Introduction to Scholar-Baller™ 

There are major cultural disconnects between the educational, athletic and entertainment communities in America. This gap and lack of synergy between the three empires impacts the lifelong learning an consumption patterns of students, student-athletes and the general public in America.  Two obvious questions are when did this disconnect begin and how do we connect education, sport and entertainment in a constructive way so that youth and young adults master the skill of lifelong learning and intellectual engagement?
 

One sociologist, Professor James S. Coleman (1960), communicated his thoughts on this cultural disconnect based on his cultural era and empirical evidence in his article "The Adolescent Subculture and Academic Achievement" published in the American Journal of Sociology.  According to Colman (1960):

In effect, then, what our society has done is to set apart, in an institution of their own, adolescents for whom home is little more that a dormitory and whose world is made of activities peculiar to their fellows.  They have been given as well many of the instruments which can make them a functioning community:  cars, freedom in dating, continual contact with the opposite sex, money, and entertainment, like popular music and movies, designed especially for them.  The international spread of "rock-and-roll" and of so-called American patterns of adolescent behavior is a consequence, I would suggest, of these economic changes which have set adolescents off in a world of their own (pp. 337-38).

Forty-five years later, how are Coleman's (1960) research and ideas applicable to the gap between education, sport and entertainment?

First, Coleman called for a fundamental change to occur an the urgency to shift the focus.  Second, this shift in focus would mold social communities (education, sport and entertainment) as allied communities that culturally shape students and student-athletes in a positive way.  This shaping occurs through a common message, labeling, and a healthy stigma that all in society can identify with.  This common image is the Scholar-Baller™, parallel to Coleman's (1960) notion of rock and roll.  Today's influence of music, style and mindset is hip-hop.

Scholar-Baller™ at a basic level means an educated individual that also participates in sport, art, music, or any other extra-curricular activity.  The colloquial energy and slang part of the term combines intellectualism with a global identity that began in urban neighborhoods across America - the baller.  Historically in urban communities (since the Civil War Era), there have been three primary representations of success depicted to urban youth; the entertainer, athlete, and various illegal identities of crime and corruption.  These three avenues of success are admired because they  signify money, material possessions, and access to the opposite sex because of their baller status.  One thing that makes the term baller so culturally relevant is that it can be a noun, verb, or adjective.  In  popular culture, baller has been mainstreamed on ESPN, MTV, and major newspapers such as USA Today.  Baller is overloaded on the Internet and on the tip of millions seeking to have status and be perceived as cool.

By combining "scholar" with "baller" a new identity in America and global culture is born.  Hence, this is what the Scholar-Baller™ and its Curriculum seeks to accomplish - bridge the gap between education, sport and entertainment.  This can only be accomplished by giving student-athletes, students, teachers, coaches, advisors, and administrators the tool and device that is unique, thoroughly researched, user-friendly, and culturally relevant to the world of our youth ad young adults.

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