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The American University and the Life of the…

mind.

Margaret Soltan, January 5, 2023 5:33PM
Posted in: sport

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5 Responses to “The American University and the Life of the…”

  1. Dmitry Says:

    Your thoughts on why Americans are so attached to where they attended university and especially the fortunes of the sports teams? Wherever they go they wear the shirts and caps and will talk at length given the chance. We don’t see that behaviour from other countries.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Dmitry: It’s true that in the US where you went to college has more significance than it does elsewhere. I think one reason has to do with the relatively “classless” aspect of the US. If you’re looking for ways to distinguish yourself as “elite,” you have fewer ways to do it here than in Europe. Harvard and Yale become substitutes. The absurd over-identification with the sports teams is simply a way of extending for your entire lifetime public display of your elite status.

    As for all the non-elite big sports schools – Alabama, Texas A&M, etc., etc., etc. – and the obsessive fan/student behavior associated with them – you need to remove from your thinking about this ANY intellectual, educational, component. This is simply American sports-madness in the context of a sports field owned by a school rather than a rich guy. There’s virtually nothing to say about American sports schools that is non-sports-related. The schools are run by coaches. Check out, for a really strong example, the University of Nebraska.

  3. Dmitry Says:

    I see the USA as a very class conscious society despite the advertising otherwise. It is teetering on the edge of a dictatorship or possibly a monarchy with the concentration of wealth and power. I was not aware that Harvard and Yale were known for athletics.

    Our model has its own problems. I see you are aware of the riots in football. However, clubs don’t depend on university to train the players.

  4. Margaret Soltan Says:

    Paul Fussell, in his book Class, is hilarious on the subject of the in fact very class conscious nature of American society, versus our self-understanding as without classes.

  5. JND Says:

    I don’t know how much longer the Aggie faithful will put up with Fisher’s losing ways.

    He was a bad choice all along. Despite making ungodly amounts of guaranteed money, he’s desperate. It should be a fun year next year.

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