Why do you watch sports? Personally, it’s a nice little diversion from making decisions that have serious impact on people. It’s a chance to emotionally invest in something that isn’t life or death, doesn’t involve driving a kid somewhere for a practice, and relies on other people to be the impetus. I like to sit down, throw myself into a game for a couple hours, and let that be the most important thing for awhile.
And Saturday was great for that. I rolled out after the 6a-6p shift and threw on Chelsea,
my favorite football club. They promptly spent the first 45 minutes being utter garbage and trailed one of the worst teams in the league by two at the half. No matter. I flipped over to Xavier to get caught up only to find that they were making DePaul look like a Wooden UCLA team. A pleasant Saturday afternoon was threatening to go straight down the drain. The problem with looking to and investing in sports is that sometimes it all goes wrong.
But then, in the span of one glorious 70 minute span, the reasons for watching sports flipped around and decided that Saturday would be a good day. Chelsea scored three second half goals, capped by a winner from Enzo Fernandez that sent Stamford Bridge and my front room into delirious celebration.
But Xavier still trailed, and trailed by a lot. I’ve said on multiple occasions that I am drawn to and enjoy this team more than some recent iterations. Maybe it’s the way they play the game, running and gunning is fun, maybe it’s the fun or Tre Carroll and frenetic energy of Roddie Anderson paired with the almost stoic consistency of Filip Borovicanin. But most likely it is because they refuse to know when they are beaten.
This team got destroyed by Santa Clara early this season. They looked lost and bewildered. Then came an Iowa loss in which things didn’t go well, but the team seemed to rouse themselves. Since then, they have won and lost in roughly equal measure, but they haven’t ever downed tools and simply accepted things. I think that’s the drive of Roddie Anderson coming out in his teammates, but it’s also the reaction of a team that believes in their coach.
Braydan was at this game and he has mentioned how the comeback wasn’t just an explosion but how it also started to gain momentum. The Cintas started to wake up as the team rallied, got staggered, rallied again, got hit again, and then got off the mat one more time. With 10 minutes to play the gap was 14, but Xavier wasn’t showing any sign of quitting. They didn’t exactly slice the gap down and they were rocking and rolling like a punch drunk boxer, but they just kept going.
I have no idea why Filip Borovicanin took the last two shots. He was 4-9 coming into that sequence and had been perfectly fine all game without ever making you jump up and take notice. Then, he decided that he would win the game. Big Fil moves like a man much smaller but somehow with the wingpsan of a pterodactyl. He worked, stepped, spun, and got himself the space he needed. Then he did it again. He celebrated the first one, and on the second looked just as semi-shocked and happy as the rest of the crowd. There was a hint of almost embarrassment on his face as his teammates sprinted across the floor to him.
So, why do you watch sports? It’s not always for the long playoff runs, or the championships, or raising banners. Sometimes, it’s for those quiet winter Saturdays where you can just focus on your team. Where you can look at some guys who don’t know you are watching and see that they embody something you can be proud of. “Did you see Xavier today? Yeah, that’s my team.” My team doesn’t stop. My keeps going even when sense would dictate they quit. My team came roaring back and won.
Sports are good. Xavier is fun. Focus on that for a few hours.
