In addition to working high school games, I do the public address for U of St. Thomas, a D-III school in St. Paul. The other night, they played their archrival St. John's in basketball. Both teams are pretty good but the Tommies wore them down and won by 13 points -- about the proper margin of victory.
But here's the important point. If you had walked into the gym five minutes after the game was over, you might not have known who won. There were lots of handshakes, including two guys who looked like they were going to come to blows 15 minutes before. The winners reminded the losers they owed them a drink this summer and the losers reminded the winners there is a rematch in four weeks in St. Cloud.
It is events like these that restore my faith in man -- and the power of athletics in general. While the game was being played, it was as intense as anything you have ever seen. Players barked at each other and coaches snapped at officials. But when the game ends, it's over and you move on. Maybe it is because they have to get up to go to class the next day. Maybe it is because they ride buses on snowy roads all winter -- and that keep you humble. Or maybe it is because the coaches at this level are also teachers.
There are hundreds of such rivalries all over the country. For every spoiled D-I athlete that gets arrested in a bar fight or beats up his girlfriend, remember they are outnumbered greatly by the D-II and D-III athletes. They may be a Silent Majority but they are also a loud force. You see, that is where many of the future coaches come from. One hopes that when they become coaches, they remember these moments.
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1 comment:
Yet there are also great DI athletes who give back to the community, call their moms after a game and attend all of their classes! We just only hear about the others.
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