"As other people see it, a manager is just some out-of-shape girl who hangs out and tries to pick up guys," Collins says. "Being a manager, I don't think the outside community has a good view of what we do. We might be seen as gophers or something, but my teams really respect what I do. That's what makes it all worthwhile."

And the work is still important. if not for the general public, then for the sake of the team.

"At first I thought it was just Go to the game, do the scoring, and leave," says women's basketball manager Sonia Masters '91. "But now I realize that it is very important."

"It's definitely fun, because I've enjoyed being associated with the athletic department, learning how the athletic department works and the excitement of following a team," Barstow says.

But there are times when managers at Harvard have responded over and above the call of duty.

Once the Harvard wrestling team was in a quandary. The Crimson was having a tough night against MIT, and the coaches knew that the match would go down to the wire.

There was just one problem. The Crimson couldn't produce a wrestler for the 134-lb. weight class. If it couldn't, MIT would receive five points for the forfeit, two more than it would if a Harvard had simply lost the match.

Harvard needed to minimize the loss of points that it might receive for the match. In stepped manager Eric Behrens, who lost the match on points. The teams ended in a tie.

Believe it or not, Collins competes for her team, though on a more permanent basis.

"I was kidding around with the coach and said that I would throw the weight," Collins says. "Next thing you know, I'm in the circle throwing. I never expected that in my life."

Some managers say that they find the long-term work difficult. But their ability to organize trips to faraway places without a hitch and to keep the Harvard house in order gives them a great deal of satisfaction.

"In the paper every weekend, you see 'So-and-so scored two goals,'" says men's hockey manager Jason Wenglin '89. "You don't see 'Jason made a flawless weekend; the hotel rooms were perfect and the buses were smooth.'"

"When everything goes right, there's a good feeling I get," says men's basketball manager Erika Thomas '90. "The coaches are really appreciative and the players are really appreciative."

"Anything can go wrong," Wenglin says. "The greatest amount of satisfaction is when the players and the coaches get on the bus Thursday--they know it's going to be there. They know that they're going to walk into a hotel and there is going to be a box lunch waiting for them. They know that when they get up in the morning, there's going to be a big breakfast for them. They know that I'm going to take care of tickets. They know that there's going to be ice time for them on Friday, they know that there's going to be a meal for them during the day, and they know that they can just go to the rink. They don't have to worry about it. I have to worry about it."