When it came time for my final college decision, I, probably unlike most of you out there, had college sports as one of the more important criteria for my decision. I grew up loving college sports, despite the fact that my home state of Massachusetts has little to offer outside of college hockey (apologies to Boston College, a school I grew up rooting for but whose fan base leaves plenty to be desired). I set my gaze to the south and west, figuring New England was not the best place for a college sports fan like me. Yet I ended up at Dartmouth.
That is not to say there is not hope. First of all, we still have Division I collegiate athletics. While there are many people passionate about the college versus pro sports debate, I am only going to focus on one side here. Now, four reasons why we should consider ourselves lucky to have college sports around:
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Collegiate athletes do not get paid. Not only does this save you from moments like "my favorite team just spent $18 million per year on Barry Zito?!?!?!?" or "Gil Meche for $11 million a year?!?!?", but it also means that whatever happens, you are just one recruiting class away from better fortunes. It also means players are not playing just for the money (or in the case of Dartmouth versus almost every other Division I school, for the scholarship).
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You actually know these people. Athletes at Dartmouth, more so than most Division I schools, and certainly more than any professional sports franchise, are people you see around on a daily basis. They are not in separate classes, you run into them in places like the library, and they are not nearly as intimidating. Just try going up to a Dartmouth football or basketball player. Now try the same thing at Ohio State or Florida. Plus, at Dartmouth, if players quit the team, they stay in school and graduate (the fact that they graduate in the first place separates them from a large percentage of Division I athletes).
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Passion. You know the old adage "play for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back"? College athletes live it. Manny Ramirez, not so much. You can say the same thing about half of the NBA. If you ever want to see how much collegiate athletes care, go to a senior day for any sport. There are plenty of tears being shed.
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The closest thing New Hampshire has to pro sports is the AA New Hampshire Fisher Cats (an animal whose existence I questioned. Other options for the team's name included, in all seriousness, the Granite State Mountain Men and the New Hampshire Primaries).
Also, contrary to popular opinion around campus, most of our athletic teams are decent. The basketball team, whose struggles were a sore spot for me last year (my best friend goes to Syracuse), has already equaled its win total from last year with 6. After getting off to an 0-6 start, I stopped paying attention. Little did I know that they would bounce back with six wins in their last seven games, the only loss being against a very good University of Vermont team. In hindsight, I probably should have paid attention to the fact that three of the Big Green's six early losses were against teams like UMass, George Washington, and Kansas. For those of you keeping score at home, the men's basketball team's 6-7 record is virtually identical to the men's hockey team's 6-7-2 record.
It is a popular rallying cry for teams to use the "we don't get any respect" card. It is something used far too often, most notably by my New England Patriots (note to the Patriots: you won three Super Bowls. People respect you. Although, if it keeps you winning, keep playing the no respect card). In the case of the Dartmouth women's hockey team, it's legitimate. In case you missed it, they are 14-3-1 and No. 4 in the country. And they feature four Olympians. This brings to mind a fifth point....
- Olympians. As I said earlier, the Dartmouth women's hockey team not only has four Olympians, they have four medalists. Three of whom won gold. A quick count of my favorite professional and collegiate sports teams (outside of Dartmouth) reveals no Olympians in any sport.
College sports might not be perfect, but they are entertaining. Fortunately, they also reflect better on the community. My Boston Celtics feature a player, Michael Olowokandi, who was arrested in 2004 when police needed to use a stun gun to restrain him at a nightclub in Indianapolis. NBA journeyman Qyntel Woods was suspended for staging fights between his pet pit bulls, and so that I not be accused of singling out the NBA, this year's edition of the Cincinnati Bengals had eight players arrested, matching their win total.
