(September 30, 2011) — With the start of a new school year begins a new season of college sports. Some of the most popular college sports include basketball, football, volleyball and baseball. While many of the professional players were once college athletes, many people prefer to watch National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) programs to see players’ effort. Senior Nairi Dulgarian enjoys watching both college and professional sports. She admits to liking college basketball more because it is more exciting and fast-paced compared to the NBA. Senior Vahe Mirikian also watches college basketball. “[It] is more educational for me, and I feel like I learn more about basketball skills watching college players instead of the NBA players,” Mirikian said. Although basketball tends to be popular among the students, it is currently college football season. Dulgarian often likes watching college football and rooting for her favorite team, the UCLA Bruins. Unlike Dulgarian, Mirikian would prefer to watch the NFL season because college football has too many recruitment problems. He doesn’t like hearing about players illegally getting gifts and teams getting postseason bans during the shorter college football season. Mirikian also enjoys watching college lacrosse, which he came across by accident one day when he was bored at home. Now, he likes watching lacrosse for fun, although he doesn’t play it himself. Dulgarian and Mirikian both agreed that college sports games are more fun to attend because the crowd is usually full of students cheering on their school. Sitting with people who are in their teen years is often more fun than sitting with adults because there’s more excitement and cheering going on during the games. Although the NFL season has started after negotiations were made this summer to end the lock out, the NBA lock out is still in progress. “I’d rather watch college basketball than no basketball at all,” said Dulgarian. She admits to watching the NBA because she is more familiar with professional athletes’ names. As seniors in high school, both Dulgarian and Mirikian both play basketball for their home schools. Mirikian would consider playing college basketball because it is an extracurricular and it would keep him in shape. Unlike Mirikian, Dulgarian wouldn’t consider playing college basketball even though she has been playing for over ten years. “As much as I love playing basketball, that’s not what I want to do with my life, and I want to go to a good school and focus on my schoolwork,” said Dulgarian. She would rather play intramural basketball with a team of her friends and attend the NCAA games as a fan.