THE MALCOM-X FACTOR: Denver Fan Turns True Crimson Crazy

I’m usually a pretty big homer.

Ask around, I’m sure people will tell you. I wear my hometown roots on my sleeve, or, more accurately, on my keychain. I sport the “I love Colorado” lanyard every time I open my dorm room door.

If people don’t realize Denver has over 300 days of sunshine per year, I tell them. If they don’t know about the fact that the city is home to more parks per capita than any other ‘major’ city in the country, I’m sure to let them know.

Highest percentage of uninsured drivers? Colorado, thank you very much.

Wait, forget about that last one.

But really, the city and state I lived my entire life in are occupied by a lot of great things—sports teams included. We can talk professional sports another time, but I’m in the business of college athletics.

Colorado College made the NCAA hockey tournament again this year, and the country’s last two hockey champs before this season hailed from Denver University. That same DU school is home to the 2005 Great Western Lacrosse League champions. The same team our own Harvard men’s lacrosse team had beat a year ago with less than a half minute to go, before two Pioneer goals in the final 24 seconds sent the Crimson on a long flight home from Colorado unhappy. I remember the game. I have friends there.

So you can imagine my torn loyalties this past Saturday, when the two lacrosse teams finally had their rematch almost exactly a year later. This time, though, Harvard played host.

Who would I root for? Would I stay true to my upbringing, the sunlight, and the place I call home? Would I throw my support with my new admiration, the team I’m growing to know and love? Or would I be the objective and impartial journalist that I’m supposed to be?

Let’s be clear about one thing—I definitely wasn’t that last one.

The game was a turning point for me as a sports writer and as a sports fan. I still didn’t know who I was rooting for just before the opening faceoff. But once the ball dropped, it was easy to see who I’d be cheering for. Harvard, congratulations.

I’m hooked.

Not just because the now-No. 16 Crimson knocked off the then-No.14 Pioneers in an 8-7 triple-overtime thriller. Not just because the parents at men’s lacrosse games are some of the most faithful I’ve seen during my time covering athletics at the school. And not because Harvard coach Scott Andersen has been a leader in the program for about as long as some of the players have been alive.

There’s something you get while being a fan here that you don’t get anywhere else.

When someone breaks a Crimson record, it’s like Ron Burgundy says: it’s “kind of a big deal.”

The history, the lore, and the tradition at Harvard are, in some cases, literally second to none. Did you know that the Crimson brought home the first two championships in the history of intercollegiate men’s lacrosse? Yep—in 1881 and 1882, to be exact.

That might seem like a meaningless stat, until you put Saturday’s game into perspective.

It’s believed to be the longest game in the history of Harvard lacrosse—the 128-year history. I only say “believed” because, back in the late 19th and early 20th century, the exact game time wasn’t kept. Compare that to DU, a school that was less than twenty years old, when the Crimson began winning championships.

All this isn’t to say, though, that my only reason for joining the Harvard faithful is because of the history. History means little without results, and I’d be a liar if I didn’t come away from the Crimson’s victory last weekend feeling a bit validated. It was a great game, but still, a great game that Harvard ultimately won. And while I’m about as far from being on any kind of bandwagon as it gets, it’s nice to see the team you’re rooting for on the right side of any epic athletic battle.

And before anybody gets their hopes up, you won’t see me wearing a Tom Brady or Paul Pierce jersey any time soon—my newfound loyalty is relegated to the ranks of college—my college.

When a team is good now, that’s great. But when a team is good now, was good then, and is the place I will call home for the next three years—well, let’s just say that I’ll only be going back to Denver for the sunlight.

—Staff writer Malcom A. Glenn can be reached at mglenn@fas.harvard.edu. His column appears every third Thursday.