Set for life?

Excellent grades and a large alumni network will go further than sports. Being athletic brings a competitive nature to the business world. But it doesn't trump intelligence.

I think it is a huge plus for a young man---we get many calls from businesses regarding our former players who use us as a reference

jbb you have touched upon a topic I am familiar with. My son is nearing completion of undergrad, soon to begin post-grad work. It appears athletic endeavors have opened doors both social and professional. Continuing on his current path he has significant opportunities.

Could that be duplicated wthout baseball? It appears his, and most successful athletes, achievements off the field are related to the personality characteristics that made them do well on the field. The abilty to focus and get it done, come to mind. The fact they have demonstrated that ability, sometimes in front of thousands, without nets, on the road, in adverse conditions, getting it DONE, carries weight with employers.

Let's face it. They may be ultimately no more qualified that the above-average "fillintheblank" progam grad, but it appears that a positive athletic experience within a well respected program carries weight 'round town.

RJM is right though. The uni might open doors, but the brains will keep you there.

Yeah, well my 'network' sent me to what I thought they said was a "Career Fair"......turns out it was a "Korea Fair".......so here I sit, dammit.

Now thats funny Krak.

I hope my son networks enough so that he can Hire Me. hehe

EH

JB,
Wow, that "set for life" caught my eye too, I was trying to think what was meant by it, so this was a good post.
On our OV at Florida, everyone told him that if he wanted to remain in Florida that he should become a gator. It would help later for job opportunities. I understand that now, because here in Florida the network is huge being once a Cane, Nole or a Gator. I do beleive that if he had finished school and not gone pro, he would have used connections and lived in SC. Most of his friends who graduated and not turned pro, even some of the former pro guys all have gotten nice paying jobs, many of them a connection through the HC and because they were former "Tigers'.
Strange as it is, now living in Florida as a Cardinal (not a Standford one ), he has developed relationships that may affect his future if BB doesn't pan out. I really do beleive, as Dad04 states, that a certain "respect" is given for those who have been involved in some type of college or professional sport. You have already proven that you have the ability to focus and get it done on the field and in the classroom and that is huge for an employer.

Krak that WAS funny!

Krak is so funny! Good to have you on the list. From my perspective as a non college education, I see other dads from our team and they have this confidence and successfull aire about them. They seem to have good paying careers too.

Athletes have demonstrated that they can balance the demands of academics and a strenuous physical program. They have vast experience in cooperating with, competing with, and coordinating mutual goals. They have taken criticism in public, both from their "bosses" and the "consumers" while not taking it as a personal reflection, but a reflection on a specific action that they then would work to improve/correct.

These are all atributes that will serve them well throughout their lives.

Should they turn pro, add on adapting to a range of circumstances while working even harder at their craft. And working with a range of people from radically different walks of life and countries of origin. Not mention fierce competition with both your opponents and your teammates. And dealing with the insecurity.

Character builders, all.

And, let's be honest, male hiring managers in particular are always impressed with athletes.

re: korea fair....

oooooook,

I admit it, I've spent an hour try to top this with some witty derivative of Brussels or Paris, France/Belgium and I have failed.


slinking away now.......

ORLANDO

So are FEMALE hiring managers!!!!!

In this day and age WHO is set for life???

HaverDad, that is a tough one, but perhaps you thought you were going to visit your "brothers" but got off the plane only to find yourself in Brussels.

I think it depends on the type of career the person wants. Clearly a well-known athlete has a leg up in almost any sales situation. On the other hand, in my high tech field, participation in college athletics is unlikely to help. Nearly everybody we hire has majored in the physical sciences, and the required courses and labs apparently don't mix well with college sports. I've looked at thousands of resumes over the years, and I cannot recall any applicant mentioning college athletics.

Of course, we look for something to make an applicant stand out, and the best thing for an emerging college student is a part time job in a technical area. It tends to show initiative, time management skills, and a real interest in our type of work.

Playing baseball or other sports at a high level requires talent and passion. If a young person hopes to become, say, a doctor once his athletic career is over, and if he could transfer the passion to medicine during college, I believe the impact he could make as a doctor would be larger than if he played baseball. His time would be better spent in, for example, the biology lab.

I believe that the best reason to play college sports is to enjoy them at that stage in the player's life. I think there are plenty of other, and better, ways to become "set for life."

I think that many worthwhile extracurricular activities contribute to life after college. In fact, sometimes these activities are more important than classes themselves.
Learning to present yourself, speak to a crowd as well as one on one, discipline, working with others yet being strong in your convictions - they all come from playing sports. But they also can come from community service, sorority, fraternity, and club interaction.
We kid my college soph daughter that she needs to remember to go to class as well as her activities meeting, planning etc.!
Yes, sports is one way to get set, but there are other avenes as well. All require time and effort, dedication and perserverance.

i think a certain ammount of success has to do with connections. who you know, how you know them.
college sports can open doors, only you can hold the door open.

Set for life? After watching the recent movement in the stock market I don't think we're ever "set for life" but it sure sounds comforting.
Yes being an athlete in a large school with a successful program has a lot of opportunistic benefits. I don't think it has much to do with being athletic or what one learns on the field or in the locker room but more of how everyone surrounding the university perceives the athlete. "Everyone around the university" includes MANY people with MANY connections. It's not just the young girls (cleat chasers) that are infatuated with the ball player, there are many more people that are infatuated with the athlete. The player is the face of the university and the university is highly revered by many people. I'm not even an alumnus and I have been known to drop a $100 bill on university memorabilia.

Justbaseball --- good post as usual. Your son has earned what he's received. There is no free lunch. Being an athlete doesn't guarantee anything ----- not even a job as an athlete. However I have no doubt your son's athletic background and his university affiliation will continue to provide him with "opportunities". But it will be his ability, character, work ethic, and other personal characteristics that ensures he will be "set for life". Your son faced major hurdles because of his injury and many of his personal characteristics were revealed by his ability to conquer those hurdles.

Fungo

I don't think there is any doubt that being an ex athlete helps someone get a job in some professions. Sales and public relations come to mind.
I would think that a school with a large network becomes even more activated for one of their own former players.

Intelligence alone does not garuntee success. Just like being famous doesn't. It will get you into a good school and get you opportunities but a lot more goes into be successful. A combination of things such as smarts, personality and work ethic will lead to a successful career.

In this miserable economy these days being an former player certainly can't hurt when applying for a job.

quote:

Originally posted by 3FingeredGlove:
If a young person hopes to become, say, a doctor once his athletic career is over, and if he could transfer the passion to medicine during college, I believe the impact he could make as a doctor would be larger than if he played baseball. His time would be better spent in, for example, the biology lab.

Tangent time, but not wholly unrelated.

TFG,
Very linear of you to think that a great doctor is created in a textbook and lab. While that may be true if the doctor was going into a lab or research discipline (or even something like anesthesiology). not necessarily so for other medical fields.

Without going into a litany of attributes that might make a great doctor, many of the positive attributes of competition and sports, especially social, could contribute highly into making a successful (not speaking monetarily) doctor. Just like other fields, success is about getting things done, and with a Dr. sometimes under extreme pressure or physical fatigue. JMHO

Being from the south (and I would imagine this would be the case no matter the compass direction), I heard numerous times during my son's recruitment..."Never underestimate the significance of graduating, while playing athletics, from an SEC/ACC school...the network is tremendous".
While the ultimate decision did not come down to one of these schools, I believe his final choice has a decent reputation of "network", right CPLZ?

"Set for life"

Sorry but NOBODY is set for life.....at least how I view it. To me that means nothing to worry about.

Having said that, does being a Stanford, Duke, Harvard, Columbia, Yale... graduate have certain advantages? Sure. Does being a former baseball player have advantages? Probably. But I think any entity with a network of connections offers you some level of an advantage like being a member of a fraternity. But to say you're "set for life" is a stretch.

Beezer...I think that it is just a phrase that is coined, meaning for most people (at least for me) exactly what you described...still plenty of work to be done, but plenty of "extra advantages" available.

One of my friends who is a chiropractor played baseball for UF. I think most of his patients are made up of Gator fans. He treats many of the young baseball players in this area. His marketing is based around "he understands what it is like to be an athlete".

And he is definetly set for life.

"Provides connections to start you on the right path" might be more accurate than "set for life." However, there are plenty of people who did not have the connections to open doors who decided to kick the doors down when they weren't opened for them. What life really comes down to is desire, motivation and work ethic (sometimes some luck). Athletes have these attributes. But so do a lot of other people. Regardless of background it comes down to "wanting it."

RJM


Amen to that !!!

quote:

"Provides connections to start you on the right path" might be more accurate than "set for life."

I'm with RJM here. IMO that "set for life" is a poorly phrased comment to a player. Whether it be the guy who wins 10M in the lottery or that kid without a lot of "mental tools" that lands a steady job out of HS with good pay and beni's, you still have to play the game of life. There comes a time when the the only certainty is death, until then you for the most part controls your destiny. You may have a nice hand, but it's how you play the cards that counts.

quote:

Originally posted by CPLZ:
TFG,
Very linear of you to think that a great doctor is created in a textbook and lab. While that may be true if the doctor was going into a lab or research discipline (or even something like anesthesiology). not necessarily so for other medical fields.

Without going into a litany of attributes that might make a great doctor, many of the positive attributes of competition and sports, especially social, could contribute highly into making a successful (not speaking monetarily) doctor. Just like other fields, success is about getting things done, and with a Dr. sometimes under extreme pressure or physical fatigue. JMHO

Sure, being in the lab (as opposed to practicing and playing baseball) is just one way. One of the local team orthopedic guys has several undergraduates at his clinic who, among other things, observe duing examinations. So they find out early what being a orthopedist is like, and can decide earlier if that is a good branch of medicine for them, or perhaps discover that medcine isn't the right line of work for them.

College sports take a lot of time. The player gets the positive benefits that you and others have pointed out, but there is a real opportunity cost, and a least some of the benefits are better provided in other ways. I still think that students should play sports because they prefer to spend their time that way rather than spending it in the lab or at the clinic, etc.

The way I look at it the alumni/sports connection can get your son an interview but its up to your son to make the most of it. I am inclined to interview people who graduated from my college, but I won't hire them "just because" of the connection. If the best applicant is from PoDunk state, he or she gets the offer.

btw your school affilitation can also cost you interviews! i.e. some good schools have reputations for producing students grounded/interested in theory then practice.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
One of my friends who is a chiropractor played baseball for UF. I think most of his patients are made up of Gator fans. He treats many of the young baseball players in this area. His marketing is based around "he understands what it is like to be an athlete".

And he is definetly set for life.

....unless the Gator Athletic Association shuts down, which ain't gunna happen. They are more solid than General Motors today.