Landing a seat in Margaret Creighton's "Red Sox Nation" course at Bates College is nearly as difficult as scoring a playoff ticket at Fenway Park . . . Students are asked to explore baseball's ties to politics, religion, race, gender and class. They examine what fans eat at games, why umpires dress like they do and how rivalries — does the Yankees-Red Sox bad blood sound familiar? — have helped shape regional identities . . .So basically, the curriculum is the equivalent of hanging around BTF for a couple of days.
. . . Students debated whether football and NASCAR have supplanted baseball as America's favorite pastime. They recounted their personal recollections of games attended and teams cheered on while growing up. They discussed the class differences between fans with expensive seats behind the dugouts and those who sit in the cheaper bleacher seats. They questioned whether Manny Ramirez represents the American dream, with his reputation as a slacker who at times seems to put himself above his team.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sawx 101
I went to the wrong school:
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7 comments:
I went to UMass in Amherst and had a class about the impact of baseball in America. It was in 1997, done to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's integration of MLB. Great class as we had some awesome guest lecturers, even Bob Feller was convinced to visit our lefty campus. I think I still have my final paper for the class laying around somewhere, probably on an old 3.5" floppy disk. If I applied myself to anything else in life as I did to that class, I might do some good in the world.
With tuition at $49,350 a year Bates also prepares you to deal with PSLs and outrageous season ticket prices - so it's a well rounded education.
I actually did go to Bates and they didn't have classes like that back when I went (Class of 1982).
The cost of the tuition is outrageous, but it doesn't prepare you for the PSLs because you get a grunt job at the local electric utility company and then....... nevermind.......
greg p - My brother is also class of '82 and from the stories I am told the Blue Goose was a place he learned many a good lesson.
No way! Who's your brother? Everybody knows everybody from Bates.
The Goose was Mecca. Pinball machines, pitchers of beer, pickled eggs in a big jar on the counter. Plus, you could go next door to Luigi's to get a pizza or sandwich and they let you bring it back into the bar.
That last one was me, moose.
Sorry folks - this message is for grep p - we can talk off line - send me a note at markskillings@yahoo.com.
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