Proud to be a NARP

Yesterday, I was at the Canisius dining hall getting some dinner when I was rudely awakened, once again, of the conceited mindset that unfortunately consumes most college athletes. I was in line at the salad bar adding some lettuce to my plate when a hockey player stepped in front of me, reached besides me to grab a plate and started to make his salad. At first, this didn't bother me and I just figured he thought I was taking too long and he wanted to get his quickly.

Then, he paused at least once while getting each ingredient, a total about five times, to talk to his girlfriend, in a different line, about whether to sit with his team or not. At this point I was pretty annoyed and could have already gotten my meal and sat down. To top it all off, when he took some pasta salad he tossed the spoon towards the container, missed and it landed in the ranch dressing...both of which I wanted. While I was walking away, his girlfriend, a soccer player, gave me the dirty look.

This is only one example of what I like to call, CAS, Conceited Athlete Syndrome. I experience or witness a cocky athlete, on average, maybe four times a week. Yes, Canisius is a great school and we have a few amazing sports teams that do very well. Currently, our Men's Soccer team is undefeated, which is the best start in the college's history. I'm proud of that and the boys and I feel like they should be proud of their accomplishments. However, the line between pride and arrogance is very thin and easy to cross. Being an athlete or doing well doesn't give any student the right to act better than anybody else. Normally, stupid people wouldn't bother me but the fact that this happens so often and is associated with so much of the Canisius population is quite annoying.

Many people have heard of the term, N.A.R.P., non-athletic, average person. I am a narp and I'm okay with it. This is mostly the reason for the dirty looks and crappy treatment I get from athletes. I don't really understand why some athletes get this cocky and how they think it's right to treat "average" people this way. It's cool that you can kick a ball accurately and run really fast but that girl you just let the door close on can play the whole 1st flute part of a Vivaldi's "Spring," and I think that's cooler.

On the other hand, I do have some good friends that are athletes here at Canisius and do not suffer from CAS. I don't mean to say that all athletes are jerks by nature and all jerks are athletes. There are a lot of narps that are jerks too! I'm just saying, think before taking action and remember that equality is important. The world will never be rid of rude people and not every generous action is noticed but being nice can only have a positive impact on the world.

A slightly embarrassing picture of a friend of mine that plays on the Canisius Men's Soccer team. Thanks for being cool and down to earth, A.c.