tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post7889962173037091079..comments2024-03-26T09:23:26.937-04:00Comments on ZooTennis: More Qualifiers Than Seeds Remain After Two Rounds of St. Francis Men's ITA All-American ChampionshipsColette Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14905215531491180014noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-91079091728752403152013-10-05T23:56:37.435-04:002013-10-05T23:56:37.435-04:00Been there done that -
I'm sorry. I thought yo...Been there done that -<br />I'm sorry. I thought your point was that "As someone with a college degree I can tell you first hand these kids won't have any use for the vast majority of the classes they take in college when they are done." And that "A college degree is the single most over rated piece of paper ever." So, I was addressing those points. Sorry for mistaking what you said for your point.<br /><br />But to address your further point that the things I mentioned are things you can get without a college degree, absolutely. But evidence shows many benefits accruing to people who attend college compared to those who do not, on average, particularly people who are engaged in intellectual pursuits while they are at college. Missing 5 straight days of classes for any reasons is a distraction from that. And to miss it to play tennis is, in my opinion, not justified if we bring these young adults to our campuses, spend a great deal of money on them, and call them students. That was my point.Big Timehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16873823073181896378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-22221868983110234322013-10-05T23:17:59.033-04:002013-10-05T23:17:59.033-04:00Jeff, to be fair, Ken Thomas(Radiotennis) can'...Jeff, to be fair, Ken Thomas(Radiotennis) can't move easily from court to court like Colette..have you seen his actual broadcasting setup. He can only cover the main court.<br />And he DOES do interviews.fanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12068610394897115696noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-71228412742083664732013-10-05T20:57:56.009-04:002013-10-05T20:57:56.009-04:00Big Time, there is almost nothing you mentioned th...Big Time, there is almost nothing you mentioned that can't be or isn't accomplished in life even without a degree. The point is these kids missing a week of class here and there to play tournaments isnt going to make a hill of beans difference in getting their degree.Been there done thatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-39340671792759927472013-10-05T18:06:50.946-04:002013-10-05T18:06:50.946-04:00Been there done that -
I am the last person who wo...Been there done that -<br />I am the last person who would say that being in class is the most important thing in the world, but if you are a college student it is important. Possibly even more important than playing tennis - depending on what your goal is. I am concerned with education and college student development more than tennis player development.<br /><br />What we do know about college student development is the more time and energy devoted to academic pursuits (inside and outside the classroom) during college, the more growth we see. See the book "How College Affects Students" by Pascarella and Terenzini.<br /><br />In your experience a college degree may have been a useless piece of paper, but on average the difference between having that piece of paper and having a high school diploma is over $1,000,000 in a lifetime. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/million-dollar-difference-college-degree-070036515.html<br /><br />Not to mention the possibility that you may actually become a more literate, more humane, more thoughtful person in college. If I had to bet whether that was more likely to happen by spending 5 days in the classroom as opposed to 5 days on a tennis court, I would bet on the classroom.<br /><br />Your mileage may vary, of course.Big Timehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16873823073181896378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-30510056039754135982013-10-05T08:44:49.282-04:002013-10-05T08:44:49.282-04:00Russ hit the nail on the head. I've been tryin...Russ hit the nail on the head. I've been trying to keep up with the women's side and although it's one of the premier individual events in collegiate women's tennis, you can't find a score anywhere. They haven't even made an attempt at live scoring. UCLA is supposed to be the host school. They should be embarrassed. With all the social media available to them, they have chosen to pass along nothing to the loyal tennis fans who enjoy college tennis. I also have to say this. I enjoy the commentators passion for the game, you can feel his love, but tennis is not a sport that can be covered on radio.<br />Radiotennis was be better served if he just did interviews with players and coaches while passing the scores from all matches along. To concentrate on one match, is poor use of air time.Jeffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-15810795654208938492013-10-04T20:14:08.293-04:002013-10-04T20:14:08.293-04:00Big Time, The missed school time really isn't ...Big Time, The missed school time really isn't a big deal.. Probably 90% of schools best scholar athletes are tennis or golf teams..these kids can make up the work or do it ahead of time..As someone with a college degree I can tell you first hand these kids won't have any use for the vast majority of the classes they take in college when they are done. A college degree is the single most over rated piece of paper ever.Been there done thatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-25218577056573777332013-10-04T10:53:04.747-04:002013-10-04T10:53:04.747-04:00Here's a suggestion for the USTA, ITA, and the...Here's a suggestion for the USTA, ITA, and the NCAA: Instead of trying to perform radical surgery on the college game that has a low, if not zero, potential to attract the casual fan, how about improving aspects of how you deliver the game to your hard core fans? How about scoreboards that actually work consistently that give out names and game scores? How about posting results and updating draws immediately as they happen instead of waiting hours? How about producing video features during the day that highlight matches and contain interviews? How about streaming video that works instead of nothing or looks like you're watching from the wrong end of a telescope? How about improving all the myriad details that TV needs and uses before lusting for TV? How about building an infrastructure that makes TV the next attractive option? I mean if you're making life difficult for the hard core fan, why would TV suddenly improve everything, because right now you guys really suck! russnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10016685.post-19150513433736772982013-10-04T10:51:29.903-04:002013-10-04T10:51:29.903-04:00It's obviously exciting to see tennis players ...It's obviously exciting to see tennis players work their way through qualifying into main draws and then have success there. But since this is college and not professional tennis, I see this tournament a bit differently (as someone involved in the educational side of higher education).<br /><br />A qualifier playing in the round of 16 (on Friday) at the All Americans will have missed 5 straight class days - an entire week of classes. Two of them this year are in their first semester of college, which is even worse. <br /><br />Perhaps we should bring back the ban on freshman participation in intercollegiate athletics? Or maybe college tennis players can do on-line education like so many high school aged tennis players? Big Timehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16873823073181896378noreply@blogger.com