Sports Nourish Us: Reflections on Game 3 of the 2022-2023 Bruce Mahoney

Whether it be the table in a science lab or classroom, the Eucharistic table at mass or the table in the faculty dining room, Father Mike Gilson, SJ taught me that Jesuit education happens at tables. Tables bring us together; they are where we learn some of life's most valuable lessons. And at lunch the day after the Bruce Mahoney game, I was reminded of something so basic and obvious but important and true: sports nourish us.

Sports give us something to chew on and competition among student athletes provides plenty of sustenance. Whether you coach, attend or play in a game, sports spark conversation, elicit opinion and draw out debate. Athletic contests call us to question what is good coaching, the importance of discipline and sportsmanship, the gift of raw talent, playing up or missing the mark. The home opener, a rivalry game, and the post season provide a school community with a reason to come together. And every once in a while, what happens on the field, court, in the pool, or on the course is something to savor.

The St. Ignatius boys' basketball team secured the third win of the Bruce Mahoney rivalry with their 78-58 win over Sacred Heart Cathedral before 3,000 fans at USF’s War Memorial Gym. The quest for the trophy is decided by the best of five games: girls' volleyball, football, girls' and boys' basketball and baseball. This "W" gave SI students, faculty the nourishment we needed amidst our long, rainy days.

I sat down to a crowded lunch table and heard my colleagues asking Did you go to the game? Where were you sitting? Others offered remarks like "I thought the student section was well behaved" and "The deans did a great job." "The kids had a ton of spirit" reverberated from one table to another. #SIPride

Another commented on the smart use of the cheer "he's a freshman." As written in the San Francisco Standard, "If the St. Ignatius student section chanted “he’s a freshman” every time one of Caeden Hutcherson, Steele Labagh or Raymond Whitley scored, they would have never stopped." The A.D. leaned in and said "the future looks good."

Much to the delight of my colleague from Detroit, I admitted every time I heard Caeden's name, I thought of the Lions' first round draft choice, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. How old is he? asked another teacher. I said "Are you asking that because the quarterback from the University of Georgia is 25?"

Others were impressed by our colleague who just returned from maternity leave and attended the game. At lunch she was excited to share that when she realized one of her students, a freshman was a varsity starter she had to go. The teacher who covered her class last semester asked if he could come by class and congratulate him. "I want to tell him to keep his grades up, too. He can do it." As I listened, I was reminded that teaching after a big win is so much easier...and fun. Way to go 'Cats!

Though we sports fans prefer to win— I would argue that a win is not necessary for the nourishment that sports provides.

This past fall, my brother, niece and I attended the football home opener at Notre Dame. The morning after, my friend Father Paul Kollman, CSC hosted us for brunch at Corby Hall. Home to the priests and brothers of the Congregation of Holy Cross, we were the only people sitting in the dining room not dressed in clerics. 

My brother, Mark looked over his shoulder and said to me "that's Monk Malloy, right?" Monk was the University President from 1987—2005. I was hoping to get a chance to talk to him because Mark and his family just moved to the neighborhood in Washington DC where Monk grew up. Unfortunately, there was never a break in the conversation at his table. Why? He and the five other priests were talking about the game.

The Irish lost to the Thundering Herd of Marshall University 26-21. The Irish had a streak of 42 straight wins against unranked opponents snapped...at home, no less! Tough one to swallow, but there was a whole lot to chew on. I noticed that campus celebrity, Father Pete McCormick, CSC was an animated over eggs as he is in every Fightin' Irish media video, pep rally and basketball game. I realized that  coming together the morning after at table, broke down the disappointment, discontent, and dissatisfaction of high hopes for a season that started 0-2.

We left Corby and Mark said "I couldn't believe they kept talking about the game." I thought, I don't even know how many of those priests are big football fans, but in the strife, struggle, guts and glory it's hard to deny, sports nourish us.

In Sports and Spirituality, I ask my students to name what feeds their soul. For me, the answer is easy. My soul is nourished when I see people I care about reach their potential, use their talents, pursue their passion and achieve their dreams. Time and again, sports is a sacred space where this plight plays out. Not always, but time and again....yes.

Already looking forward to Game 4 in the Bruce Mahoney series as the Wildcats take on the Fightin' Irish. Same time, same place. Wednesday, January 25. Let's Go!

Photo Credits
Bruce Mahoney shots: SF Standard
Pete, CSC

Picture This: My Spirituality Part III

Every teacher carries a number of tools in his or her toolbox for helping students to learn their curriculum. One of my favorite is the "Gallery Walk." 

According to Starting Point, a "Gallery Walk is a discussion technique that gets students out of their chairs and into a mode of active engagement. The advantage of the method is its flexibility and the variety of benefits for students and instructor alike. A Gallery Walk with pieces of paper on tables, or with posted chart paper. It can be scheduled for fifteen minutes (a "Gallery Run") or for several class periods. For students it's a chance to share thoughts in a more intimate, supportive setting rather than a larger, anonymous class. For instructors, it's a chance to gauge the depth of student understanding of particular concepts and to challenge misconceptions."

For me, it's a unique, interesting and relevant way for students to discuss the relationship between Sports and Spirituality. I use the images that my seniors have chosen in their final project. I do not require that they include an athletic endeavor, though many do. 

As an introductory exercise for a new class (which began in January), I had them take a Gallery Walk through the photos you will see below. Take your own walk through them; I have included quotes that from class readings, articles, discussions and more to illuminate the relationship between  Sports and Spirituality. 

How do you picture your spirituality? What image might you choose? Would it be captured in an athletic endeavor? Might you find it at a game? on the golf course?! Enjoy.
Former depictions!
Picture This: My Spirituality Part II
Picture This: My Spirituality Part I

Too often in our culture, we are asked to separate the physical, the mental and the spiritual—as if our bodies and consciousness could be artificially split into pieces. —Dr. Michael Tino

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. —Apostle's Creed

On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation….so God could play golf! —Genesis 2:2-3

Harmony, balance, and rhythm. They’re the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that’s why an oarsman, when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That’s what he gets from rowing. ― Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Spirituality is living with the tensions of your beliefs. —Larry Gillick, SJ

Most high school athletes today have weight lifting as an important component of their training.
Those who lift know the importance of tension; the muscle ought to be broken down to be strengthened.
Joe's spirituality is captured in these two photos from the SI weight room

What a Christian theology of spirituality means is that our relationship with God is as certain as our need for air.  —Tim Muldoon

Sport expresses this energy through the athletes and the fans who support the teams. The games and competitions showcase some of the most powerful and artful ways in which gifted human beings can use and experience this energy. In sport, athletes can experience the manifestation of the Creator’s energy most powerfully and intelligently by showing how they can overcome other players who share the same capacity.
—Martin Siegel

Coach Steve Kerr has four tenets which he models his coaching around.
Here are four agreements a student found to be important.

We are SI. The 2016 Bruce Mahoney Game

Divided We Stand: the Importance of a Good Rivalry

In the article "Divided We Stand" Michael Rosenberg writes, "Rivalries makes sports fun when they otherwise wouldn't be. And everywhere you look, they are getting devalued. Missouri and Kansas stopped playing each other. So did Texas and Texas A&M, and Oklahoma and Nebraska....We should keep rivalries as relevant as we can." (Sports Illustrated, October 12, 2015)

I agree. Last year, marked the cessation of what isn't the *best* rivalry, but a respectable one at that: my alma mater, Notre Dame vs. Michigan. While the Fightin' Irish find a heated rival in USC and and annoying one in Boston College (to me that rivalry is one-sided) the shared rivalry between two storied Midwest programs and their quest for excellence is worth missing. Believe it or not, Wikipedia captures it well. 

The Michigan–Notre Dame football rivalry is a dormant American college football rivalry between the Michigan Wolverines and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

Michigan football and Notre Dame football are considered to be among the most elite college programs. Notre Dame and Michigan respectively rank #1 (Notre Dame) and #2 (Michigan) in winning percentage and #1 (Michigan) and #3 (Notre Dame) in all time wins. The rivalry is heightened by the two schools' competition for all-time win percentage, which each has held during their history, as well as national championships, with each school claiming 11. 

Michigan is member of the Big Ten Conference while Notre Dame football is independent. In 2013, Notre Dame joined the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football and hockey but the football team would play five ACC opponents each season, starting in 2014. Notre Dame and Michigan reached a mutual agreement to suspend the series for the 2018 and 2019 football season. Notre Dame then decided to cancel the 2015 through 2017 games, citing the need to play ACC games. 

The word "dormant" caught my attention. It implies that the rivalry at any point in time can be resurrected, and historically speaking between these teams, it has. But a rivalry is special and not worth putting to rest. It demands something of the competitors and the fans. You are asked to evaluate what your program is about and what you stand for. I have found myself asking when I look at "the other" What do we represent? What are our core values? A rivalry gives pause to those questions, as we ask those questions of our opponent. By looking to "the other" we can learn a lot about ourselves.

A great part of this tradition is that athletes from both schools go to the other school to claim the trophy

I write about the importance of a sports rivalry because today the school where I teach, St Ignatius College Prep celebrates what I consider to be one of the greatest ones in all of high school sports: The Bruce Mahoney. This rivalry game between SI and Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep honors the life and legacy of Bill Bruce and Jerry Mahoney—alumni from each school who died in World War II. It is unique in that the trophy is awarded to the school that wins a minimum of two of the three contests (it starts with football and is followed by basketball). Scott James writes "since a ruby match in 1893, they've been competing each year. All concerned believe it's the oldest sports rivalry west of the Rockies." to that I say "wow." 

Every year I tell my students how fortunate they are to have a tradition like the Bruce Mahoney and a rivalry like the one shared with SHC. My high school—Carondelet and De La Salle didn't have that same "rival" that we looked to beat each year. I applied to but one Catholic high school, as it was the only one in the area. Our opponents were important, our contests were challenging, but no true rival colored our narrative.

The joy in reclaiming the Bruce Mahoney Trophy. 

I think it's also important to realize that in San Francisco a city that is always changing, and acutely so with the growth of the tech industry (especially since 2008) that one thing remains. And it's far from being devalued. The rivalry named the Bruce-Mahoney is relevant. Indeed, we stand divided on the gridiron tight. Go 'Cats. 

For more on this rivalry, read
Bruce Mahoney Rivalry: Proof that Authentic Spirituality Leads to Community
Traditions that accompany the Bruce Mahoney Rivalry: The gift of a football jersey
And what I learned from that tradition
Dan Fouts' Advice to Students: Beat Your Rival

Photo Credits
ND vs Michigan
SI Trophy
SHC Trophy