Hopkins Lacrosse evokes pride during U. Maryland game
By Ishai Mooreville · The Johns Hopkins News-Letter · April 17, 2003
Before leaving for the Hopkins vs. Maryland game on Saturday night, I climbed up the ladder into the rarely entered Gatehouse attic. There, behind piles of old News-Letter issues, was a little closet door. Inside, lay a treasure that any Hopkins lacrosse fan would cherish.
There sat a box of blue foam hands, complete with index fingers springing straight out of fists, each one shouting We're #1 and inscribed with the words "Go Jays" in the palm.
Now that may not seem like anything important. Left in the News-Letter attic since at least the '80s, the blue was fading. To the average Joe, those foam fingers might simply be forgotten relics from the past, something out of fashion that should simply be tossed aside.
To me, those foam fingers represented everything I love about Hopkins lacrosse.
Each three foot long foam finger symbolized history, pride, spirit and excellence.
So I grabbed a pair, one for me and a friend, and headed down to the game, ready to wave my foam finger all the way to a Blue Jay victory.
Hopkins vs. Maryland. In the world of college lacrosse, no rivalry comes even close to the one these two schools have. Last Saturday night, these perennial contenders battled face to face for the 99th time.
Needless to say, the Blue Jays came out on top with a 6-5 overtime victory.
In the refreshingly warm air of spring, over 8,000 people gathered at Byrd Stadium in College Park to watch the night's spectacle of sprinting, stick handling and shooting.
Many Hopkins students took the short 45 minute drive down to watch the game, and a full bus provided by Student Council brought down additional Hopkins supporters.
Sitting in the Blue Jay Section of the stands was quite an extraordinary experience. When the blue-jerseyed players stepped onto the field for the first time, intense feelings of pride swept through me and hopefully through every other Hopkins student, alum, parent and fan in the stadium. That's our team, I thought. However insignificant the game of Lacrosse might seem in the larger scheme of things, in some intangible way our Lacrosse team still represents us as a university and as a student body. Every player in a Hopkins uniform shares something with every other Hopkins student: a drive to succeed.
There were the usual Lacrosse staples at the game. Family members of current players clad in their Hopkins best. Graying alumni who watched the game through thick glasses. A band full of more passion, enthusiasm and noise than Steven Tyler on speed. Boisterous upperclassmen shouting such uplifting cheers as "Pump our gas" and "You need secretaries?" both of which were directed at a rowdy section of Maryland fans who stood behind their home team's bench.
At halftime during the game, I headed over to the Maryland side of the field to meet up with several high school friends. I was surprised to notice however that there were quite a few Hopkins fans scattered among the Terps supporters. Right in front of me, in fact, sat a man with a gray beard and mustache wearing a Hopkins reunion hat. I asked him the obvious question.
"Are you a Hopkins alum?"
He turned around, and with a twinkle in his eye, gave me a nod.
"Class of '67," he told me. I introduced myself as a current sophomore. And with equal parts nostalgia and pride he added: "It's a great school." Though I've been through both ups and downs here over my first two years, I'd have to agree.
And the foam fingers? Safely back in their Gatehouse resting place.