I wanted to dislike Sean Rooney.
I really did.
I wanted to hate the entire Pepperdine volleyball team, because
that’s what you’re supposed to do.
If you’re rooting for Team A, then you have to not only
root against Team B, but you have to display genuine and sometimes
blind disdain for Team B and its players.
Call me crazy, but I think that’s wrong. I realize that
part of what makes being a sports fan so great is the
unquestioning, unyielding allegiance to one’s team, but there
comes a point when you have to set that aside and appreciate the
other side.
And after Saturday night’s 3-2 win over UCLA in the
national championship, I couldn’t help but appreciate the
Pepperdine men’s volleyball team. And Sean Rooney in
particular.
As a fan, it’s so easy to forget everyone else. It’s
easy to think that your team is the only team working hard,
practicing every day, striving for that ultimate goal. You may sort
of unconsciously know that every other team is doing the exact same
thing, but you don’t care. Other teams and players
don’t seem quite human; they are “opponent,” and
their sole purpose is to be “defeated.”
It’s kind of like a video game.
And that’s sad, because another thing that makes sports so
great is its distinctly human element. There are humans on both
sides, and absolute tragedy for one side means complete euphoria
for the other.
My original intention was to write this column about how much it
must suck to lose the national championship match on your home
court.
And it must really suck a lot.
But for how much it must hurt the Bruins, it must feel so great
for the Waves. And even though we’re connected to UCLA, we
should feel good for Pepperdine, no matter how much that goes
against what we think we’re supposed to do.
Forget about UCLA for a second and consider Pepperdine. This is
a team that was ranked No. 1 nearly the entire season, losing only
twice, a team that could have kept UCLA from even making the NCAA
Tournament by losing on purpose in the conference tournament.
But they didn’t do that. Rather, the Waves just kept on
winning. They won seven matches this season when it went to a fifth
game, none bigger than Saturday night. They fought back from 2-1
down against UCLA on the grandest and most hostile stage of them
all.
It’s agonizingly difficult for Bruin fans to admit, but
Pepperdine was the better team.
Rooney, a senior and one of the best players in the history of
college volleyball, had advanced to the Final Four in two of his
previous three seasons without winning a championship. His time
finally came Saturday night when he notched a team-high 26 kills
and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
It’s hard not to feel good for the guy when you hear him
talk about it.
“To go out with a win, in the championship, in Pauley
Pavilion, it’s just unbelievable,” said Rooney, who
finished his collegiate career with 2007 kills.
“There’s nothing that can describe it. It
couldn’t have been more perfect.”
The opposite is true for the Bruins, who had to sit through an
absolutely excruciating 10 minutes to watch Pepperdine receive its
championship trophy at Pauley Pavilion.
It was a disappointing end to a pretty incredible season for
UCLA, considering all of the adversity that the team was able to
overcome in order to pull itself one game away from a national
title.
But it wasn’t meant to be, and that’s sports.
There’s a winner and a loser, and it’s no fun to be the
loser.
It’s ridiculous, however, for the loser, or for fans of
the loser, to go on and demonize the winner. Because they’re
usually good people, too.
By all indications, Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy is a wonderful
man. He was gracious in victory, complimentary of UCLA, and
complimentary of his players. He took no credit whatsoever for the
win.
“Basically what it comes down to is that good players make
good plays, and great players make great plays,” Dunphy said.
“It’s really a players’ game.”
Sean Rooney is a great player. Pepperdine is a classy team and a
deserving champion, and to think otherwise is a terrible thing to
do.
But it’s a natural thing to do, too.
At brunch on Sunday morning, my mom was still mad at Pepperdine.
She couldn’t get past the fact that the Bruins lost, so she
couldn’t give credit where it was due.
And initially, I didn’t want to give that credit either.
But sometimes, it’s all you can do.
Pepperdine deserved to win. Like it or not, that’s the
truth.
It’s okay to hate USC, Stanford, and the Giants for no
reason whatsoever. E-mail Regan at dregan@media.ucla.edu.