Just a game

Last night was the coldest football game that I have ever been to.  It was below 20 degrees with the wind chill when the game was over.  Virginia Tech won but they definitely tried to give the game away!  It was not a pretty football game.  In fact, this is the first football game that I have ever left halfway through the 4th quarter.  Carolina scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the game close.  It was an exciting finish and a little too close for comfort. 

When we got home I watched the highlights to the game.  Carolina scored first and with about 3 minutes left in the first quarter they have the ball on our five yard line ready to score another touchdown.  If they had put that ball in the end zone, they would of put that game out of reach.  The short yardage running back came into the game and he was given the hand off.  He ran in toward the goal line and when he was hit by the defender, he fumbled the football.  Virginia Tech recovered the ball and we were able to start a drive down the field to score a touchdown to tie the game.

As I watched this again on TV something caught my eye and my heart.  After the fumble they flashed to the sideline to show the quarterback for Carolina embracing the running back after the fumble.  Another shot then showed the running back with tearing running down his face.  The minute I saw that, I was reminded that this is just a game and those are college students.  They are not payed to play the game.  They are out there working for their education.

I felt bad for him.  Carolina really was in charge of the game, they were going in for a score when he fumbled.  He probably felt like he let the whole team down.   He made up for it later in the game, but that picture of his face, with all his football gear on and his helmet in his hand is burned in my head.

I love football, I even watch other games besides Virginia Tech.  I want Tech to win so badly that it is easy to forget about the fact that there are people out there that want the same thing for their team.  I wonder sometimes if we place too much emphasis on the game and not enough on the college kids. 

You could easily take that crying football player and put him in many different situations that would make you feel more sympathetic to the fact that he is crying.  Like if he was at a funeral for a loved one, lost a family member that was a troop, starving from hunger, or searching for help to problems that he has.  It changes some because he was on a football field and crying because he lost a football, but we should just remember that he's just a kid.

We should all remember that the next time something happens in a football game that benefits our team but is detrimental to the other team.  We never know who it is going to affect and what the long term effects are of it!