Last night I was watching ESPN SportsCenter -- mainly to see the reports on the shellacking the Lakers took at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks -- and they featured a human interest story. It concerned the terrible devastation in Alabama from the recent tornadoes.
One of cities hardest hit by the killer storm was Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. While the campus itself was mostly spared from the gut-wrenching destruction, many sectors of the city look like an atomic bomb had been dropped on it.
The hook of the video feature story was that a group from the Tide's arch rival, Auburn University, rolled into Tuscaloosa within 24 hours of the storm to lend big helping hands. Many people view this act of compassion as amazing since the rivalry between UA and AU can be so vitriolic.
I don't know about you, but I don't find this situation amazing at all. In fact, if Auburn supporters had NOT shown up, that would have blown my mind.
There is nothing wrong with having a friendly rivalry. When I attended Ouachita Baptist University, there was a second institution of higher learning in the small town of Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Located no more than 3 blocks away was Henderson State University.
When it came to competition of ANY sort you can think of, the Number One thing we at OBU desired most was to beat the dreaded Reddies. In sports, we could lose every other game of the year, but if we beat HSU, the season was deemed a success. In non-sporting activities, we could be ranked near the bottom of whatever category was applicable and it was okay as long as Henderson State was ranked one notch or more below us. (I'm certain they felt the exact same way about us!)
But if a tornado ripped through Arkadelphia and damaged one of the schools but not the other, students from the latter would have gone in a heartbeat to help the former. Hardly a person would have thought about the long-standing rivalry at all.
And that's the way it should be!!
When others are injured and hurting, it is silly and cruel to keep up these false facades of separation. For all the distinctions we imagine, we share far more in common with our brothers and sisters wherever they go to school or reside. In their time of need, we each need to be there -- differences be damned.
One of cities hardest hit by the killer storm was Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. While the campus itself was mostly spared from the gut-wrenching destruction, many sectors of the city look like an atomic bomb had been dropped on it.
The hook of the video feature story was that a group from the Tide's arch rival, Auburn University, rolled into Tuscaloosa within 24 hours of the storm to lend big helping hands. Many people view this act of compassion as amazing since the rivalry between UA and AU can be so vitriolic.
I don't know about you, but I don't find this situation amazing at all. In fact, if Auburn supporters had NOT shown up, that would have blown my mind.
There is nothing wrong with having a friendly rivalry. When I attended Ouachita Baptist University, there was a second institution of higher learning in the small town of Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Located no more than 3 blocks away was Henderson State University.
When it came to competition of ANY sort you can think of, the Number One thing we at OBU desired most was to beat the dreaded Reddies. In sports, we could lose every other game of the year, but if we beat HSU, the season was deemed a success. In non-sporting activities, we could be ranked near the bottom of whatever category was applicable and it was okay as long as Henderson State was ranked one notch or more below us. (I'm certain they felt the exact same way about us!)
But if a tornado ripped through Arkadelphia and damaged one of the schools but not the other, students from the latter would have gone in a heartbeat to help the former. Hardly a person would have thought about the long-standing rivalry at all.
And that's the way it should be!!
When others are injured and hurting, it is silly and cruel to keep up these false facades of separation. For all the distinctions we imagine, we share far more in common with our brothers and sisters wherever they go to school or reside. In their time of need, we each need to be there -- differences be damned.
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