A few nights ago I stumbled across the Twitter page for former USC Trojan
Alex Holmes which in turn led me to the Twitter page of his sister and brother-in-law.
Now if any of you follow USC Football as much as I do. You know where I am going with this.
Troy Polamalu So my Cards followers are probably thinking- this girl is NUTS. Hellooooo the Cards LOST to the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Remember that? Remember the feeling when Larry Fitzgerald scored THAT touchdown?! The feeling of pure euphoria. The THIS IS IT feeling.
So let's pause for a second, and go back to last night. I came across a video of Mr. Polamalu talking about faith. This is what sparked this blog post. It made me remember the torn emotions I was feeling during the Super Bowl.
I have something other than USC in common with Mr. Polamalu. We share the same religion, and watching him play in the Super Bowl (despite me REALLY wanting the Cardinals to win) was inspiring.
A lot of times, our faith is tested. People will doubt us, question us, and really put our faith to a test. Mr. Polamalu, really opened up my eyes that night. After every play (at least the ones when my eyes were open) he crossed himself. This is a professional football player....on the FIELD....AT THE SUPER BOWL. That my friends is true love.
Every now and then, I look thinking back to that night. How it opened my eyes. I LOVE the Cardinals. They are my team, and have been from the minute I moved to Arizona. Okay- it was the minute Leinart got drafted, and I KNEW I was moving to Arizona. They are a team that worked SO hard throughout the season, they pushed themselves, and I now once doubted their ability to make it all the way. In fact, at the beginning of the season I told Coach Dad, that they were going to the Super Bowl, and he chuckled.
I don't even know where I am going with this. I'm pretty emotional. I guess to sum it up, my confession is, that if the Steelers were playing someone other than the Cardinals in the Super Bowl, Troy Polamalu would have been THE deciding factor on what team I would have wanted to win. True Love & Broken Hearts...this goes two ways.
The first is relating it to football. I think you can truly love a team. I love the Cardinals, and I love USC. Loving a team sooo much that when the score is 13-10 with only minutes left in the fourth quarter....you are too sick to your stomach to eat, and the heartbreak....not caused by the team, but it's the feeling that overtakes your body when your team suffers a loss. we (well at least I) set ourselves up for this disappointment. We do it with guys. We build them up and "fall in love" only to get hurt by the tiniest thing in the end.
But most importantly, that Super Bowl restored a true love for my faith. A love that sometimes society can skew...and create a sense of shame, but it's about overcoming that shame. If crossing yourself on the football field during the biggest football game in the world, by one of the best players in the league, than there shouldn't be that fear of doing it in public- on a plane, before a meal...it's embracing that true love, and letting it not lead to heart break...
I wish I could thank him personally, but I can't. So I am thanking him via blog.
xoxo- glitz
PS: Just to make it clear. I am still INCREDIBLY proud of the Cardinals and how they played in the game. I still love them, and I hope they make it all the way again this year! xoxo
