“I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them; I shall use my time.” – Jack London
As I sat and watched “An NFL Life” with my dad tonight I drank in the moment. There we were sitting on the couch, father and daughter, neither speaking but speechless as we watched and listened intently about some of football’s greatest legends; spending time and sharing in one of my greatest passions, football. Ever since I was a little girl I was a fan of sports, I played sports, I listened to sports on the radio and I watched sports on TV, but no sport ever compared to watching NFL football and few moments were ever as special as they were when I was watching them with my dad. I guess you could say I have always been a daddy’s girl. My mom and dad only had two children, my older sister, and me, so my dad had to make do with the two daughters that God had given him; no sons. I’ve wondered before what his life would have been like if he would have gotten the son he probably dreamed for; I’ve even asked him about it. I wanted to know if he was ever disappointed that he didn’t have sons to do “guy” things with or talk sports with but he’s always said the same things; having daughters was great! I constantly remind him that neither my sister nor I are your typical girly girls. He usually just gives me that little chuckle and fatherly grin that I interpret as “Thank God for that”. Although my dad may never have gotten the male that he would have hoped for, he influenced my sister and me from a very young age with much of his masculine presence. Like I said, I grew up surrounded by sports. Every Sunday we would either be watching the Bronco game or listening to it on the radio, I was even lucky enough to attend a few games at the original Mile High Stadium. It was during this time that I not only fell in love with the game of football but with the greatest tight end to ever play the game, Shannon Sharpe (so maybe I’m a little biased). I can remember walking the track that surrounded the old Mile High field and I remember marveling in how close we were to the players. Each game that I attended I made my dad walk around the field before going to our seats just so we could catch a glimpse of the guys. I would scan the field looking for one guy, my guy, Sharpe. It wasn’t his immaculate play that impressed me so, but more his showmanship! He was a player on the field but a character off the field and I loved it! When Sharpe was traded to the Baltimore Ravens my heart hurt, I couldn’t believe that my all time favorite player was leaving my all time favorite team, what was I going to do, I had loyalties to both of these teams now… The following season when Sharpe and the Baltimore Raven’s came to Denver to play the Broncos I did what any loyal fan would do, I cheered for Sharpe and his defensively dominate Ravens and thanks to my dad I got to do it from the comfort of our then Invesco Field at Mile High seats. My dad knew how much it meant to me to see “my boy”, as I like to refer to him as, live in person, even if it meant that I was going to be cheering for the other team. My parents have season tickets, however typically they only buy one game a year and sell the remainder of the season, however due to my love for Sharpe, my Dad bought two games that year and him and I enjoyed the sweet taste of victory that day! (Ok, only I did as the Broncos ended up losing) I think my dad loved it actually as this added a new element to our already friendly rivalries with sports teams. I mean the man adored Gus Ferrotte and would swoon and cheer for him just because I couldn’t stand the guy (although he may be a very nice man I didn’t enjoy him as a football player). So when Sharpe was with the Raven’s it gave another element to our fun! This time it turned out, I got the last laugh, the Raven’s beat the Broncos at that game and even went on to claim the Super Bowl victory that year… That’s right Pops…
For so many, sports are all about competition and winning, and for much of my life that is what sports meant to me too; but as I have grown up sports have become so much more important to me now than they ever were back then; even if I am just a fan. Although I am still a competitive person by nature I have come to realize that the greatest victory is not in how you won the game but who you won the game with. Each football season I look forward to the Sunday’s that I spend with my pops on the couch watching the games and giving our commentary. We discuss plays, calls, highlights, players, anything and everything, no part of the game goes unnoticed. Sometimes we disagree, other times we root against one another, but one thing’s for sure, no matter if our teams win or lose, we always enjoy watching the games; side by side, father and daughter; and that is the greatest victory of all!
P.S. Mom I love you too:)
P.S. Mom I love you too:)
“Joy is one of the greatest victories of all.” – Oprah
“To a child, love is spelled time.” -- unknown
No comments:
Post a Comment