Playoffs should mean more than Monon

The last thing any of us need to hear more about right now is Monon, but man, what a weekend.We all have our memories: Ring Sing on Thursday night, togas, Asher Roth and Fabolous on Friday and one heck of a tailgate Saturday morning followed by an exciting football game, the real reason for everything that is the Monon Bell Weekend.

The bad news? I missed pretty much all of it. I fell and hit my head Thursday night, and as those who have experienced head injures before can attest, it made for some splitting headaches and an inability to tolerate loud music for long periods of time. Basically, I was the guy at the party hanging out in the quiet corner with anyone and everyone who would stop by and sympathetically say hello.

Serious question: how many people have suffered injuries at school events like Ring Sing over the years? Was I the first? Am I the only one stupid enough to get hurt on the eve of what is usually described as the biggest weekend in the fall?

Probably.

As I sat in my room quietly on Thursday night, with a bag of ice strapped to my swelling forehead, I started thinking to myself (dangerous, I know): Is too much importance placed on Monon? I know it's an unbelievable weekend of hanging out, partying and generally having a good time, but why is this weekend so much bigger? And why was I more concerned about missing an 8 a.m. tailgate with my frat brothers than I was about any potential serious damage I had done?

Sure, Monon is a great time to experience - alumni, friends and family pack the campus and the entire place just feels alive. But we have a playoff football team this year, and all anyone wanted to talk or think about was this game.

I am as guilty of this as anyone, but after the game Saturday, everyone who congratulated the football players did so as if they had just played their last game ever.

"We are really proud of you guys." "You guys played your hearts out and we love you." "It was a great season boys and don't let this ruin anything."

Has anyone realized the most important game of the season, perhaps in the school's history, is next weekend? The Tigers travel to Kentucky for the 32-team National Championship - isn't that a little more important than a rivalry game?

I need to make it clear - I'm not trying to say Monon is stupid or anything. Obviously, anything that has been around for 116 years and is responsible for every spare couch in the entire university to be occupied is very, very important to all involved. I also know that once I graduate I will come back halfway around the world for Monon as often as I can, even every single year if I can afford it.

Another thing I am sure of, however, is that every guy on our football team would prefer a National Championship to a victory in the Bell game, without any exceptions.

Losing the Monon Bell game was the sporting equivalent of when Wilson fell off the raft and floated away in "Cast Away." Sure, it's devastating, but remember Tom Hanks survived in that movie. We are now Tom Hanks. We lost Wilson, but we can still survive. We can still win some more games.

Let's go Tigers. Bring home the one that really counts - a national championship.



- Jacques is a sophomore communications major from Brisbane, Australia.

opinion@thedepauw.com