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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