Another Look at Student Athletes

Please help me understand the spoiled-brat, gift-horse attitudes expressed in the article on student athletes (“Welcome to Plantation Football,” by Irvin Muchnick, Aug. 31). Athletes are offered free rides to institutions they admit they otherwise could not have attended based on their grades, and then they complain about the requirements. When they get a real job, do they think their employer will change the rules to accommodate them? The answer is no. If you don’t like the stipulations of this gift, then don’t take it or shut up.

No job for compensation (paycheck or scholarship) has a guarantee. The last time I checked, California was a work-at-free-will state. Maybe athletes aren’t the problem. Maybe the parents, coaches, agents and fans--who butter up and protect these young men and women during their developing years--cause athletes to think they are above the common non-athletic slob.

Ron Reichl

Simi Valley