Quantum Hoops

When I studied college chemistry, the text was by Linus Pauling. When I studied physics, the supplemental readings were by Richard Feynman. Both were Nobel laureates. Both were professors at Caltech. Caltech, and its Jet Propulsion Laboratory, were largely responsible for the success of the American space program and the lunar landings.

The California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, has a freshman class of only about 200 students. Its faculty and alumni have received 32 Nobel prizes. The freshman with the school's lowest SAT math score would be eagerly recruited by most university science departments.

Quantum Hoops is a documentary, purportedly telling the story of Caltech's 2006 Division III basketball team. In reality, the film -- now in limited release -- also pays tribute to the history of the school, to its remarkable student body, and to student athletics in general, athletics as recreation rather than as career. The film's climax is Caltech's final game of the season, as its coach and players attempt to break a losing streak of over 240 consecutive defeats, a streak that its long suffering coach notes defies believability. The coach had helped his teams improve year by year, from a season when they lost each game by an average of 60 points, to 2006 when the losses were barely in the double digits.

We meet the players, eager kids who just happen to be geniuses. The 2006 team had more high school valedictorians than it had players with high school basketball experience. Students "made" the team by showing up the first day. These were kids looking ahead to futures as physicists, engineers, professors, Wall Street specialists. Playing for Caltech absorbed every minute of free time the players could spare from their studies. They were engaging and likable kids, and humorous in their own geeky way. They were earnest and sincere. Their desire to win was every bit as great as any NBA hopeful at Duke or UCLA.

The game went down to the wire. It went, amazingly, into overtime. (WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD!) Caltech lost by a single point. Their losing streak continued.

The Caltech seniors lost the final game of their collegiate careers -- they lost every game of their collegiate careers -- but, as the film emphasizes, they weren't losers. Basketball played an important role in their education. It served as a respite from, and a supplement to, the sophisticated science and math they learned in class. One alumnus, famous now in scientific circles, remarks that playing on the basketball team was his most vivid memory of Caltech. But team sports was an addition to their education. It was not their reason for attending school. It was not a prelude to the NBA.

Interscholastic sports began at the college level for a reason, a reason having absolutely nothing to do with future participation in professional athletics. Quantum Hoops shows us what college sports should be all about and -- at least in the "major" sports -- rarely is in today's world.