The Tiger Transcript
NCAA vs. The ProsThursday, October 01, 2009 By Robbie Dick
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} What if you reached the peak of your athletic popularity by the age of 21? Some students spend four years, or even less, at college before getting 'paid to play' for a professional sports team. Imagine the dilemma of having your name called as a first round draft pick and having to choose between school and money. This may be an emerging issue in our nation. However, despite the still popular college teams and athletes, professional teams and their athletes seem to be attracting more attention. As March approaches, tension builds for NCAA March Madness, the final college basketball tournament. That seems to be the only time professional sports take a backseat to college sports. The Major League Baseball and National Basketball Association playoffs are always widely watched, and every one watches the Super Bowl. It would appear that professional sports are no match compared to college sports in terms of popularity, but there is one aspect that professional sports cannot match; alumni. If your father and mother are avid fans of a college team, than you know that they can't help but check back on their alma mater. Therefore, you begin to watch some of those games, and become interested. Thus, a trend begins of parents and children watching sports games of the college where they spent four years. Nowadays, everybody strives to spend four years at a prestigious college, and many spend their free time at college sporting events. Few athletes, however, can make it to the professional ranks, and, when college is over, the remaining students have built a strong connection with their colleges' sports. Also, many college games are not nationally televised. The NFL averages 18.2 million more television viewers on Sundays than NCAA Football does on Saturdays. The NBA has more viewers and magazine subscribers than men’s college basketball in every month besides March, and even the WNBA outdoes women’s college basketball in the same categories. In addition, the NHL outsells NCAA Men’s Hockey by a wide margin in jersey and team apparel sales, and easily edges them in television ratings for the Stanley Cup Playoffs as compared to the NCAA’s “Frozen Four.” No matter how you shape it, the best high school athletes come together to make college teams. The best of these college athletes are strung together to make professional teams. This leads to a spectacle of athleticism to behold, that still reigns supreme in our nation. |