I am not one that has ever had a lack of school spirit, but I seriously underestimated just how much I could have. In high school, the boys' cross country team won a state championship and that was pretty exciting. Yet, it was nothing like this.
For those of you that haven't heard, DU men's lacrosse has just won the National Championship. This is the first time in history that the title has left the east coast. And it's a huge deal. DU is known for having a good hockey team, but we are no longer just a hockey school and lacrosse is no longer just an east coast sport.
I like to think that I have a special tie to the program (and all athletics at this school) because of my job as a sports reporter. I had the huge pleasure of interviewing 5 of our best lacrosse players (Wes Berg, Zach Miller, Ryan Laplante, and Connor and Sean Cannizzaro) and seeing everything they have accomplished this season just makes it that much cooler that I have been following them from the beginning. The sad part is our paper is done running for the year so I wasn't able to cover the championship for the school, but that has given me more time to treasure the win.
I am not friends with any of the players and some students at DU have probably never even spoken to them, but I love that this is completely irrelevant. Something like this has the power to bring together an entire campus full of different people and turn them into a family. The team did all of the hard work; the rest of us have just cheered them on, but somehow I still feel as if we are all sharing in the victory.
I've believed in my heart that DU is the greatest place on earth since I showed up here on August 31st. Now, I feel like other people might just be realizing how great DU is. The Denver Broncos tweeted about us, The New York Times mentioned us, our campus was featured on Yik Yak, the Championship was live on Snapchat, and the list goes on. It is just so insanely cool that my school accomplished something so great and is receiving so much recognition.
Honestly, in high school I could not have cared less about lacrosse. Even at DU, hockey was always number one to me (and still is). Lacrosse is probably the sport I know the least about, aside from maybe cricket and polo. Regardless, I know these guys and I know the coach and I love this place just as much as the rest of them. Basking in the glory of a national championship with my favorite people in my favorite place could not be any sweeter.
