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Maybe it's because i'm not american, but that article is completely and utterly nonsensical to me. Is there some kind of injoke going on i don't understand?
by Mithaldu 12y ago
Maybe it's because i'm not american, but that article is completely and utterly nonsensical to me. Is there some kind of injoke going on i don't understand?
- jasallen 12y agoNo, it's just utterly nonsensical.
- TillE 12y agoIt's not nonsensical, but it is a random collection of facts with no explanation. The article doesn't even attempt to answer the obvious question: what changed? Why are they successful now?
- KMag 12y agoUnless something changed with regard to the crew (rowing) program (which historically had more mindshare amongst MIT students), it's likely largely random. In Division III sports, you tend to have high variance in performance, since athletics are seldom the top priority of any of the students. It's probably a combination of solid coaching with luck off the field (which athletes the team was able to recruit) and luck on the field. Next year, the football team will have a recruiting advantage over the crew (rowing) team, and you may see a long-term shift in football performance relative to crew performance. On the other hand, most US high schools have football teams but no crew teams. Incoming MIT students who didn't play on their HS football teams (most of them) perceive they're at less of a disadvantage competing in crew vs. competing in football. At least, these were my perceptions as an MIT freshman almost 2 decades ago.
- KMag 12y agoDoes it help to imagine it's being read by John Oliver? There's a heavy dose of self-deprecating humor about Americans prizing university athletic performance over academics. "Yes, yes, 80 Nobel Prizes, blah blah, but congratulations to MIT on doing something that's finally important: winning at American football."