The fallacy of fall break

Suddenly it's North Face jacket-wearing weather and midterms are upon us.

I hit the snooze button on my alarm at least three times this morning, in an attempt to avoid the prospect of class and the 60-degree temperature outside.

But wait -- it's almost fall break: a five-day weekend I plan to spend lazing about my house and eating homemade desserts. Maybe you have similar plans.

But many of our athletic teams do not have the luxury of having this extra time off. The women's golf team is one such team. It will host its Spider Invitational and compete with nine teams the Monday and Tuesday of fall break.

To qualify for a spot to represent the team at the tournament, the team will have qualifying rounds during practice this week.

Junior Tracy Martin said although it was tough managing and preparing for the tournament in addition to midterms, it was a nice break from the workload and kept her focused.

"My parents are coming down for the tournament," Martin said. "I don't mind that the tournament is over fall break because it's a guaranteed thing to do, and it's fun to compete."

The Invitational is one of four tournaments the team has this fall.

"Although the spring is our championship season, the fall season is just as competitive," Martin said.

Martin said she didn't expect too big of a change in fan attendance as the result of fall break.

"Since our tournaments are all off campus, it's understandable that a lot of people can't come out," she said.

The field hockey and men's soccer teams, which each have two home games during the break, can expect a diminished fan base with many students leaving campus.

Other teams competing this weekend include women's soccer, which has two away games, swimming & diving, football and men's tennis.

While many of us won't be able to support our athletes this weekend -- and certainly not our teams on the road -- let's remember them while we're enjoying a relaxing, extra-long weekend.

"I'll probably wake up around 6:30 a.m. on Monday," Martin said.

As for me, you can guess I'll be sleeping in then, and there won't be any alarm that I will have to hit snooze for.