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Boldness of faith the real winner in Jews vs. Catholics hoops
Catholics beat Jews 63-55; both sides deem interfaith event a success
By Conor Gilliland
BOULDER—In a close and competitive basketball game, University of Colorado Catholics edge out Jews with a 63-55 victory.
What began as a facetious conversation between Father Dave Nix and Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm about drawing Catholic and Jewish students back to their respective faiths with a friendly game of hoops, culminated in an exciting and fruitful sporting event in the Boulder High School gym the afternoon of Sunday, April 17.
Father Dave is parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Spiritual Center in Boulder and Rabbi Wilhelm is director of the Chabad at the University of Colorado
The Catholics scored first but the Jews held an early lead and the momentum for most of the first half until the Catholics made a key 3-point shot early in the second quarter. The Catholics recaptured the lead mid-way through the second quarter and the Jews were never able to recover.
Though the lead changed only a few times, the quality of the competition was impressive—and surprising to some.
“I’m glad it’s this close. I was a little worried we would get beaten badly,” said CU student and Jewish team supporter Uri Bulow, 20. “We’re not exactly an athletic people.”
Rooting for the Catholic team, Keenan Fitzpatrick, 20, disagreed.
“I think their team looks much more athletic,” he asserted.
Indeed, in terms of ball-handling, precision passing, and finesse in the lane, the Jewish team clearly had more talent. But as one fan, Marque Schulte, 21, noted,
“The Catholic team has more intensity and energy.”
Comments from the crowd ranged from, “This is a scrappy game!” to “Both these teams really want to win!”
The lead for both teams never exceeded 10 points.
While intensity may have been a key factor in the Catholic team’s win, their depth off the bench did not hurt. They had nearly twice the number of players as the Jewish bench, which meant they had many more fresh legs in the late minutes of the game.
Noticeably absent from the game was any religious tension.
Both teams had similar goals for the event and both considered it a success. Rabbi Wilhelm said he hoped the game would inspire Jewish confidence.
“It’s the day before Passover,” he said. “And what I hope people see as we enter in to this sacred time is that we can live our lives, including playing sports, as proud Jews.
“We do not have to hide,” he declared.
Similarly, Father Dave said, “This game is a chance for even fringe folks to be bold about being ... Catholic.
“Yes, it’s competitive and (interfaith),” he added, “but it also sends a message: God is not going away from Boulder anytime soon.”
Other important goals for the game were enjoyment and community.
“I see most of these guys around the Chabad and on the court and the more we talked about it, the more it just sounded like fun,” said Jewish team leader Jordan Malka. “Our team knows each other really well and this was an opportunity for us, as a group, to get tighter.”
Catholic team starter Sean Buckley, 21, shared the same enthusiasm.
“This was a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s really exciting to be able to reach out to people through sport.”
The leading scorer for the Catholic team added, “I’m glad for the opportunity to get out here and show what our community at St. Tom’s is about.”
Buckley was referring to the boisterous chants his peers from St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center offered in support of their team.
Will there be a rematch? Both sides expect this to become an annual event, though some students thought Catholics should play Jews in basketball more than once a year. Still others hoped to compete in sports other than basketball.
“Next year we should have a chess tournament,” said Bulow.
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