I am going to take it back again to the weekend Andrew met my parents for the first time.
I currently reside in the State of Iowa to work for that big old green and yellow tractor company. Andrew was born and raised in the great corn state and attended Iowa State University. For all of you that have never met anyone that attended Iowa State, let me give you a peek into their lives, they are all OBSESSED with Iowa State Athletics. I am not sure if my judgment is skewed by the company that my wonderful boyfriend keeps, but I am no longer shocked by their extreme loyalty and fan hood.
Anyhow, the weekend we scheduled to visit the wonderful North Carolina was strategically planned around Iowa State football. The Cyclones (ISU) were playing the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Nebraska. This is a pretty big game apparently in the “former” big 12, so fortunately for Andrew, it was televised in NC. To give you a little history about this rivalry, ISU has not beaten Nebraska at Nebraska in like 30 something years (Andrew is probably cringing right now that I don’t know the exact date and time of the last time this occurred, but let’s be honest, you get the point…. It’s been a while).
So we didn’t realize the game was televised in NC until the 4th quarter, and once we turned the game on, there was no turning back. (Correction: I didn’t realize the game was on, apparently Andrew knew the whole time, but wanted to be polite and not unleash the football freak too early in his relationship with my parents). I would like to add that at this moment, my parents have known Andrew for about one hour! The game is a real nail biter. It’s late in the 4th quarter, less than 3 minutes left in the game. Zac Lee (quarterback for Nebraska) goes for the pass, INTERCEPTION!!! Holy crap! “ Did Iowa State just do something good?” That was my initial reaction.
Now there is less than 2 minutes left in the game of a lifetime. One minute, 30 seconds, 10, 9, 8, ok you get it. Iowa State WINS! I am immediately shocked by this and don’t know what to think. I look over at Andrew to see how I should react and I see a ghost. I don’t think he has realized what just happened. Then I see what looks like a single tear followed by an uproar of “Oh my God!” and jumping around like a 5 year old school girl. My one year old nephew looks at him and back at me, him, then me, one more time, him then me. “Yes, little man, this is what you have to look forward to one day!” I tell him. My niece, who is almost four, thinks Andrew is dancing and joins the celebration that doesn’t seem to stop. My mom looks at me, and asks “Is he always like this?” I simply respond with one word, “yep!”
About 5 minutes later, the squealing stops and the phone calls begin. Andrew was completely unavailable for the next 45 minutes as he had to talk to everyone he knew about the victory that just took place. It was essentially the exact same conversation with every person and each time the excitement somehow continued to increase. Eventually, he calmed down and we were able to enjoy the weekend with an Iowa State Victory on our side.
This event, however, is not what the story is about. It is what happened later, in the Iowa State locker room that now haunts my everyday life. In case some of you have not heard of the famous speech given by coach Paul Rhoads himself, I have attached the link to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAcKiMy0Gp4&feature=related
To give you a summary, Rhoads is proud, and he expresses this thoroughly! Yes, this was enough to make ESPN Sports Center.
Ever since that mild October day in North Carolina, I can no longer say the word proud. Even if I catch myself saying it, if the first hint of the word “prou” comes out of my mouth the avalanche starts. “I am so proud, no, I am so proud, listen to me, listen to me, I am so proud to be your football coach!” Says Andrew “proudly.” Every freaking time! Every time! As if that isn’t enough, if I happen to say the word in his apartment, not only to I get to hear him recite the speech, but it gets pulled up on youtube so I can hear the actual Paul Rhoads say it!
I want to end this by thanking Paul Rhoades for creating a monster that I am “proud” to date.
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