The Fan

Little old Tulsa (the University of....) is the smallest enrollment in division 1 football. That division has multiple former names so I can't tell you if my current name for it is correct. Let's just say the big boys. I don't really care how they market themselves. We all know some of them are the ones that pay players more than I make on unemployment. Tulsa is one of many institutions that don't do this. "The many" are the usual names you normally would think. The church schools (Baptists, Presbyterians, et al). The academics (Northwestern, Standford, so forth).

Saturday night, TU won a game against the U of Memphis. Memphis has been good in the past, they are not this year. Tulsa wound up and laid a (41-7) hay maker on them. Tulsa is now (3-2), Memphis (1-4).

I say all this because I admire the underdog. Not the put upon, sad sack that we see in the comics. I admire the everyday worker bee that keeps coming back. Practice one day at a time, do one class assignment at a time, play one game at a time. No one is promised a win if you do everything right. No one is guaranteed an "A" if they write the great American essay in a lit class. But if you approach life one day at a time, one task at a time, you earn the rightful rest of knowing what you did and the way you did it was right and good. And you earn the responsibility to come back tomorrow and do it all over again.

We spend so much time in this society identifying the "most beautiful", the "highest grossing", the "best actor or director". We have lost our concept of the greatness of the road travelled. We marvel at "Entertainment Tonight" and forget the neighbor that keeps the lawn net and clean or the family that raises their children to be compassionate adults.

Tulsa beat a Memphis team it probably should have. The University of Tulsa has roughly 2,500 undergrads and 1,700 graduate students (overgrads?). Memphis has tens of thousands of students and is in a much larger city. The greatness of collegiate athletics is that once the game is over, you get to go back to practice. Your opportunity is renewed, your preparation begins anew, your class assignments are still there. And you have the chance to win.

Blow off "Entertainment Tonight" and watch or listen to TU football. It has much more substance and its more fun. By the way, these guys play Notre Dame later this season. Presbyterians versus Catholics.