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Cinderella and Plato

I don't follow college sports much. Not even the NCAA men's basketball tournament. But being a teacher at a competitive high school in Virginia, I can pretty much guarantee that my week will be chaos now that relatively local George Mason has made it to the Final Four. The improbable school is represented by sweatshirts and backpacks at my high school every year, but this year there is a special buzz. Students who don't even like GMU are giddy over their Cinderella run.

It makes me wish I had watched the game - you know, to connect with the students. But hey, I can guarantee that not a one of my students watched the BC v BU game that I was glued to yesterday, in another NCAA men's tournament: hockey. If they want to connect with their teacher, that's the sport on which they should focus.

Sure, there are a lot of things going on in the world that I would like to talk about - things that are more important than college sports. But I've been sick lately, as has the family, and work is encroaching on my blogging time for some reason. So I'll just take a quick moment to address those who resent college athletics. If you look down on the intrusion of jocks to the halls of reason, sweating on the marble steps and being taught to glorify stretching routines more than calculus or grammar, consider this: Plato, an Olympic wrestler, espoused the idea that only those who are fit enough to defend their city in the army should be provided an education by the city. To train either the body or the mind, while neglecting the other, is a disservice to oneself.