Todres | My parting shot

Just a few years before his tragic passing, sportswriter Dick Schaap wrote in his autobiography that his favorite sport was "collecting people."

In four years of writing for the DP, my favorite Penn sport has been just that.

I have enjoyed collecting Penn athletes the most because they are some of the more underappreciated and interesting students at this university.

Though I probably wrote about many more lowlights than highlights, deep down I could never stop rooting for my classmates to succeed.

Most non-athletes here have a stereotypical perception of Penn athletes - all they do is help the curve and take up spots in the admissions process, and later in on-campus recruiting. And the assumption is that since they're competing for Penn, they must not be great at their sport.

For some reason, students here distance themselves from Penn Athletics, and in the process, they deny themselves the privilege of participating in a storied tradition and interacting with extremely impressive peers.

I'll never forget interviewing fellow College graduate Tyson Maugle last fall about coming back from surgery to repair a broken nose. A biology major, he rattled off every last detail of the surgical procedure and the injury itself.

I felt like I was talking to my doctor, and I wanted to learn more. He was happy to answer all of my follow-up questions, giving me medical explanations for how certain new adjustments to his helmet would protect his nose. Sure enough, he was back on the field and delivering big hits in a matter of weeks.

When I covered men's soccer, I had the honor of collecting goalie Danny Cepero before he joined the New York Red Bulls and became the first goalie to score a goal in the history of the MLS. Who says Penn athletes aren't good at their sports? A fellow history major two years my senior, he even had time to recommend some classes to me.

And as my journalism career comes to an end today, Stephen Danley continues to flourish during the basketball season as a contributor for The New York Times. He managed to win a Marshall Scholarship and three Ivy League championships while he was here. He even wrote a column for the DP. No sweat.

I have sincere doubts about whether or not I'd have been able to make it through Penn as a student-athlete if I had the athletic talent. The Ivy League might not be the Big Ten, but it sure isn't high school either.

In season, between training, preparing for games, traveling and competing in games, it's not uncommon for Penn athletes to devote upwards of 50 hours per week to their sport. That doesn't leave much time for schoolwork and sleep.

All the while, they are putting their best foot forward to represent Penn and do what they love. Tyler Bernardini isn't getting free cars or a chance at an NBA contract to put in extra time at the gym during the off-season.

While pure amateurism in sports continues to crumble across the country, Penn remains one place out of a handful where the student-athlete is just that: a student and an athlete. But recently, Penn has become a difficult place for a student-athlete to thrive. Most regular students, and perhaps some influential decision-makers in the Penn community, could care less about the school's teams.

About 95 percent of the many e-mails and comments I received from DP readers over the past year about Glen Miller and the state of the basketball program were from alumni. Another 4 percent were from students and alumni at different schools.

Surely, these Penn alumni remember a different day of Penn Athletics, when many teams excelled and were nationally relevant.

Today, students are blissfully ignorant of Penn's athletic past. With a PennCard, you can access the Penn Museum for free six days a week. But if you want to check out the basketball museum that is the concourse of the Palestra, you are restricted to game days and must pay to see it.

How many students know that John Heisman - you know, the guy with the football trophy - played for Penn? Or that the Philadelphia Eagles used to play on campus at Franklin Field?

The problem, as I see it, is that a good part of the Penn community has developed a general apathy toward the school's athletic program and the history of it. This lack of interest and concern threatens to tarnish a storied athletic tradition in West Philadelphia.

It is Penn's duty to honor both its athletic past and present, and to ensure that its student-athletes of today get the support that they have rightfully earned. Our teams should be performing better across the board, and our community should be cheering these teams on with fervor.

Going forward, I hope everyone takes some time to appreciate our athletes and give them their due. You might even enjoy collecting some along the way.

And that is my parting shot.

Andrew Todres is a 2009 College graduate from New York. His email address is todres@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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