Diary of a football fan

Vince Lombardi once said football is like life; it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. For me, football is life.

So how does a 21 year old waitress, dancer, and lover of musicals come to be such a fan of the game? My Stepdad Louie was a big star-quarterback in high school and college in El Paso, Texas. Everyone knows football’s bigger in Texas.

As a child I remember watching him watch the games, calling the plays before they even snapped the ball and the penalties before they ever threw a flag. In elementary school he used to take me to the local high school games, even though we didn’t know anybody on the teams, and teach me what a 1^st down was, what a punt meant, and who the nose-guard was protecting. In middle school I used to watch my guy friends play on the back fields during recess and lunch, pretending I had no idea what was going on because being a girl who knew football better than boys was “weird”. In high school I became heavily involved in my extra-curricular activities to the point that I hardly ever had time to attend a game. Then finally, the summer before my senior year, I found the excuse I sought for so long to finally be on the field and became a water-girl.

Standing on the sidelines might not be every athlete’s dream, but for me football was a spectator sport and the closer my seat, the better. While the boys would practice I would listen just as closely from afar attempting to understand the way Regent Football was played. However, I never anticipated I would end up learning more than just the plays.

It slowly began to become clear to me that this game is about a lot more than just winning. Although winning is all that counts, family is all that matters. There is something I never truly understood about brotherhood until I was sidelined. That is that regardless of your differences, no matter what your color, social-status, or level of athletic talent, as long as you share a common goal and fight for it, fight for it with every muscle, bone, breathe, and ounce of energy in your body, you can create miracles together; every season, every game, every quarter, every down, every yard a miracle. That was the most powerful thing I learned in the first 17 years of my life.

As the boys would suit up in silence in the locker room, suspenseful of the success they so desperately desired, I would watch their eyes. Some eyes full of fear, some desire, some doubt, and some excitement. Once the ankles were all taped, the cleats were all laced, and the numbers bannered proudly across their chests, their eyes vanished into the darkness of their Riddell helmets. No longer could I see their fear and doubt; only uniformity, only pride, only a team. This team may not have been the most successful, or the most athletic, but they were always inspiring. Even after being in the United States Navy JROTC program for 4 years, I had yet to have seen a discipline, love and respect so strong. It was mesmerizing. When they would win, they would smile. When they would lose, they would cry. But the emotions were always uniform. No one player felt any less ecstatic or any more distraught than the other. It may be corny to say, but it was as if their hearts would beat as one. Again, a team.

In those moments I understood why I loved the game so much. Not just because of the sweet, succulent, thrill of victory, but because of the team. The band of brothers who held hands to a coin-toss, the dysfunctional family that would sacrifice their broken-knees for a touchdown just to see their coach smile, the imminent leaders of tomorrow who brought our campus to its feet, and the heard of wild beasts that brought the opposing teams to their knees. The players, the coaches, the parents, the fans…the team. That is what life is all about. That is why football is life.

Reseda High School Regents-JV Football 2007

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And so it begins...

My name is Crista Marie Ani Aladjadjian. I’m 21 years old. I’m half Spaniard and half Armenian. I love my family. I have 1 younger brother and 1 older sister. My parents have been divorced since ’95 and my Mom has been married to my Stepfather since ’96. Therefore I have 2 Dads and 2 extra siblings. I come from a big, loud, badass family full of motorcycles, classic cars, high standards, strong Christian beliefs, rock ‘n roll music, and lots of love.

I can sincerely say that I’m a very well cultured person. I love gourmet food, fine wines, and Big Macs. I’m in descent shape because I run just about every day. I love to cook, although I have no idea what I’m doing in the kitchen half the time. I still call my Mom to ask her how to make white rice. I swim, dance, skimboard, & sing. I coach track & field and waitress at a comedy club. I’m extremely social & outgoing but very kick-back with a typical Cali-groove. I love watching old classic movies & musicals with my Mom. I love long, windy motorcycle rides with my Dad. I love drinking & laughing with my friends. I love watching Good Burger with my brothers and sisters.

Now that you know what I do, let me tell you who I am.

I am a possibility. I am the possibility of greatness. I am the possibility of failure. I am the possibility of eccentricity. I am the possibility of dull.

I am you.

We share the same human nature of possibilities, although God has created us all in a different way.

The first differentiation between people comes from those of us who can create something from that possibility and those of us who turn that possibility into a potential, full of excuses. Some of us see possibilities as opportunities with expiration dates, and we can’t help but seize every possible positive opportunity that comes our way. Our sense of urgency ignites a self-motivation within to win, a.k.a. find happiness. As for those of us who would rather find every reason NOT to fulfill a destiny, rather than create our own destinies for ourselves, we live in lies. We’ve lived in lies for so long, that we no longer know truth & trust. We demean ourselves & fail to credit our abilities. We are so shadowed in lies, that we can’t see the rays of possibility that beam into our hearts & our minds every morning. We refuse to concede to our failures & unbecoming ways, so we lie out of laziness, mostly to ourselves.

The next differentiation comes from those of us who continue to create possibilities, versus those of us who are frightened by them. We have all been successful at one point or another. Whether it was when your Daddy loved his Father’s Day card when you were 3 or when your presentation at work was praise by the entire administration, we have all tasted sweet, succulent, sultry success. It is for that reason that we continue to wake-up and work every day. Because we crave the satisfaction success brings and it can only be brought to us if we create the possibility for it. Success is born from a possibility you created. Some of us recognize our power to create breeding grounds for success and can be motivating, inspiring, & enrolling people. Others fear this probability. Some are even terrified of it. Why? Because when we create a possibility we are vulnerable. We are vulnerable to the possibility of failure & defeat.

The last differentiation between people that I want to discuss derives from those of us who search for possibilities, versus those of us who watch them go by. This all comes down to our animalistic nature. How reactive are you? Do you pounce at every possibility, including the possibility of creating more possibilities? Or are you a casual spectator of life? My Senior Chief in my ROTC unit told me that there are three types of people in this world; Leaders, Followers, & Fence-sitters. Leaders have direction, motivation, poise, trust, and respect. Followers have inspiration, dedication, curiosity, and eagerness. Leaders & Followers are both creators of possibilities. You don’t have to be in the front of the line to be creating your own path. If you are motivated by others, by all means, be motivated! However, then we have our Fence-sitters. We Fence-sitters are patient. That’s it. We wait for anyone or anything to come pull us to our feet and push us through our lives. Sincere dependency is one of the greatest epidemics in our world today.

Now, you might notice you can relate to every single personality in the above three paragraphs. We are all creative, lying, successful, lazy, reactive, Fence-sitters. We can be all these things in the first hour of our day. I.e. we wake up and decide to make blueberry pancakes, but then decide we don’t have enough time. Then we decide we’ll skip Starbucks and make blueberry pancakes and take some for the entire office. Then we make a 3-stack and don’t even do the dishes. Then we put on some music while we do our hair or brush our teeth and get ready in record time. Then we sit in our car for 4 minutes with a blank, silent stare and failure to motivate ourselves to move. Can I get an Amen?!

What I am trying to say is, regardless of what kind of possibility you are, be always possible. Don’t underestimate the power you have to be grand and don’t be scared of the power others have to be better. If you are a possibility of anything, you are first and foremost a possibility. That’s not grammar, that’s greatness.