Frats and Running - A serious answer for the kid...

Give me a break...

My brother was in a frat. He is no longer in contact with any of the other guys, except over a lawsuit filed by a member who got drunk and fell off a roof. Also, many frats kick you out unless you maintain a certain GPA to look good, so every one who spends some time in a frat is not necessarily counted as a member. Also, different strokes for different folks. Your frat buddies can continue to party, sleep in, work out, watch football, and work 9-5, and have 2.5 kids and a picket fence. Guess, what many guys who run do this after college as well. Quit sterotyping, and again, not everyone simply wants to party and drink(and while this isnt all frats are about, would people sign up without them? generally, no, they would not. And also, if all your common bond revolves around is drinking/partying, and in many cases that is it, I pity you). In short, you made some good points earlier but now you are just using stupid sterotypes and anecdotes to say frat guys rock and distance runners suck. The frat lifestyle isnt for everyone, and no, not all distance runners are depressed recluses as you make them about to be.

Re-read:

Runners at MY school and frat guys at MY school. It's not stereotyping. It's my personal experience. It's called input for the thread so the original poster doesn't have all pro-runner for life nonsense for responses.

Throughout this whole thread i've acknowledged that it's different everywhere, because it is.

"Just something to think about...everyone talks about the parties and shit. No one talks about the community service we do and the help we give the communtiy."

ummm, maybe nobody talks about the community service because Frats aren't community service organizations. They are social networking organizations that occasionally do community service.

"And also you dont have the rest of your life to be a part of a bond of brotherhood. A fraternity is a once in a life time experience. Not just for the drinking but for the friends I bet anyone in a frat is closer to most of his brothers than most of you are to teamates...not only that this something that is nation wide I can go to almost any college campus have a place to stay and party and feel a common bond with those people I have never met."

All of this could easily be said about running XC and track in college. If you've think frat guys have the market cornered on life long friendships or connections, then you better think again. Not only that, but are you really gonna' go down to the frat house and hang out/party/etc. when you're 30 yrs. old? What if you move somewhere that isn't a college town?

"Not only that when will running ever help you get a good job after college? A good fraternity will have alumi that can do very easily."

like I said before, connections aren't unique to frats.

"P.S. you cant really go to huge Jello party or have slip and slide parties after college thats a once and lifetime thing and thats in college"

I'd rather run in a national championship than go to a jello/slip and slide party if it came down to the choice. Trust me, there is plenty of crazy partying that goes on AFTER you graduate, it just doesn't always happen in a house with greek letters on it.

sadly, many of you are being way to narrow minded not having experienced both. i was both in a fraternity and ran XC/track for 4yrs at a D1 school.

it was a great situation for me. my house was fun and always considered my running obligations as it was never an issue. it also provided me with more structure for getting good grades than the athletic dept ever did (short of the recycled exams they stored in the "test files" drawer).

i have good friends 15 yrs after graduating who were teammates and ones who were fraternity brothers. its too bad if you can't find a nice balance like i did.

Just one more opinion...

I hated frats, until i started hanging out with a group of guys that were all in the same frat and turned out to be my best friends. I waited until Junior year to join. I love it and have have only good things to say. I was all-american this year at a division one college. I think it totally depends on the frat and the person. I waited to join until i was sure i had a feel for the brotherhood and what is expected of me.

I eat better because i am in a frat and can go downstairs to the pantry and grab what i want, when i want. All of the members of the house are on teams, mostly football. When they are in season we completely respect them. When I am in season the respect me, to teh point that the guys will show up and tailgate at my meets. The level of support i recieve for my running is huge, from both alumni and the brothers.

Are there crazy parties? Do we drink? yeah. Of course. We are one of the most popular frats on campus at a very big school. If im away at a meet, i miss all that stuff and I dont have to deal with it. When I'm not in season and i want to party, I have the best place to party on campus.

I'm sorry some of you are so short-sighted that you like to cut all Frats down. That being said, I dislike the way 90% of the frats are on my campus. We don't haze and we don't treat people with less respect because they arent a brother in teh house. Most fraternities do, and that is inexcusable.

Basically, joining a frat freshman year or because you think you "have to" to be cool is completely retarded. But if you find the right place for you and it ends up being in a fraternity house don't dismiss it because some people say that frats are bad...

high high high

One question, when are you NOT in season?

Last time I checked football games were first semester. Baseball is 2nd semester. Soccer first. Womens soccer first. Swimming winter. Running- all year. Running is the only sport without an offseason.

if you are truly serious about any sport...there is no offseason. not just running.

I was extremely close to most of my teammates, women and men, and I went to a large, D1, bad-ass program.

Sounds like some of you guys didn't get along with your teammates, I am not sure why, but maybe you have a social issue.

We partied after large meets, we were national contenders. We ran fast.

It is all about building a band of brotherhood. Suffer together. Become close. This is attempted during the whole "pledge process" of a frat, but it is a simulation of suffering, not the real thing. Do you really not see this?

You have to earn brotherhood, not simulate it. I believe there is a reason that some of you had poor running experiences, it is because you did not value running in the same way your teammates did. I value the character, work ethic and determination that it instilled in me. I value the leadership that I gained. Things are easier for me due to my running, and I am fit. I did not gain the 30 pounds that most of my frat friends gained, and because of that I am not popping prozac while I drink my nightly pint of gin, like my frat friends. My memories still burn in my mind, I could not see how a wild party could even compare to my experiences in athletics.

I have been out of school for 4 years, I am married, have a great job, and still run. I am still very close with my teammates. The guys I know that fratted are into blow and hang out at SmithPoint trying to pick up 18 year olds. Depressing if you ask me.

My experience is that runners are one of the tightest fraternities out there. I had two jobs from running contacts and every time a recruit came through who was a runner the HR folks had us talk - I always went to bat for other runners (D1) despite not knowing them previously because you have so much in common and so much mutual respect.

Also, IMHO no one cares how good you were and most really don't understand the different levels of athletic achievement. We had a guy at my old firm who was an Olympic silver medalist in swimming and people thought it was interesting for about a day and then it didn't mean shit. Clients seemed to care even less.

"Also, IMHO no one cares how good you were and most really don't understand the different levels of athletic achievement. We had a guy at my old firm who was an Olympic silver medalist in swimming and people thought it was interesting for about a day and then it didn't mean shit. Clients seemed to care even less."

-Exactly, running will NOT get you a job. You will get the same response from employers if you ran a 18:00 5k as you will if you ran 14:00 and qualified for d1 nationals.

-That's great that some guys had a bond with their teammates. Every team is different. I certainly did not have a bond with my teammates and would've preferred a fraternity. Out of 90 guys you're bound to find a few that are legit friends, and most guys do. That is crazy to generalize frats like that.

Runners from my school that I know:

- pay dues in sweat, blood, and tears (literally)

- study hard

- run hard

- eat every meal with a teamate

- are sore after tough workouts but feel good

- are very friendly to everyone (have friends in and out of greek life and athletics)

- are laid back

- are funny

- watch college football

- watch college basketball

- toss baseball, football, frisbee

- hold annual football, basketball, baseball and ultimate firsbee games without regard to skill level

- some party when they want to, others dont at all because they dont want to

- are a close knit group of best friends with few exceptions

- never once have i seen a teamate not stand up for a teamate even if the two dislike each other

- each runner lives with at least one other runner or all runners

- have a sense of morals

frat guys i know from my school

- pay money to be brothers

- do community service

- some work hard and study hard

- others only party hard

- some are good people but a large enough amount are womanizers and snobish

- are cliquish

- hold annual events

- do haze regardless of rules

- watch college football, basetball, etc.

- play lacrosse or soccer

- pop their collars

just thought id add that...i know both sides of the coin. my roomates freshmen year are in frats and enjoy it while i am a runner and enjoy that. i have seen 2 teamates quit running after joining frats and niether seem quite satisfied.i have many friends who are in frats but y closest friends are my teamates. they are like brothers and the best part is i didnt have to pay ANYTHING to guarantee that friendship.

OH and my teamates and I have taken road trips, gone to baseball games across the state, slept in...i could go on but i think you get the point...

Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life son.

being as skinny as most distance runners are is no way to go thru life either (as much as you think it is).

Gaunt is beautiful.

Ladies like cool jockey shorts.

Dude,

internships suck.