<p>It remains unclear to stupid me how a good baseball player has any more
[quote]
tenacity, commitment... experience of failure, resiliancy
[/quote]
than a bad but equally dedicated baseball player. (In fact, it is obvious that the latter type of baseball player will typically be more tenacious, since unlike his talented bretheren, he perseveres despite sucking.) So on those grounds there is no reason to give good athletes any extra points.</p>
<p>On the the other hand if you think that
[quote]
achievement... success
[/quote]
in baseball per se are important beyond their value in teaching
[quote]
tenacity, commitment... experience of failure, resiliancy
[/quote]
then I'll eagerly await your explanation of how this exalted variety of
[quote]
achievement... success
[/quote]
is important.</p>
<p>Actually, as we all know, what is useful about athletes is that they make MIT's sports teams better. Just another example of institutional incentives of dubious educational relevance playing a prominent role in the admissions process. By the bye, the MIT campus appears to have turned a pale crimson color ;-)</p>