Savage Words: I saw it again: The unscripted beauty of sports

Sports are a funny thing.

It brings out the best, and sometimes the worst in us. The worst, it seems, gets a lot of attention these days, unfortunately.

That’s why when I see something encouraging, something inspiring, I take note.

It was only a few seconds the other night. It was sort of a throw-away moment in the midst of a hotly-contested boys basketball game in the Brandon Valley gym.

The Lynx and Bishop O’Gorman were going at it in the season-opener two weeks ago. Back-and-forth, the Lynx led … the Knights led. It was a heavyweight bout for much of the game.

But with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter, O’Gorman’s Kamden Cisse was in trouble. Hurt, actually.

It was a strange-looking play, really nothing big. But as Cisse gathered up an inbounds pass in the backcourt, he came down awkwardly, his right leg stiffened and he hobbled on his left leg.

Brandon Valley’s Caelen Christion was guarding Cisse, applying some pressure in the backcourt as his O’Gorman opponent caught the ball. But when Cisse came down, it was clear to Christion that something was off, something was out of sequence.

The O’Gorman guard that Christion had swarmed all night was in pain, and he reached out for assistance.

“He kept saying, ‘I gotta cramp, I gotta cramp,’” Christion said after the game when I asked him about those few seconds on the court.

Perhaps just out of instinct, or necessity actually, Christion reached out to his counterpart. Cisse took advantage of the gesture, and quickly put his arm around the Brandon Valley defender. He needed some help.

After a few moments, O’Gorman’s Alex Christian came to his teammate’s aide, as did Brandon Valley trainer Chad Urban. Cisse went to the ground, obviously in pain. 

It was only a few moments, but Christion was there first, offering immediate assistance.

Pretty cool.

Most in the gym probably didn’t even notice it. There was a quick timeout while Cisse was helped off the court, and play resumed.

But that gesture stuck with me, stuck with me the rest of the game. I love seeing sportsmanship like that.

It reminded me of a college game I covered a few years ago for the Indianapolis Star. Indiana Wesleyan was in town competing in the NAIA DII National Tournament. In a Round of 16 game, IWU was matched up with Dakota Wesleyan, ironically.

Dakota Wesleyan was led by Dell Rapids native Ty Hoglund. Hoglund and IWU guard Joel Okafor went toe-to-toe all night.

Hoglund had just come off of a 43-point game and was averaging 31.5 points per game in the tournament. Needless to say, Okafor had his hands full defending the sharp-shooting Hoglund.

But he had him covered, but not without some carnage. On a random play with seven minutes remaining, Okafor dove for a loose ball, crashing into the courtside press row with a violent thud, landing at the base of the grandstands. The first one on the scene to make sure Okafor was alright, was Hoglund.

“Hey, hey! You OK?” Hoglund said as he scurried by. 

I could hear it clearly because Okafor had just flown by me as I sat on press row

Hoglund hurried around the press row chairs to where his opponent was now laying at the bottom of the stands. He bent down, locked eyes with Okafor, who understandably looked dazed.

“I’m right here if you need me,” Hoglund said. “Take a breath. I’m right here.”

Okafor laid there, at the base of the DWU crowd, for about a minute before returning to the IWU bench. 

“He was one of the best defenders that I faced all year,” Hoglund later told me. “And he’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever compete against. He didn’t say one word of trash the entire game. He just worked his butt off and I think you have to have a certain level of respect for a guy like that. When he goes down, you gotta make sure he’s OK so we can keep battling against each other.”

Okafor eventually returned to the game and helped IWU to the win. Hoglund finished with 19 points, well below his season average.

“I remember somebody talking to me and somebody picking me up, but didn’t know until now that it was Ty,” Okafor told me on the phone about a week after the game when IWU had returned home to Indiana.

IWU may have made Hoglund uncomfortable for stretches during that game, but his class was never shaken.

So, when I saw the O’Gorman and Brandon Valley show of respect the other night, it took me right back to the same Dakota Wesleyan and Indiana Wesleyan scenario from years ago.

“I could tell he needed some help,” Christion said. “He seemed like he was hurting. I didn’t want him to … I dunno, I thought maybe I could help him.”

Thankfully, it was just indeed cramps for Cisse. After some stretching and fluids, he was able to return in the fourth quarter. But for a second, he was in trouble and needed some help. Christion was there.

Seeing that, even for just a couple of moments, reminds me of the unscripted beauty of sports, and I’m grateful for it.