For those of us watching the NCAA national lacrosse championships this weekend in Baltimore, it is important to keep in mind a significant difference between the Cornell team and the rest of the field. This is a difference that goes beyond the fact that Cornell will be the only team wearing red (all the other teams wear blue), or that Cornell's semifinal match-up is against a team that attracted a lot of negative press last year, and is getting a lot of positive press this year. No, the biggest difference will be that unlike players on all three other teams, no Cornell player is on an athletic or academic scholarship. This year's Big Red lacrosse team, complete with some of the finest scholar-athletes in the country, is a testament to the fact that the Ivy League model of college athletics can work, and can be competitive at the very highest level in the nation. And for that reason alone, no matter what happens this weekend in Baltimore, the Big Red lacrosse team is already composed of a bunch of champions in my book. Cornell! Cornell! I yell, yell, yell Cornell!
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