Southwestern College Collegian

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports

It could all be over any day now. All that you have worked for might be swept out from under your feet before you know it. That came out sounding a bit more prophetic than I had hoped for it to. I'm as big a fan of Nostradamus as the next guy in line, but I don't claim to be the just like him. However, such is the case for senior athletes, in this particular case, the men and women of the basketball team. Both are currently looking into the national tournament. Both must perform well in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament in order to advance and wring out a few more days of playing. The sad part of it is that the seniors aren't so much different from any other team in the league, or for that matter any seniors around the country in any sport. It would be nice to think your story was one that was special. We are all suckers for the ones that include white horses riding off into a nice little sunset, and better yet one with a long haired princess. However, it can't be the way for everyone. Disney didn't make every film ever made. Not everyone can have that storybook ending, and that's what makes the final days of playing your sport so frustrating. For many students, sports are the only reason they made the plunge into college. Every coach has patented the "you are students first" speech, I think it must be part of the curriculum when they go off to coaching school. It is probably mastered in a 200 level course. Do we really buy that anyone believes that to be true for the players? Take a look at some of the practice schedules. More time is spent on the field and in the gym than in any classroom. Add in weight lifting and traveling to games and you start to see where the balance lies. That's not to say all athletes are only at school for that reason. For some, that was their ticket to school so they took it. One has to be extremely dedicated to pull off both successfully, maybe that's why a good part of the population supports athletes so heavily. Then it's all over. One day you run out of eligibility. One day you've reached your plateau and there isn't another level of play waiting for you when the clock winds down. Most athletes today have been in multiple leagues starting in middle school. They have spent a large part of their life training for or playing a sport. After that last bead of sweat has dropped to the floor who knows what you can do with your time. You have a variety of options. Many stay physically fit and could still play college ball a decade after they were done. Some don't see the point if they can't keep the competition in their lives. Even if it wasn't what got you to college, you might find it was what kept you so happy while you were here. There's the group that are burned out from it all anyway. They played all these years out of obligation, a kind of duty for being given all that talent. That group may even get a bit of silent satisfaction from the end of it all. The thing is you never know who has what in them. It's all somewhere deep inside until these last few weeks. All-stars and average players alike sometimes start showing signs that they never have before. Coaches are surprised by what players have to give them, even after coaching them for four years. They start showing intensity that no one knew they had. Sometimes the way they play starts bordering on desperation. It's a last effort to be remembered. Whether those players change the score of the games or not, they will still be remembered. They might extend the season for one or two more games or the season may fade out, minus the Disney ending. They will be remembered for something that running out of eligibility can't take away from you. They will be remembered for their heart, and isn't that what all Disney movies are about?

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