Quiet Elation

“Laughin' 'cause the racket makes the blackbird sing
Like the holy terror
Suck the marrow from the bone
Singe, you're always burning books
You got the chorus and the ring”

It’s so nice when you can bring people together. That isn’t always the case, as distance and circumstance dictate our lives in so many different ways. Still, we all come together when there is a victory to celebrate. The elation of a glorious feat binds us to one another. The beauty of sport is that we can make it personal, whether we are in the stadium to witness the game or not. Celebrations that happen in our own homes and in our hearts are victories nonetheless.

This past Monday night, the stage was set for the national championship and first college football playoff game between Ohio State and Oregon. Flashback to January 2003: I was sitting at my desk in The Leader office penning a letter of intention to become the next Sports Editor of the Fredonia State paper. As a humble sophomore, I wanted nothing more than to earn this distinction and yet I felt I was really the only person fit for the job. I lived and breathed sports, especially the collegiate ones. There was a picture pinned next to my computer (the only Mac I have ever used). The glossy color photo showed quarterback Craig Krenzel, running back Maurice Clarett and head coach Jim Tressel smiling over a hoisted trophy. I had come to associate my own fate with that of my precious Buckeyes. I wanted the prize, yes. But more than that, I wanted the opportunity to grow. There weren’t any social media sites that surfaced photos of my team back then. I had to go out and purchase the local Dunkirk paper, the Sporting News and hope that the CVS would carry a copy of Sports Illustrated with the OSU champions on it. I watched the game alone in my dorm room. As Ken Dorsey hit the turf for the final time and Miami fizzled like a dying hurricane, I celebrated in quiet elation.

Flash forward to Monday night: The final score flashed across my screen and that same elated feeling zipped through my chest. Happiness cannot begin to describe the feeling I felt when the Buckeyes cruised by the Ducks. They weren’t supposed to be there in the first place. The Big 10 wasn’t supposed to represent in this first ever playoff. Where was the SEC team? But just as sports can never be completely predictable, there they were again. This time the game was in Dallas, close enough for me to actually attend.  There was Cardale Jones firing bullets to his receivers, Ezekiel Elliot rushing down the sidelines and devouring yards and Urban Meyer mastering the playbook in creative and effective ways. It was beautiful. To me, the Ohio State Buckeyes were never out of it. And so when the new era of Buckeye players hoisted that trophy, I celebrated something more than a game in my heart. It reminded me of all the quiet victories in my life, the ones no one ever sees but you feel just the same. There is nothing quite like your favorite team winning a title game. The 2014 Buckeyes won in such a feel-good way and that made the victory even sweeter. Ohio State won! The feeling never goes away as a fan. I may never sit in the Horseshoe in Columbus and watch I game. I may never come close to meeting Joey Bosa, even if he makes it big in the NFL. But what I do know is that we as fans take it personally, as if we were there. In 2003 and last Monday night, I was there. The best part is, I can look back and say that I did get my opportunity to grow, just as the young Bucks got theirs.

“Swing alone, quote the scriptures
Keep them guessing which bed you crawled from”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW9mSBQU_88