Byline: MARK McGUIRE Staff writer
What is it about sports and booze?
Study after study shows that athletes are more likely than people who don't play sports to binge drink -- that is, slam five or more drinks in a row.
One study, published in the Journal of American College Health, says college athletes drank 78 percent more alcohol each week, on average, than students who weren't playing sports.
A 19-year-old rugby player from Schenectady says he left the Oswego State rugby team when he found out that first he had to pass the initiation: drink 'til you puke.
An 18-year-old team captain was partying after a high school hockey game. Now he's serving a three-year sentence for getting behind the wheel of an SUV and hitting a pedestrian.
Often, being a jock means taking a drink.
Sports and alcohol are partners in everything from tailgate parties to stadium billboards to TV commercials. (Want to go to the Hall of Fame like Willie Mays or Joe Montana? Drink Original Coors.)
Three baseball parks are named after breweries: Miller, home of the Milwaukee Brewers; Coors, Colorado Rockies; and Busch, St. Louis Cardinals. In hockey, the Montreal Canadiens play in the Molson Centre.
And let's not even get into NASCAR and event sponsorships.
Experts say it's a common mindset. Both playing sports and drinking alcohol involve taking risks and testing boundaries.
``Some of it has to do with pushing it to the limit. They get competitive,'' says sports nutritionist and author Nancy Clark.
It's not surprising, she says, that some jocks become heavy drinkers, or that some alcoholics begin recovering by transferring their addictive tendencies to working out or running, she says.
Radney Wood, a senior co-captain for the Union Dutchmen football team, says football players are competitive in the bar and on the field.
But, he says, the line is crossed when drinking becomes a problem or violates team rules.
Captains like himself have the additional responsibility of keeping an eye on the newcomers.
``One of the big problems is freshmen on the team,'' Radney says. ``They are experimenting. They are free for the first time.''
Coaches often ban athletes from partying for at least 24 hours to as long as a week before games. Athletes under 21, obviously, are not supposed to be drinking at all.
``You can't take drinking from any sport,'' says former rugger Mike Carroll. The Colonie man, who graduated this past spring from Oswego State, was president of The Wizards, the school's club rugby team. ``I don't mean getting sloshed. ... As a team you get together. Drinking is a social way to hang out and get to know each other.''
Amy DiMicco, a 21-year-old University at Albany senior and captain of the Lady Danes field hockey team, calls it bonding. ``I don't think going out and being completely destroyed is part of it. Going out and having
a couple of drinks can bring a team closer together,'' she says.While being part of a group, such as a team, might encourage a college student to drink, there's another side: Within the confines of a sports team there is a discipline, exacted by either coaches or other players, that can keep someone in check.
``As with anything, moderation is key,'' says David Barclay, who was a four-year starter at center for Union's football team. A teacher now, the 24-year-old moonlights as an assistant coach for his alma mater.
``I'm more worried about the guy who's going to booze all week long and have it affect his practices, then performs bad on Saturdays. I don't care how old you are and your physical abilities, you will not be at your best.''
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Michael P. Farrell/Times Union
