Frequent Flier Miles

One thing that sports bless you with is travel experiences. College athletics will take you places across the country that you may have never made it to had it not been for sports.

It's not like your spending a vacation in these places so you usually don't get to see too much when traveling for sports, but you do get a feel for what the place is like, which is nice. Some teams travel across seas for training and competition. College athletics truly give you a chance to visit some interesting places.

In my personal experience I have scaled the east coast up and down. I have been to PA/MD/VA/DE/NC/SC/NY/FL/WV/NJ/OH/OK/ND to wrestle. This list is mild compared to where some athletes have traveled. The expenses can add up and it really takes some dedication and sacrifice by parents to help get kids to these places. Heck, The only time I have been to Disney World was when it was for wrestling.

One place that I have traveled that holds a special place in my heart is Fargo, North Dakota. This is what I imagine every time I consider going back to Fargo Picture. I take back certain generalizations with me from everywhere I travel. I think Fargo is a bunch of farmland as well as the most boring place on Earth. I believe that Oklahoma City, OK is one of the worst places I have ever been too. I question if they have car inspections in that town as most the cars I saw were so beat up they would not pass Maryland State car inspection.

With this said, I wouldn't describe any of the places I bashed above as anything less than interesting. The fact of the matter is that college athletics and just athletics in general take you some places that you have always wanted to go to and some places that you never want to go back to. If you take a quick peek at the Lehigh Wrestling Schedule, you will see that just this semester alone, the team will travel around the east coast, leaving the home state of PA 6 six times, including trips to Northwestern in Illinois, and Troy, NY. The NCAA championships are in Philadelphia this year. Wrestlers from around the country will travel to Pennsylvania to prove themselves as the best in their class.

The sacrifices of college athletics are heavy, but the fact, these college sports also bring some heavy benefits that might go overlooked.

Bodily Harm

         One thing that comes goes hand and hand with high-level athletics is injuries. Every year contributing players from across the nation are held out of competition due to serious injuries. Common serious athletic injuries seem vary from sport to sport.

Some popular injuries across the board are concussions, knee ligaments, cartilage tears etc. Other injuries are more sports specific like having “Tommy John” surgery on elbows for baseball players, or torn ACLs in soccer.

The fact of the matter is that college athletics pose a serious threat to the body. Whether it be rowing, football volleyball etc, athletes put themselves at risk for long-term damage later in life.

Cartilage damage and bone chips put people at serious risk for arthritis down the road. Football players and wrestlers in particular suffer a high level on concussions. New rules are being enforced in the NFL that help protect players from helmet to helmet contact. Heavy fines are being given to any violators.

There are skeptics to professional athletics that say that the players get paid too much money to play a “game”. They need to realize that these athletes are putting their health at risk everyday to earn a living. The only difference between the pros and college athletes are that the amateurs are not getting paid to risk their health.

Pressures Within

       Pressure is something that goes hand in hand with competitive sports. Pressure from parents, coaches, friends etc. No matter where it comes from, it is important and can be destructive. There are people that claim they perform well under pressure, I don't really believe that. I think it's more like they "performed" well under pressure.
       People can only take so much pressure. I have seen time after time, good athletes leave their respective sports because of the pressure they get from being successful. For the most part, it is not really the bad athletes that I have seen give up under pressure. The pressure cracks down more so on the kids who show promise
     Many times this pressure can come from parents who may be trying to live vicariously through their kids. I have personally seen the downfall of athletic careers step by step and it is never very pretty. Parents and coaches need to back off sometimes and realize what their kids may be going through.
    It's hard enough to go throughout everyday life without the strains of outside pressure. Successful and competitive athletes put enough pressure on themselves and anything extra is truly unnecessary. The expectations that the outside world tag onto big name athletes is ridiculous. The standard is so high that people knowingly root for underdogs simply because they are the underdog. Many people just expect people like Roger Federer or Tiger Woods to win and don't appreciate the work that goes into it. As soon as they fall off, this pressure can be released.
   I guess it is a strange cycle that the athletic world goes through but it is full of excitement and surprises. The pressures that surround athletes are a gift and a curse. It is nice to know that people care about you and expect things from you, but they are not you and don't know when something is too much. All of these aspects are a part of what makes sports so interesting.

Time Management

            College athletes make a time commitment to their sport that really can’t be understood unless you have experience it. The term “Scholar Athlete” in many instances can be interpreted “ Athletic Scholar.” Coaches expect the best from their athletes, but sometimes they lose sight of the reason people go to college.

             Practice makes perfect but it also takes time. Between class, schoolwork, practice and rest there really doesn’t seem like there is enough time in the day sometimes.  It really takes a tremendous amount of motivation and dedication to make it four years in a tough college program. Throwing athletics on top of that really gives the athletes a full plate.

            When your working out two times a day the energy to do everything else you need to do seems to zap away as every second passes. It is easy snowball down hill once you get off to a bad start. College life is a different lifestyle and sometimes it can be hard to adjust. Every year you can find stories about top notch recruits that fizzle out of powerhouse athletic teams because of burning out from athletics or lack of success in the classroom. The ability to manage time well is really a special skill.

            When you wake up in the morning and see your heavy class day before practice, the temptation to skip one or two of the classes starts hit you hard. The temptation to hit the snooze button one more time and risk being late is something all people have to deal with. The extra weight that athletics apply is something that truly tests your commitment to the sport you play. The term commitment really can be taken for granted. Its only until you are right smack in the middle of things do you evaluate what’s on your plate. Sometimes its strictly the love of the game that can push athletes through the stress and  hard work that come with it.

                        

Common Misconception

The Lehigh Valley is the hotbed for the nation’s wrestling. Year after the year the area produces multiple national tournament All Americans. The state of Pennsylvania has keen sense and respect for the sport of wrestling. With this said, to the mildly uninformed, the concept of “cutting weight” seems to still be somewhat of a taboo.

Time after time I’ve come across people that think that all wrestlers are victims of eating disorders. When I tell someone that I have to make weight that day, I am usually met with some sort of response questioning when the last time I ate was.

To shed some light, it is rare to find NCAA division I wrestlers that are careless about how they manage their weight and body health. I would confess that early on in the high school and middle school level you may find some kids that don’t quite know how to manage their weight right. There are times where these kids may go a day or two without eating. This process severely affects someone’s performance on the mat. At this stage of wrestling talent can outweigh these factors and good wrestlers that are drained of energy can win matches against inferior opponents. A quick look at this highlight tape would held shed some light on the energy and focus that goes into the sport.

The fact of the matter is that if you are wrestling at such a high level like college wrestling and beyond, you will not be successful if you don’t manage your weight well. Sacrificing large amounts of food is something you just don’t see at a level like this.

It is not unusual to see a wrestler that can shed 20lbs in a week. If the idea perplexes you, I challenge you to come to a college practice and see the work that goes into the sport. Losing 5-10 lbs in a practice is typical. At the same time you can’t lose this much weight and function without replenishes the nutrients that you lost. Fluids are essential to the performance of college wrestlers.. You can usually catch the wrestling team in Rathbone dining hall around 6:30 p.m on weekdays. If you ever see them check out the amount of cups that you find on the table at the end of the meal it is truly impressive. I can recall a time last year where most of the team was getting sick and Rathbone ran out of cranberry and orange juice after a few days.

It is no secret that the body needs vitamins and nutrients to perform at a high level. When you work out 2-3 times a days it needs a large amount.. Eating the right things is essential to weight loss obviously. If you want to lose weight the formula is simple. Taking in less calories than you burn throughout the day =weight loss. College wrestlers are people that have tons of experience in managing their weight. It is not the act that they don’t eat it is that they know how to treat their body to reach optimum performance. I hope that this information can  help alter some negative outlooks on the lifestyles of college wrestlers.

The Anti-Social Life

The weekend nightlife at Lehigh is lively to say the least. There is never really a scarcity of places to drink and party. The problem is that the night life at Lehigh is not very diverse. The schedule is pretty repetitive. It tends to vary from  going out to drink at an off campus house or bar to going out to drink on the hill, sleep in, repeat. There is nothing wrong with that, everyone likes to party.

One thing that I have noticed is the lack of things to do when you are not partying. Being an in-season athlete most of the year, I don't find myself out for the bulk of the time I'm here. Besides going to the movies or mall there really isn't much to do in the immediate area. Especially without transportation. Not everyone can go to New York City or Philadelphia every weekend.

I have visited other colleges and some seem to have a better set up. Almost every other college I have been to has a large student union with more than just a few places to eat. Some have their own movie theater inside, bowling alleys, pool halls, swimming pools, etc.

Something Lehigh doesn't have the privilege of is a nice surrounding city like Boston or Washington D.C. South Bethlehem is not really the nicest place to walk around, especially at night. It certainly isn't  a hotbed of attractions. Unless Pantry 1 food mart and Campus Pizza are all you need in life.

The school is really a one of a kind place, but the weekend social aspect is something that could frustrate someone who either doesn't like to go out and drink or can't. It is not the end of the world is nothing is done, but I do think that reaching out to students and finding out what they want is something that could improve student life at Lehigh.

Homesick

The stress put on by a college athletic season drives many athletes to miss the city that helped raised them. I would venture to guess that most of the Lehigh population does not travel very far to attend the school. Traveling back home is not a problem for the majority.

The point of this post is to showcase a sacrifice made by college athletes. Giving up your school breaks is seriously one of the worst part about athletics. Depending on the sport you could get a break, maybe two throughout the year. As an athlete with a sport that stretches across all seasons I don't get any breaks. No pacing, winter, spring, Thanksgiving etc. Being from Baltimore, MD I am lucky enough that i can take day trips home or have my family visit me. The trip is about 2 1/2 hrs one way. I really feel for the kids that don't live within a short drive and go without see their family or hometown for such long periods of time.

I'd say the worst part about being here working out over break is seeing everyone come back. Of course there is the ever waiting question, "What did you do over break?" and you give them the same boring answer , "Well I was here working out the whole time."The worst part is the actuality that sits in when you realizes that you will be stuck in Bethlehem for another large chunk of time.

The every so familiar feeling that overtakes many of the athletes here and across the nation has no name. I have taken it upon my self to fix that problem and I think for this region, the term "The Bethlehem Blues," fits well.

Since I am a junior, I would consider myself a seasoned veteran handling the "The Bethlehem Blues." I understand the importance of making frequent visits to Blockbuster, and taking every opportunity you can to eat someone other than the Subway in South Beth. Snacking up at Pantry 1 is essential to survival.  As someone that never eats breakfast, I have the luxury to use some extra meal money we receive to treat myself. This involves exciting things like getting two gatorades at  The Goose instead of one or playing a video game or two in the arcade at Starters Riverport.

The moral of the story is basically the Bethlehem Blues gets to all of us and whether it be due to athletics, long traveling distance etc. it is equally as miserable. It makes the summer that much sweeter.