On Wed, 28 Feb 1996, <BRUNO> wrote:
 
> MACHNIK WROTE:
>
> >for proof that you do not need to be in the ECAC to have a commitment
> >to academics.
> >---                                                                   ---
>
> HERE WE GO.......
>
> the post has nothing to do with "other" schools not having academic
> excellence.......don't  start with that...especially now going into the
> playoff scene.  All that I was trying to expound, was why the Ivy schools
> play a relatively smaller schedule, and why other schools in the ECAC stay
> there...or at least that's what I tried to say.
>
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>
 
I completely understand BRUNO's point.  Ivy league schools have always
held the scholar-athelete in high esteem, which is why their sports
programs are so big.  However, their programs rarely ever compete with,
say, big-time college football and basketball (which are basically
quasi-pro leagues) because of the Ivy League's ethic of athletic
amateurism.  This is not to say that this ethic is "better" than that of
other schools, it's just different.
        In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with an aspiring pro
basketball or football player to choose a school like Duke or Michigan or
UCLA over an Ivy school, because an Ivy league athletic program won't
give him the same opportunity to get a shot at the pros as the other
schools.  Academically, the person wouldn't really miss out either.
Contrary to what many people believe, although Ivy league schools are
among the most selective, there is very little (if any) difference
between Ivy and non-Ivy schools in the quality of classroom instruction.
Moreover, it would be completely ludicrous to say that only Ivy league
schools or only ECAC schools are committed to academic excellence (and I
don't think that was what BRUNO was trying to say).
        That said, in my years as an Harvard student and alum, I have
discovered the same thing that BRUNO undoubtedly has.  Namely that,
whatever my intentions, people sometimes get very defensive about their
schools whenever I said anything about the Ivy league or my alma mater
(which is why I'm usually pretty tight-lipped about those subjects).
 
Anyway -- just wanted to get that off my chest.
 
 
Now, back to hockey!!
 
-Tony
 
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