The definition of a rival according to the dictionary is "one who attempts to equal or surpass another, or who pursues the same subject as another; a competitor". We can all agree that when we think of the word rivals the first thing that comes to mind is sports. Usually it comes down to the proud traditions of each school, team, or person. Location plays a huge part in the rivalry. Most of the time the teams are located within the same city, state, or region. The closeness, location wise, of the schools and the split fan bases makes the hatred of the opposing team that much stronger. When you think of rivals the first to pop into your head are Alabama/Auburn, Ohio State/ Michigan, or Duke/ North Carolina. The schools are so close to each other. With a win a team/fans can have bragging rights until the game is played again. Most of the time the teams don't play again for another year. The fans live off of winning a rivalry game. Rivalries are usually full of dislike for the opposing team and school. There is usually not much respect or classiness involved. I am here to let you know that respect amongst rivals is still alive today. I witnessed a truly classy act over the weekend that I will remember forever.Let me start with a little bit of background information on the schools. Christian Brothers High School (CBHS) and Memphis University School (MUS) are private schools here in Memphis. They are located about 4 miles down the road from each other. Both schools are tops in athletics among private schools every year. Those two schools make up most of the private school population in the city. When you ask a young man, of high school age, where he goes to school the answer most of the time is CBHS or MUS. This in a very intense rivalry due to the closeness of the school and most of the students knowing each other outside of school. My grandfather, step dad, and uncle all attended CBHS. My little brother is currently a freshman at CBHS. Now that we have a little background on to the story at hand.
My grandfather Jim Mathis, Coach (as players refer to him) or Pappy (as family refers to him) is 77. He played sports at CBHS and ran track for Memphis State University. He went on to coach basketball at St. Dominic School for decades. He also coached at St.Agnes for many years. Pappy is such a great person and is such an influential person in the Memphis sports community. He has made such an impact on everyone he has coached. I have talked to numerous former players that have said "He helped mold me into the person I am today". He has a great sense of humor and loves nothing more than to spend time with his family. Last week Pappy had a small seizure and was rushed to the emergency room. The initial scan showed nothing. They did a follow up scan with dye and found a mass on his brain. The next day they preformed a MRI and it showed that the mass was a glioma tumor. This is not the news we wanted to hear. Our whole family is devastated and we all have been trying to spend as much time with him at possible.
Sunday night the whole family went with Pappy out to eat. We enjoyed a great meal. As we were leaving a group of guys, probably around 10-12 guys, came up to us at the car. This group of young men were in the middle of their dinner with their group of friends. What was about to happen was one of the classiest things I have ever seen. The young man who was in front said "Coach Mathis, we play basketball at MUS. Coach Peters (the long time MUS basketball coach) told us about your battle and what you are going through. We just wanted you to know that you and all of your family are in all of our prayers". They then continued to go up and shake his hand. Not one or two of them, but every single one of them. My whole family just stood there in aww for a minute. Things like that usually dint happen much any more, much less from a cross town rival. These young men could have easily continued to enjoy their social hour with their friends. Instead they took the time to get up and offer prayers and get well wishes to a cross rival. They could have easily just told one of us family members that they were keeping him in their prayers, but they instead wanted to tell Pappy face to face. I still have chills thinking about it. It was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen. I now have a whole new respect for MUS and the leadership that is at the head of that program. It goes to show that in the midst of rivalries, classiness and respect can still exist!
Please continue to keep my grandfather in your prayers. There has been a caring bridge website set up to keep up with his journey.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jimmathis/journal
Happy Thanksgiving! We are so blessed and thankful for all that we have. We hope you have a wonderful holiday spending time with the ones you love!
