It’s More Than Football
February 8, 2010 by Janice
Rhodia Pad, Alexa Pulitzer Paper, A Waterman Pen and a Bow, Janice Cartier, February 2010
“You can feel it, the city is electric”, a close friend wrote me late late last night. This is the same friend whose house I hunkered down in to ride out Katrina, one block from the Mississippi River and the levees. But we were on higher ground, nine feet above sea level to be exact, in a house that had withstood all the storms. It did again. Outside was altogether another story.
Think apocalyptic.
It seemed fresh.
The birds returned quickly.
The sun came out.
We breathed.
I literally toasted some single malt in gratitude up to billowy white and very fluffy clouds. Knew there would be work to do, lots of it.
But we had survived.
And then the levees broke.
We were on an island.
And the water was rising quickly.
And things got worse.
Much worse.
So every minute, every minute no matter what, you show up, you do the next thing, then the next, and then the next.
In an endless succession of next steps. No matter what is going on around you.
It’s survival after all.
And not just your own.
I still cannot write about it, too private, seems wrong somehow. Seems a bit much.
It was.
But we became more. We’d been challenged and we made it. Those bonds are strong. It is a club no one really ever asks to join. Once in it though, you recognize the members. Few words are necessary.
Last night, every minute, every play, every aggressive call made by that coach and carried out by that team, was full of heart, full of strength, full of getting it done…
In spite of tremendous odds against us.
And that we understand, completely.
It’s more than football to those of us who survived.
And here, here we get to celebrate…
What was in us then as well. THAT’s what the fuss is all about. THAT’s what the tears and the smiles are for. It’s not just football…
It’s our heart.
Laissez le bons temps rouler for a while..
We need to dance in the streets…
Can you feel it?
Then join in.
And yes, we are laughing and crying at the same time…seems it works that way sometimes…
Win. Whatever you are doing, or set out to do this week. Win.
It feels good.
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I am very moved by this post. Reminds me that to be alone is the worst of all evils and whenever we win, we only win as a team.