Mr. Johnson’s Intramural Hoops Odyssey

In October 2007, I wrote a column discussing the importance of intramural sports and the cathartic release they provide for many students on this campus. Today, over two years later, I feel compelled to revisit the topic. Last weekend, my intramural basketball team traveled to Boston University to participate in the National Campus Championship Series Eastern Regional basketball tournament. The tournament brought together the intramural basketball champions from all of the schools on the East Coast. The participating schools ran the gamut from Ivy League institutions like Yale, Columbia and Dartmouth to big universities like Villanova and UConn. Despite losing to Penn State and the eventual champion—St. John’s—the tournament was definitely a fun experience that made me realize just how much some people care about their intramural sports.

Our team departed from New York City with only five players. Job interviews, injuries, and the general attitude of indifference that is all-too-common on our campus kept over half of our team in New York City. Our Astrovan hit the road at 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and humorous conversation made the trip pass rather quickly. When we arrived, I was immediately impressed by the size of the event and the presentation of some of the other teams. At least eight schools sent their club basketball teams. A lot of teams had coaching staffs and trainers. The Villanova club team looked like they would give our men’s varsity team a run for their money. Many of the teams were sponsored by shoe companies like Nike and Reebok. There were scouts all over the place. OK, maybe not scouts—but there were definitely a lot of middle-aged men watching the games and vigorously taking notes on their clipboards. I felt like I was at a Sonny Vaccaro basketball camp. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Worldwide Wes had appeared over my shoulder.

Having barely enough players to even participate, there was no way we expected to be competitive. We represented Columbia as best we could, but as we expected, we ran out of energy in the second half of each game as our opponents kept us in transition and drove us to fatigue. The five players on our team performed admirably, and I’ll never forget the hustle my teammates exhibited during that weekend. Any Columbia team that competes in the future should have a rotation of at least 10 solid players. Not bums, not scrubs, actual solid ballplayers. If you show up at Regionals with a weak squad, then please believe that you will get dunked on—quickly. Thanks. (Yes, that was a Tiger Woods reference.)

I hope that Columbia will continue to send future intramural champions to the regional tournament. Part of me wishes that I could spend another year in college, just to redeem the poor result my team suffered this year. All I know is that whoever attends the Intramural Regionals in the future is in for a treat. It feels good to get off campus and represent your school. The last time I represented my school in an athletic event was in high school. I forgot how it feels to put your school’s name on your chest and to represent it on the court.

Jelani Johnson is a Columbia College senior majoring in history.