Championship Goosebumps
I’m not one to usually keep my blog constantly updated, because I’ve started to see many people blog extensively because they enjoy listening to themselves talk way to much and that’s not me. I don’t know exactly how many people read my blog, if any, in fact I don’t even care, because this one, this post is for me. I’ve always used my blog as a way to elucidate my thoughts when my mind is stuck in 6th gear, as it is now. I use it as a mental tack board for thoughts that I just cannot get out of my head. Tonight, is one of those nights I just cannot settle my mind down.
It’s around 10pm on November 5th and I have goosebumps on my entire body and they won’t go away. Over the years, I’ve played in close to 100 football games, but none will come close to the one I’m faced with tomorrow, The Northeast Conference Championship. This unique feeling I have of suspense and anticipation dwarfs everything else I have ever experienced in my life. Now, my life isn’t nearly as dramatic enough to be a movie, but if it was this would be scene directly before the climax. I feel like this feeling isn’t just a product of the hard work in practice this week, or month, or even this entire season. In fact, I feel as if every rep, every play, every single thing I’ve done to improve myself physically and mentally has contributed to my path taking me here. Well, now that I’m reminiscing I’ve accidentally began to recount the things football has cost me or things I’ve given up willingly over the years.
Grades, opportunities, memories with friends on trips that could’ve been, and even a couple relationships. Now I’m not one to sulk and feel guilty because you only get one life and you should have no regrets, because at one point in time it was exactly what you wanted. I just look back and marvel, and my love for this sport is rekindled. Best sport in the world, what other sport creates a family? You cannot truly understand this bond unless you’ve played football for four years with the same group of guys. Many experienced it in high school, but it’s different here, we’re not kids anymore like we used to be, now we’re men. There’s a unique emotional tag with a football team such as this. Three years I’ve been here, three years I’ve worked my butt off everyday, almost year round. Being on the offensive line coagulates that sacrificial emotion that you play with all the time, that protective guardian. I look at Myles, Jeff and every other colonial that bleeds with me every saturday, I’ll take a bullet for those guys, they’re my brothers.
It’s amazing to see how far we come since one year ago. From the worst start in school history to playing in the championship game, everything we’ve worked for is building up to this. Anyway, that’s just what was on my mind, glad I got that out, now it’s time to get some sleep and make some history.
UPDATE 1/2022 - Hello, if you’ve wandered all the way down here, I’d like to give some context to this blog post. This is an old post that I wrote in 2010 before I played in a football game. In the various migrations of my blog i would have normally just deleted it, but this is a memory of mine that I enjoy. We ended up winning that game somewhat easily and ended up going to the NCAA FCS National Playoff to lose to the national Champions North Dakota State. It was an exciting time.