Academics and Football - Time Constraints on Alpha Males

At first, when I read this, I didn't know what to make of it.  Almost all the top high schools in the nation DO NOT have football teams? 

Why?
 

They have other sports teams, and seemingly have all the other trappings of high school sports – games, pep rallies, school spirit etc.

So why does a lack of football go with top academic high schools, and – by extension – does football go with the lower rung of high schools?

I have a theory. And my theory has nothing to do with any perception about the “dumbness of football jocks” or brain damage or anything else.

My theory relates to a simple concept: time.

Like it or not, high schools tend to be dominated in terms of culture, and social structure by alpha males. In a traditional football high school, the alpha males tend to play that sport. Like almost every other mammal, alpha males are the biggest, strongest and fastest – which happen to be necessary for football. The other necessary ingredient in football: time. Football devours time.

Football is the most intense and time consuming of all sports. From the length of the games, to the amount of training to the amount of off-the-field preparation and off-the-field celebration and worship; football takes a huge amount of time and effort.

As such, if a particular school’s alpha males are consumed by one thing (football), then those males do not have a lot of spare time to dictate culture and social structure. So like a pack, the rest of the students may be left with a sense of passive following.

Further, the alpha’s effort in football really only benefits themselves and their select colleagues (other members of the team). In other words, the football alpha’s are celebrated and worshiped, but that celebration and worship doesn’t translate into anything truly shared and tangible. The student body can’t emulate them. Football by its very nature (necessitating size strength and speed) is exclusionary.

However, what if a school’s alphas were not help prisoner to the time and effort constraints of football?  What if they had more free time? Free time to dictate culture and social structure, a larger portion of which could theoretically by dedicated to academics?

In many ways it comes down to a simple math equation.

Let’s say the average number of hours in a school year is around 1,000. At a typical football high school, the alphas might have 20 to 40% of those hours taken up by football. At non-football high schools, the alphas that play less time-intensive sports like baseball, basketball and soccer have around 10% of their time taken away. That’s an extra 100 hours per year dictating culture and social structure.

You don’t think an extra 100 hours per year doesn’t make a difference?

Alpha male at football-playing high school A might be throwing touchdowns and leading his team – and by extension – his high school to gridiron glory, but, because of the huge time commitment, that’s about all he can do and little else for the rest of the school.

However:

Alpha male at high school B without football isn’t quarterbacking any team. Instead, he’s using his time to do other things, and since he’s in an educational environment, many of those other things include academics. 

And unlike Mr. alpha at high school A, where his major contribution is something no one else at school can do (throw touchdowns), the alpha at high school B can lead by example through academics, which is something a lot more students can follow.