Reply to thread

Message: [QUOTE="bags27, post: 2589360, member: 6761"] There's a 1978 satirical movie called, [I]Movie, Movie [/I]in which a doctor tells his patient (named Spats) that he only has one month to live. One month? I only have 30 days? Sorry Spats, says the doctor, but this is February. "It's February Spats" is a joke my wife and I have shared since then to describe something absurd. And nothing is more absurd than February. I teach at a college that is quite academically demanding. Yet, I know that freshmen are good for very little between Thanksgiving and finals, and are only half as good in class the winter semester as in the fall. And the worst time for them (and therefore for me) is February. Sure, they're old enough to vote or fight in Afghanistan. But they are still kids. And the first year of college, even when they don't give 20 hrs/week to the most intensive practices in WCBB and have a brutal travel schedule, just wears them down. There is so much mental work in adjusting to being away from home, creating new social patterns, and figuring out how to survive in class. And then there's basketball, that starts at the beginning of November, and runs right through unrelentingly. Unlike the veterans, the freshmen just don't know what to expect and nothing wears you down as much as the unknown. Every away game is a new hotel, a new arena, etc. It's like taking a toddler to Disney World. At first, lots of wide-eyed energy and joy, but eventually decompensation and tears. Ask any NFL player about their rookie season and they'll say college ball didn't prepare them for how long, intense, and different the game is. Or ask Stewie just how well she played her freshman year in February. Oh wait, she sort of didn't play, did she? Sometimes I feel that what these kids need are milk and animal crackers, a nice story, and a short nap. Not really, of course, but sort of. As everyone says, the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach