College Athletics: not all they're cracked up to be

As I'm writing this, the Massachusetts basketball team is in the midst of its opening round match against Alabama in the National Invitation Tournament. For the seniors, it could be their last game. Ever. Superstar Stephane Lasme may go to the NBA, but players like Rashaun Freeman and Brandon Thomas aren't going to the pros. Instead, they're going to have to think about getting jobs. Soon.

Cover college sports as a college student has brought to realize how temporary athleticism can be. One day you're a freshman on a new campus, nervous about... everything. All of a sudden, you're looking for employment, and not the kind you find at the dining hall's dish room.

For most student-athletes, as soon as graduation comes, your athletic career is over, and "real life" begins. These kids - and they are still kids - get overexposed on ESPN, expected to lead their bubble team into their sport's respective NCAA tournament. The pressure is immense, often moreso than professional athletes.

In the pros, you get paid, win or lose. In college sports, losing is so much more permanent. You have four years (thought usually two or three) to produce as an athlete, and prove your worth. And if you're not good enough to make the pros, your potential earnings drop 100-fold. You go from millions to tens of thousands, and 90 percent of it is out of your hands.

You can play your ass off and if win more games than you were every predicted too, then you snap an ankle, and its over. I've realized as a journalist who MAY make 25,000 a year if i get a job right out of school, I have more job security that Rashaun Freeman.

Like any kid, I wanted to play pro sports when I grew up. Now that I talk to the kids who actually have a shot (a number of the hockey players have already been picked up by pro teams for eventual insertion into the minor leagues) I wonder if its really worth.

Only if you make it, I guess.