Reading, Writing And Rbis

With first-semester final exams around the corner, college students are busy cracking their textbooks, in some cases for the first time. Herewith, a few sports courses (with excerpts from the syllabi) that scholars will be sweating over this year.

School Loras College ( Dubuque, Iowa) Course Lovable Losers: Behind the Cultural Following of the Chicago Cubs Description "Through a study of the history of the Chicago Cubs, we will expand on the issue of loyalty—what does it mean to be loyal to teams, friends, family members, oneself?"

School Princeton University ( Princeton, N.J.) Course Baseball and the American Experience: 1919-1948 Description "Will analyze the world of sports as a matter of private business and public policy [and] why increasing numbers of public officials are joining with constituents to demand economic reform and greater competitive balance."

School Emory University ( Atlanta) Course Science and Myth of Baseball Description "Why is making $30 million so important to a player who 'just loves the game'? Why, as a fan, does it all matter so much?"

School Carleton College (Northfield, Minn.) Course The Economics of Sports Description "Topics will include player compensation, revenue-sharing, salary caps, free agency, tournaments, salary discrimination, professional franchise valuation, league competitiveness, college athletics and the economics of sports stadiums and arenas."

School St. John Fisher College ( Rochester, N.Y.) Course Sports as Consumer Culture Description "We investigate such figures as Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman, watch films Any Given Sunday and Blue Chips and read about high school football in Texas."

School University of Utah ( Salt Lake City) Course The Winter Olympics Description "A series of lectures on the history of the Winter Olympics will serve as a prelude to the 2002 Games."

School State University of New York, Brockport Course Sports Spectating in the United States Description "Topics and issues pertaining to sports spectating from theoretical, empirical and experiential perspectives.... Opportunities provided for student-initiated field research projects."