[quote=deadzone]My point is the Academic mission of these Universities is un-affected by the athletic teams, good or bad. If the poster wants to act like an Ivy league elitist and put down these Universities because they don’t produce enough Nobel prize winners, go for it.
But the fact is the presence of elite sports teams is strictly for entertainment. Nobody in their right mind really believes the kids on these football teams are legitimate students.[/quote]
Agree. And college sports creates another kind of “social life” for the students and is often the only “entertainment” going on in the community in some of these schools. There’s nothing wrong with students belonging to cheer, drill team, marching band, mascots or anything else that supports college sports teams. If anything, it builds confidence to audition for other things, including interviews for internships and “real” jobs. It exposes the student-athlete and students supporting the team in these capacities to interaction with different classes of people that they may have not had exposure to, such as those community “movers and shakers” who have permanent box seats and skyboxes.
If campus is “boring,” where is the inspiration to stay there FT for 4+ years and slog away to finish your degree?
