At St. John’s University, a professor who has a full schedule teaches three courses every semester. I always teach a full schedule. Sometimes with three different courses. This fall semester is the first time I am teaching the same course to three distinct classes of students. The title of the course is “Introduction to the Philosophy of Person.”
I think of the course as three opportunities to help students take philosophy seriously and to help them incorporate into their lives the insights I present into the mystery of the human person. Most of the students taking the course are first-year students, and so I take my responsibility to make their first experience of philosophy both enjoyable and profitable. But this semester, another mystery has preoccupied me. It is the mystery involved in being an avid fan of some team.
For some reason, and it is something of a mystery to me why, this semester, I have been thinking about the experience of what it means to align yourself emotionally with a team. I am not at all interested in any professional team. World Series come and go, Super Bowls pass by, and I have no emotional attachment. However, I am deeply emotionally attached to Notre Dame football and the St. John’s basketball team. Why am I, or any fan, so deeply attached to some team?
I look forward to Notre Dame football games and to St. John’s basketball games. I love to watch the games on television, greatly enjoy reading about the teams and the coaches, and I know many who seem to have the same attachment. My attachment to Notre Dame football may have its roots in my childhood. When I was about 5 or 6 years old, the film “Knute Rockne, All American” starring Pat O’Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as the great football player, George Gipp, was playing around the corner from where my family and I lived.
I don’t recall how many times I saw the film, but in one scene, Ronald Reagan punts a ball that goes sailing high into the air. When I got home, I took a football I had received for Christmas, went out in front of my family’s house, and punted the ball into the air. To my young imagination, I thought my kick resembled Gipp’s kick.
Years later, I chose to attend Xavier High School over Regis High School because Xavier had a football program and Regis did not. I became part of Xavier’s program and now, to friends, I describe my high school football career as me being “a legend in my own mind!”
I love a remark made by former Notre Dame football coach, Lou Holtz, in commenting on the popularity of Notre Dame football. Holtz said, “God does not care whether Notre Dame wins or loses a football game. But his Mother does!”
I guess one of the reasons that I am so emotionally attached to Notre Dame is that it seems to be a perfect model for other teams. The following appeared in the “Blue and Gold” magazine about Notre Dame football: “During a recent interview on Sirius XM, Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock summed up his experience after spending 11 years across three separate stints coaching here.
‘I’ve been a part of Notre Dame and I’ve seen what it does for people in their lives. … In my opinion, it’s still the purest form of what campus life is supposed to look like that you can find anywhere.’ ”
Last season, St. John’s University won the Big East Conference. The last time the team won that conference
was 40 years ago. Every St. John’s game at Madison Square was a sellout. When the television cameras focused on those attending the game, many, many fans were seen wearing red sweatshirts with the words “St. John’s” emblazoned on the front.
What was especially interesting was the number of alumni who were in the stands. Some of them held signs that said, “We have been waiting 40 years for this.” Forty years! Even St. John’s coach Rick Pitino was surprised by the turnout for the games by the alumni. Their commitment to St. John’s basketball was amazing. Everything I have read about this year’s team makes the hope for a national championship not impossible or far-fetched.
Pitino will be in his third year as St. John’s basketball coach. If any coach can lead St. John’s to a national championship, he is the one to do it. When Notre Dame or St. John’s wins a game, I am happy. When Notre Dame or St. John’s loses a game, I am saddened. Is this silly? After all, these are merely athletic contests involving the two universities. I cannot explain my reactions, but perhaps other avid fans can.
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.