The Jocks By Leonid Fridman Summary

The statement shocks the reader in a humorous way, pulls the reader in, and allows for curiosity to build as they continue to read. The humor is a great way to make this article accessible to a broad audience. It puts people on a level playing field since most people don’t actually know the true definition of “geek”. He conveys this message even further by using irony to express the severity of the problem at one of America’s most academically rigorous schools – Harvard. Students are embarrassed and afraid to admit the hours spent studying. Instead, they focus on fitting in and being popular. Leonid Fridman uses a continuous comparison between nerds and jocks. Instead, athletes are held higher than the academic. Sports participation has consistently risen while American educational rankings continue to plummet in comparison to the rest of the world. The U.S. has won more gold medals in the Olympics but places 31st math, 23rd in science, and 14th in reading when compared to other global countries (Zhao). The comment also paves the way for one of his argument in the case that American culture applauds the jocks, while they make fun of those who accelerate academically.
But do we ever feel guilty about it? Derogatory terms, such as nerd and geek, aid in displaying Friedman’s viewpoint on the discrimination against intellectuals. His comparisons and real-life examples put the decision in the audience’s hands. As USA Today wrote, "You can get a Nobel Prize at your university and you won't get anywhere near that attention. And so I think between the public and the media, they are telling us what they value." The public is involved, and often times addicted, to athletes and reject the academically motivated as outcasts from the ideal society. Unfortunately, this public is unaware of the capabilities of academic achievement and the progress it has brought us in our