My college running career was brief and undistinguished––cut short by injury and too many pints of ale. I also went to university in Scotland where, like most British schools, sports follow a club model where teams are run by students. We trained hard and fared well at the British university championships, but the overall vibe was decidedly recreational. Weekly pub nights were just as crucial to team culture as hill repeats: Not exactly Running With the Buffaloes. Maybe it was because I was delusional about my latent ability, but every now and then I’d feel wistful about competing for a program on the other side of the Atlantic. The NCAA, with its stratospheric budget, stupid mascots, and sold-out stadiums, seemed to offer student athletes a quasi-professional experience. This was where you went if you really wanted to maximize your athletic potential, as evidenced by the endless number of Olympians who were NCAA alumni. Then again, there was something reassuringly sane about university sports in the UK, where being on a team was just one component, rather than the dominating feature, of college life.

https://www.outsideonline.com/health/run...wtab-en-us

I do think a time come, likely long after all of us are gone, where historians will look back at this time and ask why institutions of higher learning were running professional sports businesses on the side.

Also, this post reminds me if my time on the App State club lacrosse team, which was more of a drinking club that sometimes played lacrosse. I like the club sports and think it is where the real student athletes compete. From what i have heard, even the D1 athletes in lower profile sports or programs feel like they are in a bit of a bubble, and don't get the "real college experience."