My Team Plays Tonight

I aimed to head to bed around normal, 10:30 or so. I know the anticipation was building at the W Hotel where the Georgia State football coaches and players were resting their bodies and minds ready for what Thursday night was to bring.

I popped 2 Tylenol PMs (not normal for me) and set my head to pillow. I dreamed about addressing the team, speaking to them with passion and vigor that bleeds through my veins. I’ll leave these details to your imagination and in my subconscious but I truly was amazed about how great this speech was (of course it was, it’s was a dream, remember).

I woke up this morning with a little bit of a different feeling. I’m still a married man, my beautiful wife still sleeping for a while longer before the inevitable alarm clock breaks her sleep. I’m still a father as my 19 month old daughter still sprawled in her crib. But I was a little different today.
My Team Plays Tonight.

I wax nostalgic for a moment as I remember the many, many people who helped bring us to where we are tonight. The men like Mark Lawson, Preston Stancil and Ed Gadrix. The President who denied that the “F Word” would ever happen. To all the local sports writers (one even shares my last name but we will never be mistaken for relatives and that has nothing to do with ethnicity or background) who bashed this decision and spoke of what they could not imagine. To all the people who could not and would not support, this is for you tonight. My Team Plays Tonight.

I trudge onto work thinking about my daily to do list. Anticipating an early out and setting the plan in motion about when I’ll be heading to the corner of Northside Drive and Georgia Dome Drive Northwest. The men taking field at 7:30pm tonight are not only my heroes, they are me. They represent my team, my school and my family. As long as I have been on campus, there is a unending pride that wells in me when someone mentions my school. My Team Plays Tonight.

To sing the fight song tonight, to welcome my team onto the field, to exult in their joy, to anguish in their disappointment. This sacred game of college football, in this state and around the country, these warriors begin a journey that none of can imagine. There is not pressure of the 120,000 or so alumni in the Atlanta area or the nearly 180,000 alumni worldwide but yet an encouragement. These men will feel the collective jubilation of 97 years of frustration being released upon an opponent from only 70 miles to our North. Our opponent cannot comprehend what they will encounter in this fight.
My Team Plays Tonight.

It’s football time and my team is included in that. The media coverage, so called “hype,” has lead us to this. I’m glad people care because I not only care, I bleed blue for my team. I’m ready to cheer loudly, ready to breath fire and ready for Panther football to kick off.

My Team, The Georgia State Panthers, Play Tonight.