MOTIVATION!!!

STUDIO 48 -- Today is one of those days when I find it hard to be motivated. All the work is done. All that is left is the fun-filled world of final exams. I often reveal myself to be a huge dork. It’s true, I am. The following is a primo example of that.

To motivate myself, I am looking to football. Not just any football, but GEORGIA FOOTBALL! I keep thinking about what it means to be an underdog, to be counted out, to be left be left behind in everyone’s mind. If Georgia can accomplish what it has, then how can I sit and be unmotivated to achieve to my fullest, even if it is just stupid exams?

Last August, I proclaimed my belief that Georgia would go 7-4 at best. I didn't think Shockley would get all of the way through the season as a starter. I think I had reasons to believe that, and as hard as it is for me to admit, I was absolutely dead wrong.

As many have already said, D.J. has to go down as one of my favorite Dawgs ever. I think it has more to do with his character than his accomplishments on the field. The fact that he sat for four years and waited patiently and without public outburst is admirable, but many thought it was stupid. I include myself in that group. That he accepted circumstances that should have relegated him to status as an also-ran in the history of Georgia football was portrayed by many to be either foolish or indicative of a lack of confidence in his own abilities. I include myself in that group also. That he took his only chance and turned it into success is nothing but magic and a testament to the fact that loyalty and belief can still result in something great in a world based more and more on probability and actuarial tables.

This is obviously not the ultimate feat in football, but for myself and many others it is as sweet as sugar.

The statement "there were no expectations this year" is stupid. There were expectations (there always are). We expected not to be in this game. We expected D.J. to take one for the team and regret having ridden this thing out to the end of the line. We expected to be average. It's one thing to be expected to dominate a season and to fulfill that expectation. It is a far more rewarding end to be expected to be average and to emerge a champion.

At a time when I had lost just a little bit of the width in my eyes... at a time when I had begun to stop believing in fairy tales, in risk... at a time when I started to think that the smart money was with the oddsmakers, D.J. reminded me why I needed to keep my belief in the infinite and the preference for being the underdog.

This was so much sweeter because it was all but impossible. No one believed it. I certainly didn’t.

I love it when the little guy, the underdog, pulls it out. I love the vision of a 5'8" defensive back intercepting a ball against a man 6 inches taller than him, and outrunning faster men as assistant coaches and trainers fall to the ground, pounding the artificial turf with their open hands, and screaming their vocal cords into nodules, "Go, go, go, run, run!!!" I love Sid Bream running on a bummed knee, lumbering around the bags, running a race that he can't win against a 9-inch-around ball that can travel over 100 mph, and winning. I love the unsinkable shot from half court that swishes. I love beating a team that nobody thought was beatable. I love the Hail Mary that connects, the ugly guy that gets the girl because he's funny, the cancer patient that beat 10-1 odds and lives to become a successful physician, the no-name candidate that shocks the world, the royal flush, and the 400-pound guy that whittles it down to 185.

Success is great. But I think that the people who really experience euphoria are the ones who find the impossible and unthinkable missions, fulfill them, and have learned to experience the moment.

I needed to be reminded to get to know the quiet, reserved kid that looks like he will be picked last. I needed to remember to eat at the hole in the wall. I needed to recall that the guy with the rough voice might be the most beloved radio personality. I had to remember to love the one you can't have even when you know you're going to have your heart broken, to speak the socially unacceptable, to take the scenic route, and to risk imperfection for a chance at immortality.

I believe that the euphoria of beating the odds makes you virtually forget your failures. I believe that riders on the bandwagon experience empty victories. I believe that those who seek to live lives devoid of complication and frustration will get exactly that, and that nothing that is worth doing is easy.

MOTIVATION!!!

A Special thanks to Br-tt B-wc-m for giving me the idea