I’m sitting here watching my favorite college football team, Ohio State, get slapped around by Florida. It’s not pretty. Looks like the Buckeyes don’t belong on this field.

I was born and raised in Ohio. We have a snide, sarcastic joke up there… “The Buckeye’s are the only professional football team we really have to cheer for so...”

It’s not terribly funny but there’s a truth to it: Ohioans set their differences aside when it comes to OSU. Think of the Buckeyes as the Carolina Panthers of Ohio…. a team that even Duke and Carolina fans can agree on.

I hate seeing my team losing so ugly but it’s nice to see Charlotte native Chris Leak doing well. I saw him play in high school. The two games I attended, his team, Independence High School, beat (insert any other team’s names here because I don’t remember them) 159 to 3. It was ridiculous. He was that good. Both times.

Since then, Chris leak has been vilified by Florida media and Gator fans alike. Tonight is his redemption. For all his hard work. For his positive attitude. His NOT complaining. He’s a class act. And by all accounts he’s a great kid. I’ve never met a reporter who had a negative thing to say about him. And we’re a jaded lot. He does everything asked of him at Florida and now he ‘s upsetting the #1 team in the country and cruising to a national Championship!

And yet he is repeatedly overlooked by “experts” on the upcoming NFL draft.

I hope he makes it to an NFL team and shows them that heart and effort and skill can make it in the land of giants. Chris is fairly tall for average humans, 6 foot-ish, but for NFL quarterbacks he’s small, by about 4 to 5 inches. A quarterback from Notre Dame who has accomplished very little but beating bad teams, gets all the hype… he’s about a half a foot taller than Chris leak.

I’m actually writing this journal to distract myself from the misery of watching another one of my teams lose. I think we all died a little inside when the Panthers bellied-up this year. Basically I’m using you to dull my pain.

Seriously, why do we care so much about a game? It’s a GAME! I only ask that question when my teams are losing. If I’m up a touchdown I’m not reflective whatsoever. You kidding? I’d be jumping up and down and high-fiving, um, myself. But since the Gators are chomping on some nuts, I’m going to run with my deeper, reflective side.

Tomorrow I won’t remember any of this and I’ll get back to being my shallow self.

So, if you calculate the amount of hours I’ve spent watching football over my 46 years, it would probably frighten me.

I wonder if AND WHEN I get to the Pearly Gates, Larry the gatekeeper whips out a list of my pros and cons and says, “Hmmm, you’re kind of funny, buuuuut you’re awfully crusty and a tad arrogant… Oh, but here’s a good one: You recycled! Good for you. Wait a second. Holy Moses! Do you have any idea how much good you could have done for other people with these 85 ga-jillion hours you spent on your couch watching football?”

Me--“Um, uh, in my defense, Sir, I was, I wazzzzzzzz oh, I was raised in Northeastern Ohio. We have issues.”
Larry—“I’ve heard. Bengals or Browns?”
Me—“Browns.”
Larry—“Ouch. Sorry about that.”
Me—“On the upside, I learned to unconditionally love a bunch of losers.”
Larry—“But how about those Buckeyes?”
We high five!

Tonight, I can also find comfort in the Gators’ coach: He’s an Ohio boy. Graduated from Ohio State, oddly enough. Okay, I’m reaching. Or in denial. Probably denial. Florida is just a better team tonight. Much, much better.

Well, the clock has ticked down to zero. My boys got crushed. The Florida coach is waving his arms wildly and smiling like a champion. The opposing quarterbacks just hugged and exchanged some sort of encouraging words.

Chris Leak is center stage hoisting the championship trophy overhead. Look at that smile!

I guess losing isn’t so bad. Besides, losing is only the end of a game.

I’m off to bed.