Fun, not frenzy

By Leo D. Rommel

Freshman Jeff Wilsey had a bad day early last week.

According to a Security Brief in last week’s issue of The Rider News, Wilsey was dramatically injured on Sept. 25 after receiving an accidental blow to the head in the midst of a pick-up soccer game on Daly’s Intramural Fields. Seemingly disoriented, Wilsey was taken to the hospital by an ambulance for further evaluation.

Don’t fret. Life’s good now. Wilsey is fine, and he has stated that several members of the other team have expressed remorse, but things could have been different.

Wilsey could have been the next Bryan McClure, a Creighton University senior who, according to The Creightonian, suffered multiple cheek bone fractures and shattered the orbital floor underneath his eye in 2005.

Essentially, Wilsey is a lucky man.

Intramural injuries are no joke, as people like Wilsey and McClure have learned. Injuries are inevitable at any level of athletics, including the intramural level. Just because the stakes aren’t as high in intramurals does not mean that the threat of injury is any less serious.

And it is because of this threat that some (key word: some) participants should take the following advice to heart: take the whole thing a little less seriously. I know you don’t intentionally try to hurt your opponent, but at times, you do. From now on, be gentler on him or her. Don’t let your competitiveness interfere with the safety of the game. Unlike other organized sports, intramurals seldom provide equipment for protection. Participants are generally more vulnerable to injury than other athletes are.

“Some athletes do take intramurals too seriously,” said Bob Denney, associate director of Campus Recreation for Creighton University. “They’re not playing for a scholarship or for a contract. They’re just playing for a shirt.”

Denney was also quick to point out that, although certain students should take intramurals less seriously, some students are naturally more competitive than others, and that asking them to take it easy would be like “telling Michael Jordan not to be so serious on the court.”

Fine. I understand that this is how any sport is going to be played when winning and pride are on the line. But is the thrill of victory worth the agony of someone else’s pain? Is winning more important than safety? Is it true that the games sometimes get way too intense for it to be fun any longer?

Before transferring to Rider, I played intramural flag football at Hofstra. My team once lost a game on the final drive of the game because my teammate accidentally dropped a cinch sideline pass. We were down by seven points, got a touchdown and went for a two-point conversion to win it. I think he said he lost sleep over it.

During my freshman year, a team of dorm buddies that I played with got thoroughly destroyed in a game. But for whatever reason, one of my teammates was punched later in the evening as we were walking out of my residence hall.

“Some of the people that I play with used to be athletes on other school teams,” said Wilsey, who stressed that everyone he played with were his friends and that no one ever meant to hurt him. “They’re the only ones who take it seriously. Everyone else usually just has fun and runs around with no worries.”

Wilsey also stated that the majority of the teams he plays with and against are co-ed, which makes the competition less physical.

“Generally, injuries are less common on teams with men and women,” said Denney. “Even though some of these girls can hurt you, the injuries that occur are usually less severe.”
But tempers still flair at times. I’ve seen it. And injuries have resulted from it. It’s simply inexcusable. Getting angry should have no part in intramurals.

For the sake of everybody, try and make it a good time.

I mean, that’s what it’s supposed to be: playing a game just for fun.

Right?