College academics and athletics a system out of phase
Academic disconnect - There is no better feeling than switching on the light of learning inside your own head. A university environment should be all about that, and if it isn’t you are wasting your time unless you are wasting it with smart underachievers like yourself. T
he story of college sports that is screaming to be written should start in the admissions office and most likely end there. Do student-athletes in revenue-generating sports - football and basketball - reflect the average GPA and SATs of athletes from lesser sports and the student body in general?
Getting that information is like breaking into CIA classified documents or finding out what a dealer really pays for a new car. I once had a college lacrosse coach from an esteemed university tell me, "I get 12 scholarships and six guys who could never get in here if they weren’t lacrosse players." I thought of this after the University of Delaware men’s basketball team dropped to 0-7 on the season. Delaware is a first-class university that doesn’t put students on main campus whom officials feel aren’t ready to be there. Anyone who got accepted to the Georgetown campus knows what I’m talking about.
Stop the madness - Months ago I wrote if you can afford to chase a sports scholarship then you don’t need one. The best place to travel for free money is inside your own head. There is just more academic money out there than monies for athletics. I’m talking grants and money you don’t have to pay back. I would say young people should only go to college if they are interested in learning and only play sports in college if they have a burning desire to do so.
College majors - Let's say you pay $50K per year for a college education, so what are the popular majors? The old standards are still in place, like business administration, psychology, nursing, biology, education, English, economics, communications, political science and computer sciences. Let's talk athletes at big schools. Sociology may be the No. 1 choice followed by sports management, sports administration and communications.
How about residential property management, urban students and criminal justice? When you shine the bright light on the entire landscape (wait, landscape architecture) it just makes you scratch your head and ask, “Why bother?”
Scholastic wrestling - High school wrestling in Delaware is a serious sport, very competitive and a hard place to make a living. If an athlete wrestles all four years, he has to be one tough hombre. It is a great sport for fitness and strength, and testing yourself to the physical and psychological limits. Wrestling guys as adults seem always to be circling, looking for a single-leg takedown or the headlock and hip throw. The state championship meet will be at Cape again this February for the fourth year in a row.
Dallas at Philadelphia - I’m a Philly guy, row house reared, go back to Connie Mack Stadium and Franklin Field. I don’t hate the Dallas Cowboys; in fact, I think a good Dallas team is good for football, and the trio of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin were the toughest game-day guys ever. I want to watch a good game this Sunday night. I’d like to see the Cowboys put a scare into the Eagles, and I believe Philly will win, and if they don’t I’m over it in half a soft pretzel.
Snippets - Freshman Kevin Larkin (Sussex Tech) at Cheyney University is the leading scorer on the basketball team after seven games, averaging 17.4 points per game. The Wolves are 1-6 on the season. Cheyney plays at Delaware State Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. Delaware State plays a solid Division I schedule and has wins over Wake Forest and Delaware but lost to the Fighting Camels of Campbell College. I’ll bet there are some great camel cheers out there.
Del State plays at Temple Sunday, Dec. 28. If they beat the Owls, I will wear a Hornets hat for an entire week. Harford Community College lost to Baltimore City Community College last week 92-82. Harford was paced by Jon Warren with 18 points. Toney Floyd is starting to get time and scored 8 points in nine minutes off the bench. Jimmy Rollins was traded to the Dodgers this week; that is just sad. What a great player he was for the Phillies.
Go on now, git!
