FEATURE ARTICLE

The ‘What If?’ Series Part III:

What If The Water Polo Season Was A Movie?

By Aaron Brown

PLAINFIELD, IL -- I teach TV/Movie Production at the high school level, so it’s natural that I would try and compare everything I come across to a movie. Last week, we analyzed the visual effects of the film ‘2012’ and watched the two-and-a-half-hour epic in class. As that was playing, I started thinking of how movies compare to a water polo season and tried to pinpoint what movie would best describe a water polo season. I even asked a few coaches for their opinions and realized that it would be a tougher question to answer than I originally thought.

The easy choice to describe the season would be to say it is like an ACTION film. When you consider that the season is condensed into an 11-week timeframe with each team playing up to 30 games, the comparison seems fitting. After all, there are an average of 25-30 games per night and a handful of tournaments each weekend leading up to a crazy weekend of Sectional tournaments. That answer might be too simple, however.

I asked a good friend who serves as a boys’ head coach in the state who insists that his season is like a COMEDY. I’m not sure if that’s a knock on his team or his coaching ability, which is why I didn’t mention his name in the article. I haven’t had anyone claim the season is like a HORROR film yet, though I suppose a couple of injuries, close losses, and calls that go against the team would do that to their description.

Next, I asked a girls coach this simple question, and he was adamant that the season was full of DRAMA. I don’t think he meant the results of his team either, but I’m not sure that applies to every team.

If I asked someone who has been involved with Fenwick’s state title teams for the past several seasons, they might say their experience is more like a BLOCKBUSTER film or an EPIC. A team that surprises everyone and qualifies for state or has a great state tournament run could be similar to that of a FANTASY film, similar to the Fremd girls’ team in 2009. A team who wins a lot of close games during the season might refer to their season as a THRILLER film, a la the Sandburg boys’ team last season, as they lost three games early in the season, lost a conference game to LWE at midseason, then turned things around to beat LWE at sectionals and win two close games at state to finish in second place in 2009.

A team without a conference that looks to make it to state, like the Bremen girls’ this season, probably relates most to an INDEPENDENT film. And I’ve heard some interesting stories of team’s having difficulty traveling to games all over the state that might refer to part of their season as an ADVENTURE film. This probably would fit a team like Homewood-Flossmoor if they are heading north to take on Lake Forest or McHenry if they ever have to travel to Bradley-Bourbonnais. Perhaps when a coach goes to another game to scout an upcoming opponent, we introduce the elements of SPY films to the sport.

I’m sure this list could go on and on and I could find away to associate every film genre with a team or the sport itself. So it all boils down to this…it depends on the team. Just like movie fans have different tastes and like different types of films, the water polo season is probably viewed differently depending on the team you are associated with.

What type of film relates most to your season? Feel free to send an e-mail to illpolo2010@gmail.com if you have an answer to this question.