Views From the Mountain Top
It's a beautiful view.
I think, as most of you have probably thought in the last couple of days, this is absolutely absurd. The Indiana Hoosiers football team stands alone as the national champions of the sport of college football. Absolutely insane.
Since the game finished Monday night, I have not stopped smiling. My phone has not gone more than 12 hours without someone asking about the game. I’ve called my mother, a 1986 Indiana graduate, probably 3 or 4 times.
I believe it was Zach Osterman and Michael Niziolek on Mind Your Banners that put it all into perspective as the week has wore on. We are sitting on top of the mountain. The climb is over. It’s finally okay to look around us.
Right now, we see a city and state rejoicing for relevance in a world that seemingly left them behind in the 90’s. Fans lined up along the interstate to welcome the Hoosiers football team back home in weather that felt well below freezing. Fans camped out for hours to get rally towels and this week fans have camped out over night to get a chance to meet the 1st Heisman trophy winner at the local Dicks Sporting Goods. Victory laps are being taken. Dead horses being kicked.
It's not just about the mountain top though. Sometimes, the ride is half of the fun. Watching a fanbase flock to not just Miami with ABSURDLY priced tickets and out-number the actual home team, but also to take over venues in Pasadena and Atlanta has been an awesome story to watch.
Perhaps the most fun I’ve had with this is watching the Hoosier fans come out of the woodwork in my little area in Cincinnati. Not only have the kids I coach had to endure 20 days of Indiana football shirts, but now at the local Kroger I can’t walk through it without getting a “Go Hoosiers” from a passing person. Person after person you meet is connected to Indiana somehow, someway.
This moment, like all moments, will be fleeting with the passage of time. Each day we move forward the novelty will wear off. Days turn into weeks. Weeks turn into months. Players will come and go. New games and seasons will be played.
That’s why it’s ever so important to take time on the mountain top and soak it all in. You never stay there as long as you want to. Eventually, you come back down to earth.
You don’t need to come down today though. You probably don’t need to come down tomorrow, or next week, or even next month. When we do leave, make sure you’ve taken in all you can. The memories, the friendships, the pictures, etc. This is what sports is all about. Community. Family. Most importantly and the thing lacking the most in our society, hope.
The Indiana Hoosiers are champions of the college football world! What a time to be alive.
