3/11    Cal basketball sucks.
        \_ oh well, at least football's on the rise.
           \_ Ranked No. 11 on one person's pre-season list:
                http://tinyurl.com/2wuyh (sports.espn.go.com)
        \_ so what?
           \_ i'm sorry. linux rules! windoze sucks! better?
              \_ no I just don't see why anyone cares about college sports.
                 \_ I just don't see why anyone gives a shit what you care
                    about. I don't understand your obsession with gay sex,
                    but I don't whine about it.
                    \_ yeah whatever.  so like I said at the top, "so what?"
                       why does anyone (other than the troll) care about this
                       stuff?
                       \_ cause I enjoy playing and watching basketball,
                          and also rooting for cal while having some good
                          food is a great way to have fun and also build
                          comraderie with my cal buddies.  - yap
                          \_ thanks.  that's the first/only real answer I've
                             *ever* seen to that question.
        \_ you didn't really come for the sports did you?
           \_ I didn't even know that "Cal" was U.C. Berkeley before I
              came, and sports weren't a factor in that decision, but
              that doesn't mean we have to accept mediocrity (or worse). --!op
              \_ you could pay for better HS kids in the sports program but
                 wouldn't it be better if that money was instead spent on
                 academic scholarships for the smart but poor kids from the
                 same ghetto schools?  wouldn't it be better if a kid thought
                 that getting an education was the best way out instead of
                 playing a game?  and what happens to the 99% of kids who
                 aren't good enough to get that college sports scholarship?
                 yep, that's right, they're fucked and the cycle repeats.
                 \_ "That money" is money coming from a sports supporter;
                    there's no reason to believe that, absent a sports
                    program, they'd still be donating money to Cal.
                    \_ And the seats and profs and admin and everything else
                       required by athletic scholarships is 100% supported by
                       outside money?
                       \_ Yes. Sports programs tend to make money for the
                          school, not cost money.
                          \_ So you honestly believe that having the sports
                             program creates more seats for non-athletes than
                             if there wasn't a sport program?  Having 1000+
                             'students' on athletic scholarships creates more
                             than 1000 seats for non-athletes?  They pay for
                             the insurance, the people who clean the stadiums,
                             the cops for the events, lost space on campus, and
                             everything else involved in keeping the program
                             running?  It's completely self sufficient?  I
                             very seriously doubt that.  yap said it's about
                             comraderie and fun and such.  That's a fine
                             reason, let's not pretend it is self sufficient or
                             even a money maker over-all.
                             \_ Read the URL below.
                \_ no they do not "tend" to make money at all, they may
                   make a little, but the school ends up buying bigger
                   and more expensive facilities and hire more staff
                   and throw more money at their sports programs,
                   which if you look at the total financial picture taken
                   in groups of a few years, instead of your immediate balance
                   sheet, the school loses vasts amounts of money they
                   should have spent on College Board bribes.
                   \_ I'm sorry, but the sports programs are self-supporting.
                      Gate receipts, ticket revenues, and revenue sharing
                      (plus boosters) ensure the school doesn't pay a dime.
                      Many schools make money this way. Football is
                      especially profitable. The small sports do cost money.
                      http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sports/links/uwfinances08.html