March Madness vs. CIS basketball championships

I am currently writing a paper for my Political Economy of Sport class on the importance of keeping the student-athlete distinction in Canadian universities. With March Madness all over CBS ,SportsNet, and sports news channels all weekend, plus the talk about everyone's brackets getting messed up, it makes you think about how different the NCAA is from the CIS.

Last weekend in university/college basketball, Carleton beat Concordia to three-peat as CIS basketball champions, but there was probably more buzz about Vermont (14) beating Syracuse (3), Bucknell (14) beating Kansas (3), and NC State (10) over Charlotte (7) and Connecticut (2) in the NCAA basketball tournament than Carleton winning its 78th consecutive game (regular and post-season).

Should Canadian universities entertain thoughts of heading down the same path as NCAA Divison I schools of what Murray Sperber (2000) termed "Beer and Circus" where big-time college sports are taking over undergraduate education?

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If you are interested in college athletics and academics, then Murray Sperber's book: Beer and Circus: How big time college sports is crippling undergraduate education. New York: Henry Holt, 2000., is a great read. Although it is American based, it really opens your eyes.

Sport Administration?

I am currently completing the first year of my Master's degree in Human Kinetics - Sports Administration. Although my first degree was in Systems Design Engineering, I feel that my calling maybe more sport related.

During the first class of each our courses, we would go around and introduce ourselves. Whenever it was my turn, I was always given a few funny looks when I said that my first degree was in Engineering instead of the usual: Physical Education, Kinesiology or Human Kinetics. But with my volunteer activities, I have been able to live through the sport administration experience.

During this first year, we have studied a wide variety of topics with respect to sport administration and the Canadian Sport System. There are some topics that I was more drawn to than others, but I am still not 100% sure whether or not sport administration is really where I want to go.

I am hoping to use this forum as a sounding board for interesting topics that intrigue me, so that I can find a focus. I am still considering pursuing a PhD after I finish my Master's, but I would have to find an area of focus.

Currently my interests lie in:
- Local Sport Organizations (ex/ OCUA - the Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association)
- Event Management
- the Olympics
- Delivery of Recreation and Leisure programs
- Sport Volunteerism
- Canadian student-athletes
- Ultimate frisbee