Not nearly every issue (perhaps no other issue) of ESPN The Magazine mentions Calvin College, an outstanding Christian liberal arts institution in Grand Rapids, MI. Therefore, since Calvin is so special to the Plantinga family, it was entertaining to come across this:
My Grandfather Case Plantinga was a big Calvin basketball fan and attended games even after he had to do so in a wheelchair. Grandpa Case loved Calvin, having taught psychology there and seen all four of his boys attend Calvin as well (where they met his 4 future daughters in law). Most all of Grandpa Case and Grandma Lettie's grandchildren attended Calvin (alas, not I however). A third generation of Plantingas are professors at Calvin and a fourth are in school there now.
Here's what I learned about the Calvin vs Hope hoops rivalry when I put out the question today to the Plantingas connected to Calvin:
I remember in my childhood, before my father lost his enthusiasm for Calvin basketball (admittedly hard to maintain when one lives in South Bend), that we attended the Calvin-Hope game at Hope College. Calvin squeaked out a victory. Afterward, we saw four Calvin men perched on the seat backs of a convertible, cruising the parking lot and singing a homemade song with the chorus, sung lugubriously, "All Hope is lost." I thought that was pretty clever back then.
But the best was when the statue "Moses" would appear at basketball games. Apparently groups of students--Calvin or Hope I don't know, were intent on getting that statue. Once it was let down on a rope from the ceiling of the gymnasium--at halftime I think. Suddenly about twenty men in the audience quickly got up and ran off somewhere with a look of high seriousness. I have no idea what happened. We could use a Moses today, to lead us out of the wilderness of humdrum.
My cousin Jane:
The only thing I know about that game is that Harry's entire family just about rioted after the win. They all simultaneously posted elated messages on Facebook. I asked David whether he thought is was OK to be so happy; after all, the Hope people must have felt terrible. Didn't he feel sorry for them? He replied that he was pretty sure none of THEM felt sorry for CALVIN the last 3 years when Hope won, so, no, he didn't feel a bit sorry for them.
It appears this season's rematch comes February 11 at Calvin. Go Knights!
