Osler's Razor

One of the things I love about working at a large university is the intercollegiate sports. College football and basketball are my two favorite spectator sports, so being at a Big 12 school has its advantages. However, being a Baylor fan at times... well, it has its drawbacks. Yesterday's 51-13 loss to Kansas State was a real gut punch, dropping us to 0-5 in Big 12 play with little hope for another win.

What makes college football special is that it is played by college students who have a real tie to their school. That means, though, that I also recognize that the players are basically children of about 19 years old, most of whom can't even legally get a beer. I think it's wrong to act like the fate of the University rests on them, or to criticize them individually in the way we would a pro player.

I really do love Baylor, and like anything else you love, it is important to be gentle when it is down. After all, I have had a few 51-13 type clunkers in my own performances this year. At any rate, it continues to sadden me that the value of the institution is viewed in terms of its football players; as I've said before, in general I see an inverse correlation between football success and academics. Vanderbilt, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern-- these are our peers as private schools in big-time sports conferences who generally fail at football. Is that such bad company for an academic institution?

For an alternate take on all this ("We're only covering tennis and golf from here on out") that may make more sense than my view, see the fine gentleman over at Beer Mat.