"You just go lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steeler fan and I think you're gonna finally understand. ..."
It's a patriotic song about how we Americans love to fight among ourselves, but like battlin' brothers, when an outsider tries to jump in, we put our differences aside.
I hope that continues to be true.
But the point is that nothing captures the spirit of America like Game Day.
Not necessarily the ESPN Saturday morning pre-game show, but actual Game Day.
While there are still class distinctions inside a stadium - after all, there is no denying the difference between sitting on the last row overlooking the corner of an end zone from the upper deck and the luxury box overlooking the 50-yard line - the unifying factor is fandom.
As Daniels' also sang: "'Cause we'll all stick together, and you can take that to the bank. That's the cowboys and the hippies, and the rebels and the yanks!"
You see CEOs high-fiving line workers; Republicans agreeing with Democrats; the 1 percent (whoever they are) tailgating with the 99 percent; the 'haves' mixing equally with the 'have nots.'
And it crosses all boundaries.
I have a friend who was invited on a trip to South Korea where he was treated like royalty (he was there to give golf tips to one of the most successful executives in that golf-crazy country). He returned bearing far more gifts that he would ever have imagined, and wondered if he'd have a problem getting all these gifts through customs. Landing in Hawaii, he was wearing his Alabama baseball cap with the letter "A" on it. As he and his wife got to the customs' official, the official smiled, gave my friend and his wife a cursory check, and let them through. His final words? "Roll Tide."
Another friend was on a mission trip to visit mountain villages in the Andes, in Peru. He was up there among some native Peruvians, and got into a conversation with one of the natives who'd lived for generations in relative isolation way up in the mountains. The Peruvian found out my friend was from Georgia and got excited.
"Georgia?" the Peruvian said. "How 'bout them Dawgs!"
My friend was shocked and quite honestly didn't know what to say. The Peruvian was clearly disappointed and said, "Did I saw something wrong? What does "How 'bout them Dawgs mean?"
Turns out that years before, another missionary had been to this village and told this man that if he ever met someone from Georgia to greet him with, "How 'bout them Dawgs!" And this was the first chance this man had ever had to use it.
I don't know about the salvation of this Peruvian, but certainly he understood the Gospel of Southern Football.
Everyone has their story.
The Princess Bear is studying abroad. Now, she's very much a Southern Girl (as her blog "When in Brussels: European Adventure of a Girl Raised in the South suggests) and a huge Alabama fan. She has classes over there with kids from all over America and Europe, but not always from her school (she goes to Furman). Anyway, on one of her first days there she meets a girl from Tennessee. Now back here at home, they'd obviously not get along - the Alabama-Tennessee rival is legendary. But way over in Europe? Their common ground was SEC football, and it gave them both a sense of home.
You no doubt have your story of making a connection with someone, some where, over sports.
Oh, there are Americans who don't get it, who look down their noses at sports and sports fans, who somehow feel they are above such petty diversions.
I feel sorry for them.
On no day are Americans so divided as Game Day.
On no day are Americans as unified as Game Day.
And that's America.
Now, let's watch a little classic Charley Daniels:
No comments:
Post a Comment