Universities in most countries other than in ours do not have sports on the menu. Our practice comes from English schools and universities where sports were supposed to train men in manliness; I suspect that the real reason was to discourage sexual encounters with women. In any case, sports is one of the most important means for men to avoid personal meaningful contact with other men. You can always talk about sports, statistics, players, and all the rest -- a wonderful way of avoiding talk about anything truly important like politics, religion, and sex.

Norman Ravitch *62
Savannah, Ga.