An Emotional Wreck

Despite what most people think, guys are very emotional. Tonight, for instance, I was hungry, thirsty, hot, and had to pee all at the same time! You want to talk about instability! What do you do? Do you eat, then drink, then pee? Or do you pee, then drink, then eat? Guys, I tell you, are capable of experiencing a wide range of emotions, all at once.

And so it is with me here in late August. I am torn. On the one hand, I am excited about being here and all that it entails, as I said last night. But on the other, I am trying to figure out how I can amplify my computer speakers so that I can hear every note of Tiger Rag once it starts blaring on Saturday. The college football season will start in just a few hours in America, and I will miss most, if not all of it. I don't think sad is the right word to describe how I feel, just frustrated. I remember vividly sitting in a cold, damp, rain one November day in the mid nineties, way up in the upper deck, watching Clemson lose to Maryland, and wishing for better days. I was painted orange the day our undefeated season came to a devastating halt my freshman year as that Watkins guy caught that pass in the back of the endzone with seven seconds left that allowed Georgia Tech to squeak out a win against us. And now, with ACC championship hopes floating around Tiger Town, I am here, hoping my internet connection will hold up long enough for me to listen via internet radio. I've looked at all the pictures, watched all the highlights from last year, read all the predictions for this year. I'm ready. I'm so ready I can barely think of anything else. The one thing I have kept from myself has been hearing the Orange Bowl Death March followed by Tiger Rag. It is too much for me now. If I heard it, I might shout, I might dance, I will probably cry. I don't know. But I know that when I do hear it for the first time this football season, I will officially be an emotional wreck.