DUE IN 2010 or 2011:
Blue-Collar Basketball
Blue-Collar Basketball is the exciting and inspiring story of “Class C” athletes at Baruch College of the City University of New York. They have the same (or even superior) intellectual ability as students at Ivy League and other big-name schools, similar athletic ability, and maybe even more dedication and drive to succeed on the court and in the classroom.
What they don’t have is the money for the Ivy League.
Some of these athlete-scholars were born outside the United States. In many cases, they are in the first generation of their families to be educated after high school. Many of them were accepted by colleges and universities that charge 10 times as much as Baruch, but they could not afford to accept the acceptance.
The blue-collar style of basketball goes beyond the financial assets of the athletes’ parents. Life in school and on the basketball court is more hands-on, paycheck-to-paycheck, rustic. White-collar basketball is more pampered, consistent and cushy.
Bigger and richer schools have more resources for athletics, including several generations of wealthy alumni, TV contracts, and support from equipment and uniform suppliers.
Most of the blue-collar scholars work while at college. Financial aid is minimal. Many will have loans to pay back after graduation, and it often takes six years or longer to graduate.
Yet despite the limited resources, delays and distractions, most of them do graduate. They join the white-collar class, empowered in part by their competing in blue-collar basketball.
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