It's no secret to anyone with any sense that college kids like... nay love to party. Now take these same kids and put them in a high stress environment where they are constantly held to higher physical standards and more rigorous schedules, and the urge to throw down is ratcheted up a notch.
No matter how many gray haired administrators preach to you that you are "student-athletes" not "athlete-students", the fans aren't paying money to come watch you take a calculus test. They are coming to watch you perform on the field, to amaze and entertain them for a couple of hours a week. Quite frankly they could give a shit if you're failing math powered flight.
So why are you spending your weekend trying to see how many drinks it takes before you sleep with the only girl on the wrestling team? You are an important cog in the wheel of your team's success. Shouldn't you be asleep in a hyperbaric chamber or mainlining N.O.-Xplod to make sure that you are in tip top shape for the game that's 6 days away?
Give me a break.
Really this issue comes down to coaching. Anyone who has ever played sports knows know that a good coach is more than just a tactician. In order to be a successful coach in any sport at any level you have to be part sports guru and part psychologist. Not even the most delusional Lakers fan really believes that Phil Jackson just knows basketball better than all these other coaches. But it's undeniable that he is amongst the, if not the best ever at managing the personalities of his team and getting the most out of the players that he has.
College sports it's an entirely different animal because instead of fiscally irresponsible 23 year olds, you put the future of your career year after year in the hands of a bunch of egomaniacal binge drinking 19 year olds.
Every coach has their own style and there are usually 4 ways it goes down.
- The coach leaves it up to his players
- The coach uses physiological scare tactics (Natty Light gives you chlamydia) to discourage drinking
- The coach uses legal scare tactics and hopes for the best
- Hardline. The dreaded dry season.
The first 3 options usually end up the same way. During a preseason team meeting the older guys will come together and decide on a 48 hour rule, which basically stipulates that there is to be no drinking within 48 hours of the start of a game. The 48 hour rule is managed internally within the team and it's sort of an unspoken rule that infractions are to be handled in house.
The success of this relies on the assumption that every member of the team is committed to the same goal of success, and has puts the onus on the players to monitor themselves and their teammates as far as their drinking habits. Irregardless of what the rest of college students think in season athletes take their shit very seriously and there is absolutely nothing worse than being the worst sports teams that your school has to offer. There is no doubt that a good party is a ton of fun, but it's even more fun if you're winning games. That being said the 48 hour rule is historically a successful boundary for college athletes. If your games are on Wednesday and Saturday nights then you can make the most out of dollar beer night post game Wednesday and celebrate the win full force with the rest of the student body on Saturday.
This approach, while risky in the sense that if your team is just a bunch of unmotivated alcoholics your season will tank and you'll get fired, carries with it many benefits. Sports are about more than just x's and o's. They are about the vibe in the locker room, they are about the chemistry within the team. I don't care how solid and well scouted your tactics are, if all of the guys on your team hate each other then you'll suck worse than M. Night Shyamalan movies. Anyone who watched William & Mary soccer in 2006 knows exactly what I'm talking about. Dumpster fire.
Allowing your team to party together is about more than just bonging 4 Lokos and perfecting your beer pong stroke. It's about building relationships with the guys who you are between the lines with every day. It's about the opportunity to relax with your closest friends and enjoy the little bit of free time you have between classes and workout and travel.
I've seen the destruction that the dry season can cause. In my time in college a few different coaches tried to strong arm their girls... I mean players into a season sans alcohol and it only served to divide the team and eventually ruin their season.
There's always the hyper motivated overachieving captain who can't pull their head from the coach's crotch for long enough to realize that this is absolutely a terrible idea. Then there's the people in the middle, who kind of don't care and drink on the side anyway. Then the other end of the spectrum are the kids who just outright revolt, and get hammered in plain view and then get tattled on by Captain Dipshit and all of a sudden your team is in turmoil. The shit storm in your locker room is reflected on the field and inevitably your team begins to disintegrate and you're off to another 6 win season. But hey, all your players hate each other and each and every person is counting down the minutes until the season is over so they can black out in their front yards! But at least everyone's liver is healthy.
This is not a commentary on dedication, and it's not fair or true to say that those who choose to go through an entire season without drinking are more dedicated or more driven than those who don't. Grande middle finger to all you idiots who assume that there is an inverse relationship between commitment and the ability to have fun. In 2009 the Virginia men's soccer team won a national championship and partied harder than any group of guys I've been around in a long time. But they were a family on and off the field and that was a monumental part of their success.
I'm not saying that teams rely on alcohol to be successful, I'm simply saying that you have to realize that you're dealing with kids who want to be able to experience college and are already sacrificing so much to be in top form for their sport, might as well let them have a little fun too.
All you athletes out there crack a beer for William & Mary womens soccer. Do work ladies.
And happy belated birthday to Kendall Jenner. Giggity
No comments:
Post a Comment