Run a play in his cleats....or better yet, don't

I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've blogged.  It's not that I haven't had anything to say, the good Lord knows that.  But as they say, "life got in the way". 

I'm a sports fan.  Period.  I love baseball and softball, I like volleyball ok, I hate basketball, but I LOVE football.  It's my favorite.  I'm a woman, but I know my football.  I know the players.  Pro and college.  My husband will ask me on occasion where a certain person played college.  I can rattle it off without even having to Google it.  I know every position on the field, what its purpose is, and when a player is doing it wrong. I know all of this.  But that doesn't mean I can play it.  My passion for the sport of football knows no bounds.  Well, it didn't until recently.....

You see, my son is the QB for the middle school team at his school.  In his first start of the year, with mere seconds on the clock, ball on the 3 yard line, winning TD just feet away, he made a crucial mistake.  He spiked the ball on 4th down to kill the clock.  He thought it was 3rd down.  He thought his coach called for him to spike it.  He was wrong.  Game over.  We lost.  Now, my heart was breaking for him cause I knew in my momma's heart of hearts that he was devastated. I didn't have to look at him to know.  You just know these things.  But do you know what was worse than anything?  Hearing OUR fans, OUR supporters yelling things to a 13 year old they should not be yelling.  Saying things about a 13 year old they should not be saying.  And in that moment, I had a moment of clarity.  I've been one of those people.  Maybe not to the extent of blaming him for the loss.  (Which by the way, we were already losing...he was trying to win the game for us.)  But I have been one of those people that sit up there on the bleacher, fussing because someone tackled poorly, complaining because a player didn't catch the ball when it hit him right in the hands, or moaning and groaning because someone threw yet another interception.  I've done it, and I'm not proud of it.  But in that moment, it hit me that I was no better than any of those people