A Purple Tide?

So sorry for the delay in posting! You know that chicken you saw running around without a head? Yeah, that was me! I've been teaching 4 college composition classes (two at Blue Ridge Community College and two at James Madison University--JMU), and I'm the education coordinator for the EJC Arborteum at JMU, so I've been trying to cram plant identifications and touring materials into my brain whenever I have a spare minute.

Despite this (happy) busy-ness, the start of COLLEGE FOOTBALL has not been overlooked! Yay for college football! (And some NFL games, but, really, those aren't as fun.) Alabama has started out well, and I look forward to seeing what new havoc we can wreak with Ingram and Darius both coming back for the Bama--Duke game. ROLL TIDE!

What I'm going to talk about, though, isn't even Division One football. Didja SEE that Virginia Tech--JMU game? Talk about amazing. One, it's great for JMU. At 18,000+, it's a surprisingly large school and has a great acadmic reputation. However, it's a mere hour away from The University of Virginia and shares the area with Washington & Lee, Georgetown University, and a whole host of top-notch universities. Even though it was football (and not academics) that boosted it (however briefly)into the national spotlight, it was fun to acknowledge that the university exists...and it quite capable.

My next point, though, is what the win did to JMU. Adam and I had a friend, Frederick Cope, visiting and, after watching the game, we decided to show Frederick the JMU campus. It was a complete madhouse. Students were yelling; cars were honking; everyone was in the highest of spirits! We noticed a bunch of students going in one direction and it turned out they were going to the football field. Now, the game had been played in Virginia Tech-land, not at JMU. So, why were the students massing at the football field? Well, it was simply fun. They were jumping the gates and just cheering together en masse in the center of the field. I later found out that administrators later put the football score up on the JMU scoreboard...and kept it there all night.
The joy and excitement was so moving. Yes, Alabama is an exciting, awesome place to watch games. And after the 2009 Tennessee game, everyone I met was just reveling in Cody's ability to block kicks and the joy of stopping the Vols. True, when we won against Florida at the SEC Championship and when we won the BCS National Championship, it was celebrated. But this was different.

JMU didn't expect to win. JMU doesn't expect to win the next meeting with Virginia Tech. The absence of an entitled (and nationally titled) football program seemed to make their victory sweeter. My sweet husband Adam compared their joy to what Bama fans would feel if we beat an NFL team, and I think that's an apt description. I'm happy when Bama wins, but, WOW, I want a JMU-level of excitement. I hope I'm able to realize that, heck, every game can bring that kind of excitement. Every game can bring drama, theatricality, passion, and energy.

I may not be able to luxuriate in it every day, but I'm kind of hoping that I can bring that energy and excitement to my every-day life. I was really impressed with JMU's ability to seize the day and unabashedly show the excitement. And I hope that I can show excitement with more things in my own life....because, even when I'm feeling downtrodden and sad and over/underwhelmed, I should look at the happiness and joy that's all around. We all need to be a little bit happier...and a lot more enthusiastic about showing that happiness!

Good luck being chipper!! :)