Athletics: it's more than sports

There is always the conversation - sometimes heated "discussion" - about the balance of academics and athletics.  And I believe that there can be.  That there must be.  And some schools are able to not only achieve that, but promote it as well.  A tweet from the other day.

#GoDuke Blue Devils are in the #FinalFour and #Final4Research http://t.co/yK4b3EQ2OP #pictureduke pic.twitter.com/egfhlkictP

— Duke University (@DukeU) April 3, 2015

And to Duke's credit, they don't just highlight the Blue Devils, they say there are four great schools.  Pretty classy.

And others joined in the feel good-fest:

Enabling faster, better #coding is all part of #Final4Research http://t.co/CB9zzbMknd @DukeU @universityofky @michiganstateu

— UW Computer Sciences (@WisconsinCS) April 3, 2015

What happens when two #Final4Research schools (@UWMadison and @michiganstateu) work together? Innovation. https://t.co/zU74XPfKtI

— GreatLakesBioenergy (@GLBioenergy) April 3, 2015

And even the AAU - the Association of American Universities (a Big Ten requisite for membership in the conference) - joined in:

We can't agree more @Mike_Schoenfeld: #Final4Research is vital. Final Four Schools are Also Champions of #Research http://t.co/jyMvumHCAU …

— AAU (@AAUniversities) April 3, 2015

And not that it really means anything, but as of this writing, the only tweeting on Kentucky and research was Kentucky retweeting the Duke tweet.  Just an observation.

So when people complain that sports takes away from a university's core mission, you have some academically-oriented friends who might disagree with that premise.  And they play some good basketball, too.