Mather Wins Closest Straus Race Ever

The year was 1989. Wielding sledgehammers, picks and shovels, thousands of freedom-loving Germans brought down the Berlin Wall, the symbol of Eastern isolation and oppressive communism. The same year, throwing elbows and fists, the Detroit Pistons brought the Los Angeles Lakers' hopes of a three-peat crashing down as well.

The Lakers had won the NBA title two years in a row, but the Bad Boys from Motown ended the dream with a four-game sweep in the finals.

The year is 1993. Wielding jack-hammers and driving bulldozers, construction workers have brought down the walls of Matthews Hall, the mice-infested abode at the corner of the Yard. The same year, another Bad group has ended the hopes of a team in search of its three-peat.

And with two consecutive Straus Cups and a third in sight, Leverett House--rabbits and all--fell to Mather House in the 1992-93 Harvard Intramural Straus Cup competition.

But unlike the 1989 NBA championship series, this one was close. In fact, it was the closest Straus Cup finish in intramural history, according to Director of Intramurals John Wentzel.

Although Mather started the spring season with what seemed to be an insurmountable 80-point lead, then-third-place Leverett battled back and ended up losing by just 20 points.

"We worked really hard to make sure that Leverett didn't win again," says senior Marcy Bashe, Mather's head intramural secretary.

Mather and Leverett have been trading the Straus Cup back and forth for the past four years, and have developed a heated intramural rivalry.

This year Mather collected 1,638 points to Leverett's 1,618 Lowell House finished third with 1,549. Last year's runner-up, Quincy House, dropped to fourth place this season.

The question of which house would hold the Cup for the next year remained unanswered until the final day of competition. With 580 points riding on the finals of the spring season, Lowell, Leverett and Mather all had the intramural championship within reach.

But Mather held off a feisty Leverett squad that compiled 903 points in the spring season to take the Cup.

"We literally had no idea who had won until the last final was over," says junior Karin Garvey, another one of Mather's intramural secretaries.

Mather's overall Straus Cup triumph, however, was won several months earlier.

Coming out of the fall season, Lowell held a slight lead.

Then, came the storm.

No, not The Storm of the Century. The Mather storm.

Brewing in the cellars on Cowperthwait street, Mather wreaked a path of intramural destruction through the winter season, moving through like a blizzard and claiming three out of the four basketball competitions.

"They had the greatest winter season that I have ever seen," says Lowell Intramural Secretary senior George Gavros. "They were incredible at basketball."

But Mather also displayed consistency in the many other sports--ranging from soccer to squash--that make up the Straus Cup competition. And on the IM circuit, talent may win games but consistency and participation win championships.

"Everyone in the house got really involved," says Mather Intramural Secretary junior Josh Dieterich. "Our goal was to finish in the top three in every event."

New Kids on the Block

In the 58 years of Harvard intramural competition, the Straus Cup has only graced the halls of Mather once before--three years ago after the 1989-90 season.

In fact, Mather spent much of the '80s frequenting the cellar of IM competition. Mather does not have the tradition of Straus Cup success that a house like Kirkland has.

Kirkland is the undisputed historical champion of intramural competition, boasting the most championships by far (20) and the most titles in a row (six, from 1957-62). But Mather has asserted itself in the '90s as a force to be reckoned with, and if the house does not have the tradition of Kirkland, it does have a strong core of secretaries that ensure a high level of resident participation.

"It's a lot of work," Dieterich says. "A lot of phone calling and cajoling. If someone says they can't play, we don't let it rest at that. We make them come up with a good excuse. What happens is people realize they really can participate."

Wentzel says the work of the various secretaries from all the houses is what makes Harvard's intramural competition so successful.

"It's a really good program," Wentzel says. "Participation is always high. It's a program for students run by students. I just get the ball rolling."

Too Competitive

One problem with the program that Wentzel and the house secretaries have addressed in past years and continue to address is the proper level of competitiveness within the intramural program.

Wentzel says the competition of intramurals comes naturally at a school like Harvard where "no one likes to lose."

"It's just the nature of the beast," Wentzel says.

And with the exception of isolated incidents between individuals who have lost their tempers in the heat of moment, Wentzel says, the competitiveness is not a problem. Bashe, however, says this year too many houses were involved in "questionable stuff that just shouldn't happen."

"It seemed to me that people were getting caught being dishonest a lot more this year," Bashe says.

But Bashe attributed this unsportsmanlike conduct to individuals who are too competitive.

Many other secretaries say that the competitive spirit is good for the program and that the competition is what provides the main incentive for intramural participation.

"The more competitive it is the better," Dieterich says. "I think it's a good serious athletic outlet. People want it to be a bump-and-grind race for the Cup."

Some secretaries like Gavros say that the level of competitiveness varies with the captains and secretaries in the houses.

"Some people are really involved," Gavros says. "Lowell, Leverett, and Mather cared about the points this year, and competition is inherently fun."

But Gavros says that although there are participants who have become disenchanted with intramurals, the program still retains its most redeeming feature:

"Intramurals is a fun way to meet people," Gavros says.