The fight between these two schools, one of them a Catholic Jesuit university, speaks to a larger coarsening and desensitizing of our culture. I can imagine that many who observed this were angered. Others? Probably not so much. In a country where we embrace wrestling violence for show and full contact Mixed Martial Arts for real, is it any wonder that we have occasional fights break out in a football or basketball game?
Sports bring out the best and the worst of the human condition. It has been said that pressure builds a person’s character. I submit that pressure doesn’t build the character of a person as much as it reveals it. In this particular instance this fight revealed the ugliness of humanity. At the end of the day, I agree with Coach Cronin of Cincinnati….”These guys are good people, who for a few seconds made some really bad decisions.” Now I know for a certainty that there isn’t anyone reading this who has made a bad decision. We’re all perfect people who have never regretted making a bad choice. Ok, maybe not. Probably not. Ok…NOT!
Here’s a context to consider. On the night of this fight between Cincinnati and Xavier, there were approximately another 340 Division I schools who didn’t have a fight. Another 265 Division II schools who didn’t hold a slugfest, and about another 325 Division III schools who found it more appealing to play a game rather than to stage a throw down.
In any endeavor involving people, especially young people, things will sometimes go awry. It is best left up to the adults and coaches of these two schools to sort this mess out. Yes, let everyone bemoan the fall of Western Civilization in their condemnations of the punishments meted out. I say let’s see how things play out from here. If I’m any judge of basketball coaches, my guess is they will make these young men learn from their mistake and make them regret ever having crossed this line of decorum. One thing about coaches that I know is this - most of them use any and all situations as a learning tool. This is a tool that will keep on giving for Cincinnati and Xavier’s coaching staffs.
Submitted by:
Joe O’Neill
