Today's must-read newspaper article comes from the Daily Press, of all places. It's on the front page of the sports section: a profile of Melissa Shelton, who is the volleyball coach at William and Mary. It's her first year at the college, where she starred as a volleyball player when she was an undergraduate. For the past 18 years she was head coach at the University of Virginia, compiling a 235-179 record with two NCAA berths.

Why would Shelton leave a big-time program, with big-time resources, to come to a "lower" level of athletic competition? In the article, she is quoted: "I believe that colleges should recruit kids that fit in well with the whole university, not just the athletic department. It's important to me to have kids that will be happy outside the volleyball world, at the college. Those are things that are important to me, and one of the reasons I made the change is that it was getting harder and harder to do at my previous shcool, because there was such an emphasis on winning."

Shelton adds: "Our goal is to be top dog in the CAA, and I think we can do that and still provide an experience where volleyball doesn't completely dominate the college life of our student-athletes.

"It's a fine line -- you have to find it -- where volleyball is a priority right underneath academics. But at the same time the kids aren't so wrapped up and only live with athletes or they only hang out with athletes or all they ever do is athletics. I want them to do other things."

Shelton wanted to coach at a school where athletes are expected to go to class for larger purpose than simply to maintain their eligibility. A counter-cultural career move, in our culture that worships sports, and particularly idolizes those who win!