Anybody else have the ear worm “Don’t Stop Believin'” by Journey today? Anybody else have a pre-Valentine’s Day hankering for a vase of roses? Anybody else still reeling from the UGA overtime victory last night?
Not all will, but the best will. (This is satire, if I need to explain.)
Boy, my beloved Georgia Bulldogs pulled off a win last night that left half of the Bulldog Nation breathless and the other half with a pulse that could rupture arteries and blow out an aorta quick as a Sony Michel run for the goal line. And if you claim to be a part of the Bulldog Nation and none of those two scenarios applied to you, then you may need to check if your heart is beating. Hell, even the very heavens rang out with cheers of “Go Dawgs!” as God allowed the departed faithful a front row in the celestial sky box to one of the most epic games in recent history. My blood pressure just regulated and I can finally take the paramedics off speed dial. For the moment…
Gone are the days when I was an undergrad at the most beautiful college in all of the land: I’m now a married mother of three in the southwest corner of the great state of Georgia. Though my birth certificate states otherwise (as well as my pants size, sheesh), I would swear in my mind I’m still a young, fun 20-something college girl. (I’m still fun! and young!-ish.) What I wouldn’t give for just one more semester there…preferably during football season…only heaven would compare…and perhaps the birth of my children…and possibly my wedding day. Still. College was THE life.
Through Facebook feeds and Twitter tweets and Instagram posts of pictures and well-produced video snippets, we can glean some of what this set of Georgia Bulldogs is comprised. And people are watching –watching the players and the coaches– and hanging on to every word, every victory dance, every catchy hashtagged motto, every playful relationship– and sharing and liking and retweeting because that’s.our.team. Those.are.OUR.BOYS. That’s part of what makes a team one to follow. Letting us have an “inside” track and also living a little vicariously through them. We know their names, we know their numbers, we have nicknames for some. But what makes them WORTHY to follow is more than these things.
Listening to interviews of the players makes me all the more proud to claim my spot in the UGA fan base. Humble, gracious, committed, determined, and faithful…those are just a few words that describe the players and coaches. As a mother to a little boy who is at the tender, impressionable age of 4, I’m thankful that I can plop him in front of a Jake Fromm or Sony Michel or Nick Chubb interview (and there are others, too) and know that these men are of character that I’d be proud for my son to emulate. I can’t think of better role models for him to have next to his Daddy (who is the hero of all heroes in his eyes). The grit and resolve of this team of men is a lesson for any to imitate, including my 8- and 7-year-old girls. The “keep chopping” slogan isn’t merely just that. These guys showed us throughout the course of the game, and of the season, no less, that they mean what they say and what they hashtag. Their actions back up their words. They are and have been serious about staying the course and I love the example they have set and are setting for the youngest of their fans. It’s a lesson for even the oldest of fans, too: never quit, never give up, never say never, keep chopping. You know, “keep the main thing the main thing.”
These fellas’ Mommas should be proud. I know I am for them. The world watches as their boys are transforming into men — men of integrity, men of virtue, men with pluck. That world lens can often be cruel, condescending, judgmental, unkind, even untrue: but their Mommas love them. I wonder if they ever think of their one-time four-year old boys– with skinned knees and dirty hands and wide eyes and time still for their mommas laps and all the world waiting for them– and wonder how on God’s earth that it all has come to this awesome time for them in what surely seems to be lightning fast time travel. I pray for their hearts as they must certainly watch in awe and know that they have only our Heavenly Father to thank for this course for their boys. GLORY.
The knowledge that we get to go the title game only adds to the palpable excitement. As the lyrics to Journey’s song go: “Don’t stop believin’, Hold on to the feeeeeeeliiiiiiiin!” I know we won’t stop believing in our corner of the Bulldog Nation. Go Dawgs!
I’ll be putting 911 back on speed dial on Monday…
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This was so sweet….brought tears to my eyes! I am so enjoying your blog! It’s like I can hear your sweet voice as I read it! Love you!
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