletic prowess, the competition for the homecoming king has become a loaded system and is not ever worth celebrating.
While the simple definition of a king is someone of importance while keeping a hulking appearance to convey his power, it is, in fact, to find someone that does this with his personality and charm, rather than with his shoulder pads.
Viewing Comments 1 - 5 of 6
Rob Miller
posted 11/07/07 @ 8:44 PM CST
While this reporter certainly has a right to his opinion, it seems like he would have taken a closer look at Zac Robinson's overall qualifications before jumping to the conclusion that he won simply because he was a star football player. (Continued…)
Clay Moses
posted 11/07/07 @ 9:17 PM CST
I was shocked to see the the article written in regard to this years homecoming king selection. I'd like to mention that Mr. Robinson carries a substantially high GPA as a plastics engineering major (3. (Continued…)
Eric
posted 11/09/07 @ 12:51 PM CST
If this article had been exposed to a larger spectrum(meaning if more people had seen it) i think you would have had a lot of people seeing things the same way zacks dad did, as well as the previous poster. (Continued…)
xgorwin
posted 11/14/07 @ 1:08 AM CST
I see..A foolish move by this young man. Has this young man not enough sense to at least understand that his journalistic practices are destructive to his credibility? My youngest son was fortunate to learn a lesson early in journalism, if you want to succeed in that practice (or career what have you), you must be a magnet to readers, or attract a following base if you will, about your topic and draw readers and grow morale unto the paper for which you write. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 11/14/07 @ 6:22 PM CST
I prefer not to take a side on the issue, but at least the opinion column sparked a discussion and caused the readers to think about the topic.
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