The Bowdoin Orient

February 16, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 16

Intramural sports - glory more than an illusion

by J.P. BOX, STAFF WRITER

   Every year, hundreds of students participate in an activity that garners minimal attention from those unaffiliated. The participants do not strut around in gear sponsoring their endeavor and do not post signs for fans to attend their games. They are the many, the proud, the brave-the intramural athletes who play for the love of the game.
   Well, perhaps that above description was not entirely accurate. As a fellow intramuraler reminded me, "The few very lucky get T-shirts to wear around." These upper-echelon members unabashedly flaunt their hard-earned reward and inspire the hearts and souls of their competition to reach one of the most sacred goals: intramural glory.
   My former roommate and a member of the Bowdoin cross-country and track team once referred to intramural sports as "fake glory" due to his status as a bona fide athlete who plays a sport that someone outside of the Bowdoin Bubble gives a hoot about. My other roommate and I then proceed to rip off his shirt and slap him on the back until he apologized.
   But, in reality, where else are you going to find a collection of men and women who play a sport together-despite varying abilities-to achieve a common goal? Some intramural super stars have varsity-level skills, but the vast majority try to excel in a sport for which they have a modest knowledge and ability to play. Nevertheless, they play hurt, they play with intensity and hustle, they feel the bitter sorrow of defeat, and they exult in victory. And oh yeah, they talk a huge game. But what's wrong with dreaming?
   Talking smack is a definite component of intramural sports. The trash talking is only sporadically backed, but it always helps develop rivalries and allows the contestants to feel like self-assured jocks for about an hour. After the game, the players shake hands, apologize for any rough and tumble play, and talk about the nasty plays they made on the walk home.
   Other times, these participants limp home because they are licking their wounds from a sour loss or because an old injury is catching up to them. But, mainly, they take the slow, long walk home because they don't want their glimpse of intramural glory to vanish. intramural glory, however, is not the only factor motivating Bowdoin students to recklessly play a sport for which they really don't train.
   The Boss prophesized that "glory days will pass you by," but for many intramuralers the competition brings them back to days of old. Says intramural hockey and basketball player Kevin Park '03, "I play because it reminds me of glory days when I used to play competitive sports. The competition of intramurals gives me that same feeling of being part of a team and striving for a goal."
   For brief moments when an intramuraler is handling a puck, driving to the basket, or striking a soccer ball, he or she is able to feel the passion and desire that drove them in days of yore. There is also an undeniable purity that makes intramural sports special. The participants compete for the love of the sport, the camaraderie, and the chance to showcase their abilities. Intramuralers play the game with a free and easy attitude knowing that their loss does not reflect upon the entire school, and their actions for the most part do not portray an image of Bowdoin to the rest of the country. As a result, the pressures associated with intramural play are minimal and winning is an endeavor motivated from within.
   So next time someone tells you that they play basketball, softball, soccer, hockey, or any other sport at the intramural level, don't respond with the usual "oh." There is much more that goes into intramural sports and more that the participants get out of them than many assume.