At Harvard, this myth has a basis in reality.
Athletes binge more often than the general population and drink harder when they choose to imbibe.
Almost 20 percent of athletes reported having had more than six drinks the last time they drank, compared with 7 percent of Harvard as a whole.
And sports team members said they become intoxicated more than 70 percent of the time they drink, much greater than the campus rate of about 50 percent.
Alcohol-as-stress-relief is one reason athletes drink more, says Shawn D. Parker '02, a three-year member of the varsity football and indoor track teams.
"People feel like they're working hard in practice [and] busting their butt to stay on top of their books, so when Saturday night comes they figure 'Why not? I deserve it,'" Parker says.
Another reason athletes drink to excess, he adds, is that "after a big depressing loss some people might try to escape consciousness [by getting drunk]."
But stress relief is not the only reason athletes drink.
Read more in News
Speakers Discuss Gay Experience in AthleticsRecommended Articles
-
Study Finds Binge Drinking Still HighFive years after a School of Public Health (SPH) study focused national attention on college drinking, binge drinking remains at
-
Nearly Half of Harvard Students Binge DrinkForty-six percent of Harvard students "binge drink"--one point higher than the national average--but the frequency of that drinking is much
-
University Can't Control Campus Binge DrinkingLike any good drinking game, the ice flow can be the life of a party. It's simple, slightly eccentric and
-
Stop Binge DrinkingThere is nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in moderation, and we support the staff's recommendation to students to "exercise moderation
-
Keep the Kegs FlowingBinge drinking is a major problem currently plaguing American universities. The high stress of undergraduate life in a culture that
-
Beer Bereavement Runs Rampant at HarvardTo the editors: Crimson editors cannot conceive of college football without kegs of beer. Harvard students dash off letters of
