Saturday, April 6, 2013

Save BU Wrestling

I love hockey. I like basketball. Softball is great. I don't mind a good soccer game. Nor do I mind the occasional lacrosse game. Pair that up with "BU" in front of each sport and you can basically figure out where I am on campus at any given time. I wasn't exactly expecting to love BU athletics as much as I do when I first came to this school, but I've been having such a fun time watching them these past three years.

Now, there are BU sporting events that I haven't made it out to yet. Not because I don't want to, but usually because the timing just doesn't work out with my schedule. One such sport that I have yet to cheer on in person is BU Wrestling. That doesn't mean I haven't kept up with them, gotten excited when they won. But this week I found out that if things go the way they're headed right now, not only may I never be able to make it to a BU Wrestling match, but future Terriers won't either. Even more so, future BU Wrestling Terriers won't either.


I really never imagined myself writing a post about BU Wrestling. Even when I found about the administration's decision to end BU Wrestling at the end of the 2013-2014 season, I felt badly but still didn't rush to speak out for them. But in this short week, so much of my opinion has changed. Now, I don't think I could advocate enough for them.

Some of the members of the BU Women's Ice Hockey team have been really vocal about standing up for this team. That's when it first struck me. I love our Women's Ice Hockey team and seeing them so passionate about something like saving this program really made me believe that this is not something that should be taken lightly. If there's another BU athletics team that is going to support Women's Ice Hockey like they deserve, then they are beyond good in my book.

But it didn't stop with them. BU Women's Lacrosse was the team to make me realize just how heavy a decision this was. A few days ago, they posted a status on their facebook that included this sentiment:

"While ice hockey is most certainly "the face" of BU Athletics, wrestling has always been the heart of it. With their gentle spirit and undying support of EVERY BU athlete & team, there can be no one who says they haven't benefitted or become better as a result of their interaction with Carl Adams and members of the wrestling program. They have been our constant through the ups and downs of BU Athletics with their work ethic, their strength, their positive outlook, and their compassion."

I don't think a message has ever hit me so hard as that one. Suddenly, it did not matter if I had ever seen a BU Wrestling match. It went deeper than that. This wasn't just saving a program, it was about doing what's right.

I severely urge everyone reading this to think about what it is that connects you to this school. Whether it's another sport, an extracurricular activity, an event, a class, a major, a group of friends. Now just imagine that that one thing, that one spark, that one reason why you continue to pay outrageous fees to go here, why you decide to stay here in your dorm one weekend instead of going home, why you feel safe and feel like you've finally discovered the concept of a second home - is gone. Not just gone, but ripped away. Taken away by the school that you love so much because they've suddenly decided it's not good enough; you're not good enough. Taken away because they don't feel they can invest in you.

I don't know about you, but every time I think about that, I cringe. It's basically unfathomable, yet it happened right before our very eyes. A team has lost what it is that identifies them with this school.

What money cannot measure, what trophies cannot measure, what this university cannot measure, is heart. Dedication, spirit, drive. A group of guys that throws on Scarlet and White and represents our school day in and day out. They represent this school even out of uniform, in normal clothes, in the stands, as one of us, cheering on our other teams. They give back. No, they don't just give back, they add a whole new level to why BU athletics feels like a family. Beyond that, they might be the best link to keeping the athletics family connected to the university as a whole.

Now the university wants to take that away. It's not just a team. These guys chose to come here. They chose to compete for us. They wanted to call themselves Terriers. They've earned everything they've ever been given. They picked BU out of everyone and now BU wants to take that away.

They make me proud to go to this school. They make me proud to own a sports pass. They make me proud to be a Terrier. They make me realize that spending every ounce of free time I have in West Campus - in Agganis, in Walter Brown, in Case, on Nickerson, in the Track and Tennis Center, in the pool, on the banks of the Charles - is time well spent.

God damnit do they deserve better. And we can give that to them.

If you don't already like their facebook or follow their twitter I suggest you do so immediately. Get involved. Do whatever you can to help these guys out. They're going to start selling shirts soon and I assure you you've spent money on much stupider things. Show this school that these guys make you proud to call BU your home.

Look, coming from someone who doesn't know a thing about wrestling, this decision breaks my heart each and every time I think about it. I've come to hold this team in such high regards and I wholeheartedly believe everyone else should, too. I know next year I'm making a point to get out and see one of their meets, if not multiple. No matter what happens, that is something we can all give back to a team that has given BU athletics so much. Next year, whether it's the last one or not, should be the most successful in BU Wrestling history. I can't wait to see you all there.

Make BUnited actually mean something.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for this.... please let me point out, Boston Univeristy has the best wrestling team in New England. Losing this D1 program in Boston hurts the sport a lot. Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BU Wrestling alumni deeply appreciate this and all other support during this time of unprecedented challenge to the program. Our effort needs all the help we can get!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Extremely well versed letter! It was just amazing! Thank you for sharing ....

    ReplyDelete
  4. Keep Wrestling in New England strong!

    ReplyDelete