A different form of enjoyment

It was like any other Saturday afternoon in Alumni. The sun was shining, the clouds weren't anywhere to be found, and as the stands slowly filled, two teams were battling it out on the gridiron.

Thankfully, though, Boston College's football team wasn't anywhere in sight. Instead, as the Eagles warmed up 989 miles away for their game against Clemson, the women's rugby team was playing in Alumni, running circles around their counterparts from Wellesley College. It was quite a stark contrast from what later happened down in South Carolina.

When I woke up on Saturday morning, I decided to make the short walk from the Mods to the football field and check out the women's club rugby game. Sometimes it's refreshing to get away from the big-boy sports and attend other games, so I got up, downed a few glasses of water, and headed out the door. As someone guilty of filling this column with mostly football and basketball-related content, it was nice to get out and see something different. After all, courtesy of Title IX, it's now the little sports that make the money-makers - college football and men's basketball - possible.

The scene at Alumni reminded me of one of my high school games. About 200 or so students lounging in the stands, mostly gossiping about the night before as they watched the game in front of them. Fans sporadically cheering, out there to support friends and classmates on the pitch. The crowd, quiet enough to hear the coaches teaching, the captains yelling, and the rest of the girls grunting and groaning with each head-on collision. The two teams helping each other out on the sidelines with water and, if somebody got especially lucky, the occasional postgame snack bar.

It was a familiar feeling; We all started playing sports in front of our parents and friends. We laced up for Saturday morning soccer games because we loved the game. For most of us, those days are long gone by now, but the memories of participation remain fresh in our minds. And by attending the women's rugby game and being surrounded by that same type of atmosphere, the nostalgia came back. It was an energizing way to start an otherwise forgettable Saturday afternoon. Because right after the girls' game ended, I went straight home to watch the BC-Clemson game.

Talk about a fail.

Saturday's football game was painful just to watch on television, so I can't even imagine what it was like to sit there in person, in the torrential downpour, as BC's offense got crushed. The performance was debilitating and confidence-shattering. To quote someone else, it was offensive, especially when you realize that part of our tuition theoretically pays the salaries of certain members of Boston College's coaching staff.

But as I promised one of my buddies afterward, I won't depress anyone with talk of Gary Tranquill, Sean Devine, and comapny today. It really doesn't matter that the women's rugby team might have gotten more first downs against Clemson's defense than our offense did. The problems with BC were painfully clear on Saturday, so why rehash the obvious?

So instead of talking about the worst of times, I decided to be constructive for once, and write about one of the more enjoyable moments of my weekend. Like when I woke up on Saturday, went to the women's rugby game and was reminded of the fun of playing sports. Because after all, that's how everyone got hooked and became fans in the first place - at some point between the first and last goals of our own careers.