Class slides for
2/9 & 2/10
Agreeing and Disagreeing
with what “They Say”
College Athletes of the World, Unite
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
When I played basketball for UCLA, I learned the hard way how the NCAA’s refusal to pay college athletes
impacted our daily lives. Despite the hours I put in every day, practicing, learning plays, and traveling around the country
to play games, and despite the millions of dollars our team generated for UCLA — both in cash and in recruiting students
to attend the university — I was always too broke to do much but study, practice, and play.
What little money I did have came from spring break and summer jobs. For a couple summers, Mike
Frankovich, president of Columbia Pictures and a former UCLA quarterback, hired me to do publicity for his movies,
most memorably Cat Ballou (which was nominated for five Academy Awards).
In 1968, I needed to earn enough summer money to get through my senior year. So, instead of playing in the
Summer Olympics, I took a job in New York City with Operation Sports Rescue, in which I traveled around the city
encouraging kids to go to college. Spring breaks I worked as a groundskeeper on the UCLA campus or in their steam
plant repairing plumbing and electrical problems. No partying in Cabo San Lucas for me. Pulling weeds and swapping
fuses was my glamorous life.
Despite my jobs, every semester was a financial struggle. So in order to raise enough money to get through
my junior and senior years, I let Sam Gilbert, the wealthy godfather of a friend of mine, scalp my season tickets to his
rich friends. This brought me a couple thousand dollars. Spread out over a year, it was still barely enough to survive. I
was walking out on the court a hero, but into my bedroom a pauper.
Naturally, I felt exploited and dissatisfied. In my first year, our freshman team beat the varsity team, who
had just won the NCAA championship. We were the best team in the country, yet I was too broke to go out and celebrate.
The more privileged students on academic scholarships were allowed to make money on the side, just not the athletes.
In groups of 2 or 3, read the passages you marked and discuss WHY you marked
them – what words or phrases indicated Abdul-Jabbar’s position?
Exercise 2: Write an essay responding in some way to the essay
that you worked with in the preceding exercise. You’ll want to
summarize and/or quote some of the author’s ideas and make
clear whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing and
disagreeing with what he or she says. Remember that there are
templates in this book that can help you get started; see Chapters
1-3 for templates that will help you represent other people’s
ideas, and Chapter 4 for templates that will get you started with
your responses.
Write a one-paragraph summary of the article.
Write a one-sentence summary of the article.
Even if you had not read the article, but you knew
only the topic and the author, what would you expect
him to say, and why?
Now, try some “duh” statements.
Of course Abdul-Jabbar think students athletes should
get paid. He’s an athlete, and every athlete thinks he or
she should get paid – and usually, get paid more.
The title of the piece gives away his position. Why
would athletes “unite,” except to improve their lot?
Labor wants to maximize pay, while management wants
to maximize profits. As a player, Abdul-Jabbar falls
clearly into the “labor” camp; revenue is not his concern.
Disagreeing; my models:
Zinczenko is mistaken when he compares the fast food
industry to the tobacco industry because he fails to
consider that tobacco is addictive, whereas burgers are
simply a dumb choice.
His position that fast food is like tobacco is based on the
questionable assumption that kids are somehow addicted
to pizza and burgers.
By focusing on blame, Zinczenko ignores the larger
issue of responsibility.
Disagreeing; complete one or more sentence stems:
Abdul-Jabbar is mistaken because he fails to consider…
His position that colleges should pay players is based on
the questionable assumption that…
By focusing on paying college athletes, Abdul-Jabbar
ignores the larger issue of …
I’m not the only one who disagrees. _____ has already
said…
Agreeing; my models:
Zinczenko’s observation that calorie information “can be
hard to understand” is right on target.
My own experience confirms Zinczenko’s claim that fast
food alternatives are hard to find.
Zinczenko’s comparison of fast food to tobacco is
important because it points out the responsibility that
companies have for protecting the health of the people
who consume their products.
Really, the issue simply boils down to truth in
advertising.
Agreeing; complete one or more sentence stems:
Abdul-Jabbar is on target with his argument, because…
My experience at The Citadel supports several of AbdulJabbar’s claims: …
Abdul-Jabbar’s position on paying student athletes is
important because it sheds light on …
Spectators who have never considered this issue might
find Adbul-Jabbar’s article enlightening because it …
Really, the issue simply boils down to …
Agreeing and disagreeing; my model:
Zinczenko might be correct that fast food was the only
option “then” – in his youth – but it’s certainly not the
only option “now.” Burgers and pizza are no longer the
only options for hungry teens, and even chicken is
healthier than it used to be. Most grocery stores have
deli sections that sell prepared foods, and while Whole
Foods might charge more than McDonald’s for a salad,
kids can still find a healthy meal at a reasonable price at
the Publix deli.
Agreeing and disagreeing; your turn:
Although Abdul-Jabbar is right about the exploitation of
student athletes, there’s still the problem of …
In the abstract, Abdul-Jabbar is right – but in practical
terms, …
Although I disagree with Abdul-Jabbar’s suggestion that
student athletes should be paid, I still agree with his
ideas about …
I concede Abdul-Jabbar’s point about ____, but I’m still
not convinced that …
As time allows, begin working on Ex. 2 in class. Select
key ideas to reference, and key words or phrases to
quote. (Remember, quote only words and phrases – not
entire sentences.) Use some of the templates from the
textbook to help you express your ideas.
Exercise 2: Write an essay responding in some way to the essay
that you worked with in the preceding exercise. You’ll want to
summarize and/or quote some of the author’s ideas and make
clear whether you’re agreeing, disagreeing, or both agreeing and
disagreeing with what he or she says. Remember that there are
templates in this book that can help you get started; see Chapters
1-3 for templates that will help you represent other people’s
ideas, and Chapter 4 for templates that will get you started with
your responses.