MARASCO: For the love of the game

Surprise, surprise — the NHL entered its fourth lockout in the last 20 years at noon on Saturday, as its collective bargaining agreement expired, driving hockey fans everywhere to buy gallons of rocky road ice cream and dust off their Maroon 5 CDs.

The NBA had a lockout-shortened season this past year. The NFL struggled through painful collective bargaining negotiations the previous summer.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget that professional sports are first and foremost a business.

The truth is, like all business, professional sports are driven by money. And rightfully so — talented, hard-working people deserve to get their money.

Pro athletes have short windows for earning, and they’re all trying to get paid as much as they possibly can during those years.

And the owners?

Hey, they’re running a business.  They want maximum revenue — that’s capitalism.

So, yeah — it kind of stinks that it’s not solely about the “love of the game” in pro sports, but don’t judge those involved.  It’s the way of the world.

However, every once in a while, something comes along that defies the “way of the world” — shining upon us as a beacon of optimism and hope.

College sports, my friends, is that beacon.

A friend of mine recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame.

A good football player in high school, but not elite, he was not offered scholarships to play football for major college programs.

But he had a lifelong dream that he wished to fulfill.

Like Rudy, before him, he wanted to play football for Notre Dame.

So, he tried out for the team as a walk-on. Do you know what happens to players who try to walk on to Division I football teams?

If you’ve seen Rudy you have an idea. If you haven’t, basically what happens is you get pummeled into oblivion doing the dirty work that coaches don’t want to inflict upon their prized scholarship players.

But wouldn’t you know, he made the team.

So for those years, he went to practice every day and worked his tail off just to keep his spot on the roster.

That means waking up at dawn every day, lifting weights constantly, taking his lumps at practice and spending hours in a film room — all for zero playing time and limited recognition from coaches.

Not only did he not get to play on Saturdays, he didn’t get to travel or dress with the team for their road games.

But, he played through his senior year.  He dedicated this massive amount of time to football. He didn’t receive any compensation for it. No scholarship.

And as noted, recognition is limited for players near the edge of the depth chart.

He wanted to get a chance to take the field, but he never knew if it’d come.

But just being on the team was good enough for him to keep going. To me, that’s a beautiful thing.

And just to add the cherry on top, his senior season, he was given the opportunity to dress and play in a few games — heartwarming. Mission accomplished.

That’s what makes college sports so special. For some, it really is all for the love of the game.

Sure, the talent level in pro sports is lightyears ahead of that of college, but what college sports lack in talent they give you back tenfold in passion and desire.

Think about any of your favorite films or TV shows — the ones that really tell a fantastic story, the ones that affect you, the ones that move you, the ones that make you laugh or cry.

What do they all have in common?

The hero has a great desire — something is driving them — something not easily obtained. There’s a journey.

Andy Dufresne wants freedom. Bruce Wayne wants to save his hometown.

George VI wants respect. Cobb wants his kids. The Dude wants his rug. Jim Halpert wants Pam. Walter White wants to provide for his family.

College sports give us these journeys.

They give us these great stories of struggle, desire, and perseverance that exist in the professional realm, but aren’t quite the same.  They aren’t quite as raw — quite as beautiful — as they are in the college arena.

The antidote for of the shortcomings we find in the professional sports world is found in college athletics.

There are no lockouts or holdouts.

Players don’t request trades or ask for their contracts to be restructured. They just play.

Sure, the elite few will use college as a stepping-stone for the pros, but the vast majority are driven by something else — love.

So, when the world seems a little colder, a little darker, and when lockouts get you so frustrated that you just want to stay in your pajamas all day and eat your weight in peanut butter — turn to the joy that is college sports.