I think we can all agree that college sports are a big deal. Whether it be March Madness or school rivalries or outstanding athletes, college sports are definitely worth commending. (And that includes women’s sports!) But even the best institutions have their issues and like many institutions before them some of the largest issues surrounding college sports right now are surrounding gender equality and Title IX.

Title IX is a federal gender equality law which seeks to ensure that equal opportunities exist for both men and women in college athletics. It requires that the number of sports available for men and women on a team are in proportion with the number of men and women on campus.

But in recent years, as the number of women attending college has begun to overtake the number of men  (women are now 56% of enrollment), the issues have begun to get more complicated. Unwilling to lose male athletes because of an increase in women attending college, athletic departments have begun searching for loopholes which would allow it to appear as though women and men are equally represented without actually increasing the number of female players. Whether that meant counting men who practiced with women as women, or putting women on the team, but never allowing them to play, schools like Duke, Marshall University, and Texas A & M have begun to get creative when creating the roster for their teams. Read More »

[A few weeks ago, one CollegeCandy writer wrote a rather scathing post on why girls should never, under any circumstances, not even if he was the last guy on earth, date a bro. Today, I write my rebuttal. This one goes out to you, Middle School Debate Coach.]

Yes, I know.  This already seems like I’m going to be writing an article pleading with chicks to “give bros a chance, YOU DON’T KNOW THEM LIKE I DO!” etc and so forth.  Or that I am a bro in disguise, infiltrating a website for the ladies to spread my bro-paganda.  But I’m not either of those things.  It’s true, bros are some of the most infuriating people on the planet.  It would appear that they have no depth, and that their perceptions of institutions like “relationships” and “hygiene” seem sometimes skewed in a very unappealing direction.  BUT!  I am here to tell you, this is not the case.

The past article about why girls should never dates bros brings up some compelling points, but I don’t think my fellow CollegeCandy writer knows the same “bros” that I do.  Look, bros are human beings, too.  I’m not saying they don’t get carried away sometimes most of the time, but I am saying that if dealing with a TRUE bro (not the CollegeHumor caricature of a popped-collar, beer-swilling, hoodie-wearing buffoon), the “issues” she outlined don’t apply.  I grew up around self-proclaimed bros in one of the preppiest towns in America.  (We’re so preppy we were featured in the “tea-partay” video.) The boys that were my best friends and guys that I dated were total bros in every sense of the word, and I would even go so far as to call my dad a former “bro.”  Even now, years later, they are still my boys and always have my back, no matter what.

Are they immature?  Of course they are.
Do we disagree on almost everything?  Pretty much.
But, to be fair, almost every guy I know is immature and is going to think what he wants, be he a “bro,” “hipster,” or any other male variety.

The truth is, there’s a lot going for a bro and here are just five of their finest qualities: Read More »

I must admit, I did get swept up in this year’s World Cup. What’s so wrong about cheering for the U.S. as if I actually understand what’s going on? So what if I hesitated each time before saying “score!” because I wasn’t sure if it was the correct terminology in soccer.

One thing’s for sure: even for someone who doesn’t quite understand sports (ahem, myself), it sure is fun watching those sexy men run up and down a field (court? stadium?). So here are my top reasons why athletes are a particular breed of mouth-watering man candy.

They sweat
Something about a guy getting all hot and steamy is just irresistible. Sure wouldn’t mind hitting the showers with them after the game… Okay, I’m getting carried away here, but seriously, it must be some kind of primal attraction that draws us to perspiration.

They show their badass side
When opposing team members get all up in each others’ space, penalties are called, yellow cards tossed out, a whole bunch of other sports jargon I don’t know, it is just plain exciting. Who doesn’t have just a little bit of a weakness for guys opposing authority and getting into trouble? Read More »

I’m not gonna lie – when my friend sent me a link to an 8-minute YouTube video last week I was less than thrilled. Was I going to take 8 precious minutes away from Facebook-stalking to watch some dumb video and then spend another 4 minutes feigning interest in it?

Out of friendly obligation, I pushed play. And it was seriously the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t look away; not even when I saw my Facebook tab blinking, informing me my FWB was FB-chatting me.

I haven’t jumped rope since my mom signed me up for Jump Rope For Heart in middle school (and even then I only did it to win a fluorescent pink water bottle with a bendy straw). It’s not the coolest sport in the world. In fact, until I saw this performance, I didn’t consider it a sport at all. But these girls (especially the little ones!) are true athletes. And what they can do with a couple pieces of rope is pretty effing insane.

Just watch and you’ll agree.

Having just “celebrated” banned books week in America, I started thinking about the importance of reading, the beauty of stories and how much books enrich all of our lives. And most of my thoughts came back to one single theme:

W.T.Eff?

Banning books? Seriously? First Obama gets attacked from those crazy moms who think he’s out to brainwash children by giving them talks on the importance of education and now reading is bad for children, too?

The whole thing is just absurd. Have people even read the books they’re trying to ban? How can a story about a pooh named Winnie who likes to eat honey and play in the woods with his other anthropomorphic friends possibly be bad? It seems like a book that is deemed “good” and “appropriate” these days is a book that will not inform your child of the existence of sex, racism, violence, homosexuality, the devil, bad language, and any other concept that will cause children to ask you awkward questions. The whole banned books thing will probably cause my AP Literature class to be renamed AP Literature That Will Morally Damage Your Soul.

Does this mean we should ban Pokemon as well, since the little animals “evolve,” which therefore enforces the idea of evolution and is therefore anti-Christian and therefore is Satanic? Winnie the Pooh may be the poster child for the obesity epidemic, his friend Eeyore for depression, and Kanga for single moms everywhere, but that doesn’t mean our younger siblings can’t read about them. I happen to like Tigger, even if he does have ADHD. And although Harry Potter may have “witchcraft and wizardry” and whatnot, it’s still one of the most significant contributions to literature in our lives, and as such, should be available to anyone who wants to read it.

So let’s take the attention and money away from banning books and focus on some more important things that should be eradicated from this planet. Because in 2009 there are so many things worse than kids in capes flying around on broomsticks or finding a lion in your closet. Read More »

I watch the Olympics every night in awe. Here I am sitting on my couch – MacBook on my lap, ice cream sandwich in my hand – as the world’s best athletes compete.

These are people who have sacrificed so much and worked so hard to be the best in their sport. These are people who have given everything they have (and then some) to get to this point in their athletic careers. These truly are the best of the best on the planet.

It is really something to think about.

And then there is Michael Phelps who is not only the best guy in the pool this year, but ever. Ever in history. 8 gold medals in a single Olympics. Pretty freaking amazing.

It was actually watching Phelps win his 8th medal that got me thinking about all of this. Yeah, watching a 48 year old woman win the Olympic marathon was pretty sweet, but Phelps really hit home for me. After all, he trained at Michigan; we walked the same streets, ate at the same restaurants and, if I ever even knew where it was, could have swam in the same pool. Read More »

We are big fans of the Olympics. Seriously, the amount of time and dedication (drink!) the athletes commit to their sport is admirable. And all that talent; it really does make us proud.

But watching the Olympics also makes us feel sorta crappy about our own performance. Some of us spend the entire day at our computers in sweatpants eating bag after bag of chips (me). Others split our time between class (25%) and the bar (75%). We couldn’t get to the Olympics if we tried…really hard.

That doesn’t mean we can’t dream. We asked everyone at CollegeCandy which sport they would want to compete in. Maybe this will motivate them to get off the couch and start training…or not. Watching is fine too.

Kathryn S.: I would want to be an Olympic gymnast, not for the gold, but for all the crazy party tricks I could perform at keg parties… and for all the tricks I could do after the party. Wink, wink.

Kate Bean – NYU: If I had my choice, I’d definitely compete in the male soccer tournaments. Screw logic/rules… those guys are HOT.

Carly – Grinnell: Tennis! I would melt of happiness (and probably literally melt in the Beijing heat) if I got to play alongside Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

Suzie – George Washington University: I would want to bring back tug of war (1900-1920) just for the sake of watching Olympians slide through the mud pit of shame– and hearing commentators give blow by blows of the crucial moments.

Olua: Equestrian, hands f**king down. Only a horse-person could understand how amazing some of those guys (and I guess the riders, too) are. And it’s the only sport where I get to brag that I practiced with my pet. What do I have to lose? …I mean, aside from broken bones and concussions from falling or getting thrown. But I could cope! Read More »

I know the Olympics are supposed to be exciting to watch, but, let’s be honest, besides scoping out the hotties, sometimes the excitement just isn’t there. But, of course, you have to watch because it’s a huge deal and you want to see if the US can dominate in ways other than invading countries and water boarding.

How to turn a quiet evening of competition into something a little more….fun? Why not do what college students have been doing for centuries: add alcohol.

We at CollegeCandy love alcohol (almost as much as we love bad TV) and try to add it to everything (except driving…and voting), so we did some research and came up with quite a fantastic game that goes well with booze and the Olympic games.

Grab some friends, stock the fridge with the bevy of your choice (though we recommend beer, as the games could go all night) and let the games begin. Note: A couple bags of chips aren’t a bad idea either. Or, I don’t know, a cake?

Now, be advised that this game is very adaptable to whatever sport you happen to be watching. That means you can play again and again! And here are the rules: Read More »

I have to say – last night’s episode of Project Runway brought back feelings of happier times. Times when the contestants were funny and talented and I actually enjoyed watching.

Yeah, I’ll say it: I laughed out loud. And it felt good.

And, being that last night’s episode was all about the Olympic games, I decided it was only fitting to choose an MVP. And, quite obviously, it is going to Blayne and his many hilaaaarious one-liners:

“Other people go to the gym. I go tanning.”

“The Olympics are HUMUNGOUS! SO big. Thousands and millions and billions of people. Heck yeah I’m going for the Gold!”

“In tanning, I’m an Olympic athlete. It only goes to Bronze medal.”

“I just don’t do the Beatles…Sorry Ringo.”

I know he seems to be melting due to his lack of tanning, but I think it makes me like him more. And he has all those bright 80’s Hyper Color t-shirts; he’ll get through it. Oh, and he is MVP purely for what he says. His design sucked. Read More »