Actually, it has game fixing and gambling, so it must be a ‘real sport’. I do admit that when I hear the scores I have no idea who won, or how well/badly either side did.

Regarding field hockey, even as played on college campuses it is a brutal sport, combining the athletic requirements of soccer with the whacking sticks and physical contact of hockey. It’s a “woman’s sport” here in America due to history, not due to the nature of the game.

Regarding cricket, I am not aware of anybody not born in the British Commonwealth who has the slightest understanding of its inscrutable set of rules, or who can fathom what’s going on in any way during the many days that a cricket match may last. For that matter I suspect that even many of those born within the Commonwealth have difficulty understanding cricket. My suspicion is that the English invented cricket as a joke upon their Empire and then were appalled that the Empire didn’t get the joke and viewed it as a real sport, to the point where between cricket and *real* football, half of India shuts down when their team is playing. Hey, it’s a theory that makes just as much sense as the alternative, which is that cricket was invented as an actual sport ;).

That may be true, Hipparchia, but I would like that option at the moment, as I have all kinds of outside work to finish before the temperature spikes.

You’ve never seen lacrosse, a Native American sport that is popular in the Northeastern US, and a college sport up there. It is similar, in that it is derived from the use of a weapon designed to cast stones at an opponent. Lacrosse matches were ‘wars’ between tribes, with fewer deaths than other forms of combat.

Amateur sports are always more fun, because people are doing it for the love of the game, not as a job.

Sorry but I do find American Football and Baseball far more boring than Football and Rugby and almost as boring as cricket!

No sport is as exciting as Hurling and that is an amateur sport!

Second, UF researchers have been sucking up millions in grants for their work based on the University’s reputation in the field, and graduates benefit from that reputation.

Third, if job opportunities are limited for CIS grads, they are wonderful compared to the number of football players who get a shot at the NFL.

The politicians love football and are afraid of computers – it’s all politics.

I can think of no single act more blatantly foolish than whacking the computer science/engineering department in this day and age. Effectively they are deciding to save money by not participating in any part of the state’s future.