When Dave was a young sophomore, he was the practically the image of an Athenian athlete, all rippled and burley and in shape 'n stuff. Well.....he must have been, right? Two straight months of tryouts, two nights a week, two hours a night, and hundreds of liters of water all built up to Dave making the cut for YU's most esteemed team: Volleyball. Running, jumping, diving, sliding, and complaining are all vital skills that need to be honed to make the YU volleyball team and Dave had become more than your average grasshopper in this respect.
With over $1.9 Billion in their endowment,
Ten college aged kids in blue short shorts and skin tight white soccer jerseys; at least they all had the infamous YU shield. Dave and his illustrious teammates were all informed that these fashionable were only meant for practice, and that each member would get his very own "Volleyball" jersey by game day.
The night before the big game finally arrived and this night was no different than any other. Practice. Just before we started dripping sweat all over the gym floor, Stan the Man (distributor of YU Athletics gear and Mussar Rebbe) brought out our PHAT gear. Dave tried on his new sweatshirt, sweatpants, played with his bag and tied up the laces on his hi-tops.
With only ten minutes left to practice a general scrimmage started, with Dave playing setter. One over, then back, then up for the block.....crash!!!
Dave went up for the block and down, hard, turning in his ankle just before his teammate landed on top of it.
SNAP
Dave never played one minute of NCAA Volleyball, but was on the roster for one season thus making him and NCAA Athlete! Dave got the free stuff, the one semester of credit, and plenty of rest. On the flip side, Dave was in bed for two straight weeks, on crutches with a cast for two months, and finally a cane for three months.
Dave still maintains that it will always be an honor that he was once an NCAA Athlete.
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