Here’s something they don’t put in the Darden brochure:

 Beware of injury.

 Since the beginning of the school year, the men in my class have been suffering so many sports injuries that crutches, leg braces and foot boots are starting to seem commonplace.

 I say the blame is one part Darden Cup, one part male ego.

 The Darden Cup is a year-long tournament between the different classroom sections. We compete in a lot of different ways – raising money for charity, collecting cans for the local food bank – but most of our competitions are athletic. Softball, soccer, football, basketball, even dodge ball. And since we’re a bunch of hyper-competitive, Type-A personalities, no one wants to lose.

 As a result, we’ve had a lot of injuries. There was the guy who shattered his elbow playing Darden Cup touch football, the guy who tore his Achilles tendon playing Darden Cup soccer and, the latest injury, a guy who broke his arm playing Darden Cup basketball.

 Then you can add another guy who tore his Achilles tendon playing soccer, the guy who sprained his ankle playing basketball and was on crutches over spring break, the guy with the slipped disc and my boyfriend who tore his ACL on the rugby field.

 And today I saw a second-year student walking around in a protective foot boot. I still don’t know what his story is.

 That’s a 2% injury rate for the first-year class. And the year isn’t over yet.

 Yes, I blame Darden Cup. But notice there are no women on the injury list (knock on wood!). So I think there’s another element at play.

 If I had to guess, I’d say that the men at Darden feel like they’re back in college. Classes, campus, Thursday night drinking, flip cup – it certainly reminds me of being 18 again.

 But I wonder if some guys are also forgetting that their bodies aren’t 18 anymore. Muscles cramp, bones snap and nothing is as forgiving as it was 10 years ago.

It’s hard to admit we’re getting older, that we might have to make a few concessions to age already. Aren’t we still young? Isn’t 30 the new 20? Unfortunately our bodies are aging even if our attitudes are eternally young.

So what’s the key takeaway? Don’t come to Darden without crutches.