| Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics Contributor(s): Gerdy, John R. (Author) |
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ISBN: 157806838X ISBN-13: 9781578068388 Publisher: University Press of Mississippi OUR PRICE: $29.70 Product Type: Hardcover Published: March 2006 Annotation: An insider's assessment of how big-time college sports is in crisis and how it can be fixed |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Sports & Recreation | Sociology Of Sports - Sports & Recreation | Business Aspects |
| Dewey: 796.043 |
| LCCN: 2005028429 |
| Physical Information: 0.95" H x 5.74" W x 8.82" (1.08 lbs) 270 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: John R. Gerdy has seen nearly every side of athletics. He is the son of a high school football coach; he was an All-American and professional basketball player and a legislative assistant for the National Collegiate Athletic Association; and he served as an associate commissioner for the Southeastern Conference. In Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics, Gerdy brings all of those perspectives to argue that the American system of school and community athletics is broken. But he is no mere naysayer. He offers a bold, progressive blueprint for reforming athletics to meet our country's educational and public health needs. Given higher education's historic role of providing leadership in our society, the initiative to restore a more sensible balance between athletics and education must begin with the reform of big-time college athletics. Despite widespread public skepticism regarding higher education's ability to change the system, Gerdy argues that the opportunity for reform has never been better. Using a provocative mix of research and thoughtful observation, he argues that, for the first time in the history of American higher education, the critical mass of people, organizations, and outside pressures necessary to drive and sustain progressive, systemic reform of the college athletic enterprise are in place. |
Contributor Bio(s): Gerdy, John R.: - John R. Gerdy is visiting professor in sports administration at Ohio University. He is author of Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics, Sports: The All-American Addiction, The Successful Athletic Program: The New Standard, and Sports in School: The Future of an Institution, as well as numerous articles in journals such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, NCAA News, Sporting News, and Black Issues in Higher Education. |