The Football Game of Writing!

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1," the crowd chanted as the Troy State University Trojan quarterback took the snap from center a split second before "0." The pass fell incomplete as time had elapsed on the clock.

Final Score:
Georgia Southern University - 28
Troy State University ---------------24

The two teams were evenly matched, today, even though the season's Win-Loss record for each did not reflect that. With the end result of this game, Georgia Southern ended the season with 5 wins & 7 losses, while Troy State was a noble 9 wins & 3 losses. Troy State is bowl game bound!

My daughter, Jade Amber Jewel, aka Jade Amber Jewel , and I watched the first game for her 13th birthday celebration. It was a big win!

Today, we watched the last game of the season, which was a win by the narrowest of margins. The four points did not show just how close the game truly was. The game was won and lost in the last second by the few inches between "caught ball" and "dropped ball." For the home team it went our way to end the season on a high note for the team, for the university, for the hometown and especially for the graduating seniors.

However, the final arbiter of victory was ultimately the clock. Given 30 seconds or a minute more and the visiting team could have walked away the winners,...just as easily.

Was the game really won in the last second? Actually, No. The last second was merely the last inch of the tug-o-war, that pulled the flag over the line in the sand, when someone on the visiting team momentarily lost his grip on the rope.

The game had gone back & forth all afternoon, changing hands six times.

Troy State struck first with a field goal. TSU - 3, GSU - 0

Georgia Southern answered a little while later with a touchdown. GSU - 7, TSU - 3

A drive or two later Troy State answered with a touchdown of its own. TSU - 10, GSU - 7

That was your half-time score with the home team on the losing end of the stick.
The half-time featured a great show by the GSU Eagle Band with the final song, featuring the graduating seniors down front.

Southern answered with another touchdown in the first few minutes of the third quarter to make it... GSU - 14, TSU - 10

Southern followed with another touchdown about three minutes later. GSU - 21, TSU - 10

Troy State answered with a touchdown, when there was only 2:28 left to end the third quarter with the score...GSU - 21, TSU - 17

Troy State retook the lead less than three minutes into the fourth quarter to increase the tension in the hometown fans with the score of... TSU - 24, GSU - 21

Less than three minutes later Georgia Southern took the lead for the final time with yet another touchdown. However, the lead never felt fully secure, until the clock ran out. GSU - 28, TSU - 24

The two teams had traded punts in a couple of series, when Troy State got the football with less than three minutes. Converting a fourth and one play, Troy kept their drive alive, knocking on the door of another Troy State touchdown. They were now in the Red Zone with a minute to play. The home team held tough on the first two plays of this new series.

Then, the hometown crowd saw the clock, starting to count down the last five seconds with the game being finally concluded as the ball missed its mark. The clock said, "Game Over!" and the home team had, indeed, dodged a bullet!

Why have I recounted a football game, that I attended, today, when most members of WDC will not know much of anything about the two teams I have mentioned? Well, there are some very important points, that I would like to make, using this game as an illustration.

1. Being on the losing end of the scoreboard is not final, until the clock says, "Game Over!" As a newbie on WDC I have often felt like was "playing catch-up" because I was learning my way around the website, but December sees me a featured profile and as a member of the Rising Stars. As I began the Rising Stars Program it appeared, that all of the other Rising Stars were "off to the races," while I was still at the starting block with lead feet. Yet, I am now in the race, I'm learning my pace and poetry is still wonderfully in my face!

2. Things are rarely what they seem. As I started the game I didn't know completely for which side to cheer. I now live in Statesboro, the home of the GSU Eagles, but during my first year of college I was a student at Troy State University. Moreover, I was a member of TSU's Sound of the South Marching Band, marching onto the field in every game, Home & Away, carrying my brass sousaphone and loving every minute of it! All things being told I was glad, that GSU won the game, but I had a sense of TSU, being every bit GSU's equal, if not better in prowess and skill. (I guess you could say, that both of my teams won, today,...in my heart, at least.)

3. Life sometimes delivers big disappointments, but good can still be an end result. There was a reason I made the effort to attend this home game, today, rather than to listen to it on an iPhone app. That big reason was halftime. Troy State University's Sound of the South Marching Band has always been a sight to behold. I wanted my daughter to see them in action. Sadly, however, they arrived at the stadium with only a 70-piece travel band out of 300 plus, who usually take the field to perform their amazing show. Even without performing on the field, their presence in the stands was phenomenal! The band brought eight tuba players, who were a band all to themselves. (This pleased me to no end, since the tuba is my orchestral instrument. I met a couple people connected with the band after the game and told them I was really impressed by the tuba section and I shared about the year, that I was in their midst.)

Football may not mean much to some people, but I have been a football fan, since the Miami Dolphins performed the NFL's only Perfect Season of 17 - 0, becoming World Champions in the winter of 1973 for the season of 1972. I was just old enough to understand and to begin to love football.

Why is football important?
Football teaches focus.
Football teaches teamwork.
Football highlights individual effort without which the team would be weak. (The old adage is "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.")
Football teaches perseveration and determination.

Many more are the lessons, that could be stated, but I stop here for the sake of time and length of article.

WDC has taught me, that we each write from our God-given talents, but we do not write alone and without help in accomplishing the very best we were created to accomplish. WDC can't write for me, but WDC does encourage me, when it sees, that I am doing well. WDC points out many ways in which I can improve, growing to the place where the words are encouragement once again.

Therefore, if you have been with Writing.Com from the beginning or you just started last week, "Welcome!!!!"
If you are having a challenging day, look around or simply ask for help, there are plenty of good words to encourage you!
Make friends on WDC and your writing as well as your outlook on life will only improve.

WRITE ON!!!!