A Love Letter

I got a love letter tonight. It came in an envelope, with a stamp.

 

The envelope was even signed:

 

My letter had an illustration: 

 

And it said:

 

It came from this cutie:

And it made my week!!

Losing Even When Your Team Wins. . .

At USF, when I was a student, there was no such thing as Bulls football.  But late in 2006, , I got accepted at FSU.  The instant I got that  acceptance letter,  I felt this strange sense of  HISTORY. FSU has been around for a LONG time, and sports has been a huge part of that.  Personally, I had no lifelong feelings towards any college football team, although my dad always like Florida State.  He was the chaplain for the Pahokee High School football team for years and several of his "boys” went to FSU, and I’ve always known of Bobby Bowden. My dear, dear friends Al and Susan Smith are die hard 'Noles fans, because Mr. Al went to law school there!  I have several other friends who are FSU fans, but I also have dear friends w ho are loyal Gator fans. 

That being said, my school gets my loyalty.   I told a friend once that in my opinion, “degree trumps fan.”  I meant it and still do. As long as I have my degrees from FSU and USF, I will always want FSU and USF to win.  It works the same way with kids. My nephew goes to USF so it will be important to us.  If your kid and/or your money goes somewhere, that’s your team, right? I mean a wise man once said “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” 

I read a great  quote several years ago, and I’m not even sure where I read it. I have a “Words of Wisdom” board in my room and I’m always looking for good stuff to put up there.   This one just kind of hung out in my brain: “Sports do not build character. They reveal it.”  John Wooden said it and I knew NOTHING about him,   until I just read about him on Wikipedia.  (I find it interesting he’s called "the Wizard of Westwood” since I teach at Westwood, but  I’m digressing.

I've never agreed with it so much as after last night's football game. I’m amazed at some of the comments and reactions that flew across my screens.  I thought last night’s game was FABULOUS. Not the kind of game I like – I like it when my team wins by a TON of points, so I’ve been a happy camper all this season.  But here’s what I noticed: sports reveals character, not just of players, but of fans.   To my dismay, several people that I’ve always thought a lot of. . . kind of disappointed  me.  Some of the comments I read were just disheartening.  

Was I excited that “MY” team won? Absolutely!!

Am I thrilled that “MY” team is the National Champions? You bet! 

Am I proud to be a Seminole? From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. 

Did I have ANYTHING to do with it? Absolutely NOT.

Would I have been sad if Auburn had won? Absolutely!

Would I be  bitter if Auburn won? You bet! 

Would I still be proud to be a Seminole? From the top of my head to the bottom of my feet.

Do my opinions of the game and my feelings have ANYTHING to do with the outcome? Absolutely NOT.

So here’s my question – why did so many people who “had no dog in that fight” have so many icky things to say?

Nobody that I know lost their job today because FSU won. Nobody  that I know would have a better life today if Auburn held that crystal trophy. Yet there were those who said nasty, hateful things about wanting players to be injured  People maligned the character of young men, who played their guts out to give US a good game. 

So here’s the thing: my team won! Tomorrow, your favorite team wins and mine loses.   Whether it was luck or skill or karma or whatever,  my favorite team won a GAME.    And if one or two things happened differently,  my favorite team  would have lost a GAME.  But the sun still came up this morning, I still had a job to go to, birds still sang, the tide still moved in an out.

Even though my team won, I lost.  I’ve lost some respect for people  whose character was revealed during that game.