Every child, at some point in their life, dreams of becoming a rock star, a doctor, or an astronaut. The career that stands out the most in the dreams of young boys and girls is to become a professional athlete; Why then? One reason could be the ever-increasing media coverage of each individual sport. Some channels are dedicated solely to that particular sport, keeping viewers informed and hungry to go out and play like professionals on TV. Another reason could be how easy it is to go out into the backyard as a child to shoot a basketball, throw a football, or hit a baseball, because it is much more difficult to perform heart surgery or to fly to the moon when you're in great shape. only a child. That being said, it's so easy to look up to a professional athlete. A child puts their heart and soul into the athlete by wearing their jersey and watching their every game on television (unless you are lucky enough to be at the game). It is easy to participate in this sport as a child and they can relate when they start playing a beginner level sport. Young children dream big, unfortunately the dream quickly fades when they start entering high school and also become exhausted from too much competition. However, as high school rolls around, many distractions enter the athletes' minds. The number one dream killer is when a girlfriend or boyfriend enters their life, time away from sports and workouts. Few kids will withstand these pressures of high school and make it to play in college. Only the most qualified and talented student-athletes will compete at this level after high school, leaving the dream one step removed from the world of a professional athlete. At the collegiate level, athletes got serious and improved...... middle of paper ......Pro. Sherman Oaks: Crooked Island, 2004. Print. Powell, Ryan. “Do Football Coaches Earn Too Much? Doubleazone.com. December 10, 2008. the web. July 22, 2010. Rovell, Darren. "Bush says salaries should start in college." ESPN.com. April 24, 2006. the web. July 7, 2010. Schwarts, Peter. “The Most Valuable Teams in College Football.” Forbes.com. December 22, 2009. the web. July 25, 2010.Sperber, Murry. College Sports Inc. New York: Holt and Company, 1990. Print. Thomas, Katie. “College stars pursue their likenesses in video games.” Nytimes.com. July 3, 2009. the web. July 10, 2010. Whiteside, Kelly. “College athletes want less action.” USAToday.com. August 31, 2004. the web. July 22, 2010. Wikipedia, Contributors. “EA Sports.” Wikipedia.org. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. July 19, 2010. the web. July 24, 2010.Zimbalist, Andrew. Unpaid professionals. Princeton: Princeton University, 1999. Print.