Review: Rudy

Interstate 80 runs right through South Bend, Indiana, so on our way to New Jersey, we made a stop at the University of Nore Dame. I'm not Catholic, I never once considered going to Notre Dame, and I don't care about college football, but I did see the movie Rudy a while back. I figured we'd see the stadium as a rest stop. After we arrived, we watched the movie at my dad's house.

There's a scene that particularly like, where the eponymous Rudy sacks a teammate during practice, and the guy has an attitude about it.

"It's the last practice of the season and this ****** thinks it's the Superbowl!" he yells. But the coach counters, "You just summed up your entire sorry career here in one sentence. If you had a tenth of the heart of Ruttiger you could have made all American." I find this exchange interesting, because I think both perspectives have merit, and I've been on both sides at one time or another.

For Rudy, he is pursuing a dream by playing on the Notre Dame practice squad. He had no talent, little ability, and little reason to hope for ever playing in a real game, but by continuing to give a total effort in every moment, he is fulfilling his dream of playing for Notre Dame.

By comparison, O'Hara is reconciled to the fact that his football career will end when he graduates, and has a lackidaisical attitude about practice. Of course, this grates on the coach, who wants players who put in their best efforts to help the team win.

Given that coaches are judged and paid according to their success, this is completely understandable, but with hindsight it is also true that college football exacts a tax on one's body, and whether the price you pay is worth it is a matter of opinion. There's also the ethical debate about restricting players' freedoms while exploiting their labor.

Like Rudy, I had a hard time after high school. Rudy worked in a steel mill, then went to Holy Cross junior college to improve his grades. Similarly, I went to community college for two years, though I first dug myself a hole before climbing out of it so I could attend the University of Hawai`i at Manoa. So I know what it feels like to work hard and finally achieve your dream.

However, I also know what it's like to have to balance among competing priorities. Did I give my best effort at UH? No, because I needed to balance school with my commitments to work and church. Just like in high school, I was "satisficing." There's no need to get an A+ when an A- gets you the same grade point average and you've got other things to worry about.

Similarly, I didn't give the Army my best effort as a lieutenant, either. Could I have gotten a 300 on my APFTs? Yes, if that was my only priority, but I had a family that I also prioritized, and I enjoyed being at home with them.

Those with the fewer competing priorities will -- naturally -- have an advantage over those whose attention is spread thin. I don't think there's dishonor in that. As long as a person is honest and authentic about what their priorities are, what coinstitutes success is nobody else's business.