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 »

With the sun shining and the weather heating up, it’s hard to motivate yourself to spend an hour inside a dark and smelly gym. At the same time, if you’re not into running, getting a good workout outdoors isn’t always easy. Or fun. So what can you do to take in the beautiful summer weather and burn some serious calories?

Join a summer sports league.

It doesn’t matter if you are living in a big city, or crashing with the parentals in suburban America – you can find a summer sports league near you. They range from softball to dodgeball (and everything in between) and are a great way to meet people, get a little workout, and have a really good time doing it. Read More »

Selection Sunday is over. The 64 college basketball teams have been chosen and March Madness has officially begun.

I’ve already received 26 invitations from guys asking me to fill out a bracket and join their pool. I’m honored that so many people thought of me, but I think it may have more to do with the fact that those 26 guys know I know absolutely nothing about basketball than the fact that they love and respect my opinion.

Don’t get me wrong – I love part of March Madness. I love anything that involves hanging out with a bunch of guys talking sports and drinking beer. There is something so cute about boys and sports – the excitement, the high fives, the school spirit.

But… I hate basketball.

No, it’s not because Michigan’s basketball program has been less than fantastic over the course of my stay on campus. It’s just that I find the game to be boring to watch. It’s just a game of back and forth to me. My team scores, their team scores, my team scores, their team scores…. over and over again.  Unlike football where each successful play could be the winning play, basketball games only really matter for 5 minutes. The last 5. The rest of the game just doesn’t matter to me.

Oh, and it doesn’t help that this entire March Madness situation totally trumps my March 21st birthday.

I’m pretty sure I’m alone in this seeing how many Facebook status updates include “NCAA” and a lot of exclamation points this morning. Everyone seems to be basketball crazy. Yes, even my great aunt (who also happens to be on Facebook. WTF!?). I just don’t see what all the hype is about.

What about you? Are you mad about March Madness?

In 2008′s least shocking expose, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution dredged the sweat-stained pit of college academics and came up with, essentially, a national “dumb jock” joke.

Hating on athletes is pretty standard practice for the squishy intellectual set, probably because we’ve got a few bones to pick about getting stuffed in lockers and picked last for dodgeball. (As an aside, has anyone actually been stuffed into a locker in the past thirty years? The jocks these days just steal our iPods.)

But, whether we hear it from major newspapers or the bottom of locker no. 104, the news is the same: at the corner of college athletics and college admissions, something is gravely ill. 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 »