Higher Learning

It seems a little odd, these pre-season polls. School isn't even in session now, and yet they feel certain about their picks. Certainly past performance and reputation enters into it, but it is only July and the 2009 Princeton Review has named Penn State as the nation's number one party school. The school has been on the list the last seven years and ranked third in 2008, but this is the first time the Nittany Lions find themselves at the top of the heap.
And what a distinction it is. "These rankings are not more than popularity contests," said university spokeswoman Annemarie Mountz. "It's a badge of honor at this point. Nationwide, kids want to pump their schools in these surveys," she added. "It's not connected to reality." Mountz noted that groups on Facebook have urged members to make Penn State the top party school. Technology is changing the way we do all kinds of things these days.
It was just six years ago that my alma mater, the University of Colorado, held the number one spot. This came at a time when the powers that be had been working to stem a tide binge drinking that helped cement the "Rocky Mountain High" reputation of my school. Last year they had slipped to thirteen. How could this be?
The whole Facebook thing got me to thinking: how realistic are these numbers? If I'm truly committed to a raging-party-hearty-till-I'm-face-down lifestyle, do I really have time to check my profile? Probably not. I'll be the one making green-ice fish in jello molds to float in our Wapatootie Punch, and checking for sales on pony kegs. Remember kids, it's not whether you win or lose, it's whether you can make it to Denny's the next morning for breakfast.