Athlete table offers sociology lesson in group interactions

If you've been in Corcoran Commons, you've seen "The Table." Its appearance is much like any other table situated throughout the Commons, but the occupants of this specific table makes it unique. It is difficult not to notice them - usually seated in droves, they aren't exactly hard to miss. Sometimes, though not always, the table is graced by the likes of star quarterback and Heisman hopeful Matt Ryan or the other well-known faces of BC athletics, joining together like any other Boston College student to eat and unwind. Prominently located underneath the clock in Corcoran Commons, they sit at the exact same table each day, largely out of habit.

The "athletes' table," as it has come to be known, is the table around which the athletes from various BC athletic teams congregate to share a meal with one another when they are not participating in a rigorous training or practice regimen, attending 15 credits' worth of classes, or displaying amazing feats of athleticism on their respective venues.

Due to experience, it's not surprising or unusual that the BC athletes tend to stay within their respective teams; the same thing can be said of any other school group or organization. In similarity, the athlete table can be compared to high school where there may have been an unspoken, designated table for each of the different social groups. Michael Malec, professor in the sociology department and a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Board, said the athletic segregation could have adverse effects on the athletes' lives. "Part of my reaction is that this is a perfectly natural thing, but the other part of my reaction is that students, even athletes, should be aware of their patterns of association and extend themselves beyond their boundaries," said Malec, who teaches a course at BC called Sports in American Society. "People tend to associate more or less with people like themselves, and the athletes' time is so regimented that they have the same windows of leisure together," he said

Students at BC, especially those who frequent Corcoran Commons, are aware of the athletes' habits and feel unconcerned with the phenomenon. "I don't really mind it that it's there or that only athletes sit there," said Kevin O'Neill, LSOE '09. However, students admitted to the somewhat intimidating nature of the athletes' presence or the notion of approaching them. Caitlin Glynn, A&S '09, said, "They're all probably just coming off practice so it's natural for them all to sit at the same table. It would be awkward to go up to a group of athletes you don't know, but I don't think it's any more intimidating than going up to any other group of people you don't know."

The athletes, Glynn noted, are engaging in the same practice of nearly every other diner in Corcoran Commons, just with more scrutiny. "Everyone has their main group of friends that they hang out with on a regular basis," she said. "I have a friend who's on the swim team and she hangs out with the rest of the swim team a lot, because when you're on a sports team together, it's an easy way to form friends."

Steve Aponavicius, CSOM '09 and place kicker for the BC football team, has a unique perspective on the table; his ascendancy from average student to sports stardom is well documented, and among the perks was a seat at the athletes' table. "It's an interesting phenomenon, and even my first couple of weeks on the team I was intimidated to sit here. I like to switch it up at times and get a different perspective," he said.

While many students may feel like outsiders when looking at the insular world of the athlete table, plenty of BC athletes express a desire to meet other people outside of their respective athletic groups. Sam Shaugnessy, CSOM '10 and a member of the BC baseball team, knows the social benefits of having friends both on and off his team. "I believe it's a case-by-case thing; like last year, I made an effort to meet other people outside of baseball, all my roommates are baseball teammates, and I'm good buddies with a couple of different people now," Shaugnessy said. "It's really just out of convenience that we all tend to sit together at the same table and it's pretty much one sport group at a time, because if I see a ton of football players sitting there, I'll sit somewhere else in Lower."

The football players are perhaps the most noticeable when they sit at the "athlete table," for they tend to be larger-than-life, physically imposing men who, as a group, are easily distinguishable by their football practice sweats. They have the faces that a large majority of the BC population recognizes from both the pervasiveness and popularity of BC athletics, making them on-campus celebrities. When asked about the issue of blending in with the rest of the BC student body, Patrick Sheil, A&S '09 and offensive tackle for the football team (and a rather imposing guy at first glance) said "If we really wanted to blend in we wouldn't sit at the same table and wear our sweats, but I feel like I blend in with the average student and that I don't really draw much attention [to myself]."

It is rather surreal to see these athletes, who do so much for BC athletics and whom Superfans support so fervently, sitting amid the rest of the student body; there seems to exist a strange impassable barrier. But this is not the case at all. The athletes have a busy schedule and when they are eating together at Corcoran Commons, it's one of the few windows of opportunity they may have for some downtime. They are very much aware of their habits and are capable of viewing it with humor. Aponavicius, for one, does not intentionally ward off non-athletes from the table, but knows the table's perception. "I don't feel like we own the table in any way, and the rest of the football team is aware of the stigma associated with this table and tend to make fun of it."

The athletes may seem like an uber-clique cut off from the rest of the student body and many students may think the table is just a manifestation of that elitism. In reality, they are no different than any regular student and many of them regret this false perception. "A lot of people don't understand us," Shiel said. "They see us for what they think we are from the surface, that we hate everyone else or that we're bullies, but for the most part we're not that different from any regular student. Hanging out with the rest of the football team is a way for us to have a security blanket because we're around the guys we trust the most. We're one of a very few teams who, when we take off the helmet, we're involved and very active in the student body with [the Undergraduate Government of Boston College] UGBC, as OLs, and in other ways. We want to be treated as normally as our peers do."