It was fine and good for the great Vince Lombardi to say "show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser." Why is it not so cool for Cam Newton to say it?
So?! Yo! Anyone?? anyone care to answer me about this? I'm beyond all the bullshit about Cam Newton. It happened. He admitted he's human. His teammates support him. His coach supports him. TRUE fans remain loyal to him. Anyone out there who's NEVER made a mistake. NEVER shown their ass in public. Okay, you guys step forward and continue berating him. The rest of you? Just hush. It happened. It's over. It's done. Time to move on.
I love this video.
Love Cam Newton
Love The Carolina Panthers
http://www.panthers.com/media-vault/videos/Newton-Emotions-Take-Over/62d24fa2-ee59-4fe4-a1de-1007f8fd6a98
So.
I'm in the minority here in my loyalty to Cam Newton.
oh, well.
Loyal is, for sure, one thing I am.
And here's one thing Cam Newton said that I like a lot - " Like I say, before you assume anything, what makes your way right?"
So.
The Carolina Panthers lost the Super Bowl last night and I was sad.
But I was proud to see this - - -
If you watched the pre-game show, you saw both these guys being interviewed.
Peyton Manning said some pretty cool things about Cam Newton.
When Newton heard what Peyton Manning had said, you could see his eyes light up.
And he has said, more than once, how much he admires and respects Peyton Manning. AND the game of football.
What's obvious is that this young man is an exuberant individual. One who has feelings - and they run deep.
Was I disappointed in the Cam Newton I saw in the post game interview?
My heart hurt for him.
Do I think he'll come to regret his actions during this interview?
Yes.
But I have to ask myself, and ask others, if you're Cam Newton, a man who has feelings often worn on his sleeve and possesses so much joy, wouldn't you think those deep feelings can go just as far and just as extreme in the other direction.
He was emotional, and what do a lot of us do when we're emotional?
Well. Some of us cry.
Even if we're men.
Did Cam Newton want to cry on national TV in front of millions of people?
Of course not. But that doesn't mean the tears weren't close.
Truth of the matter is - we just don't know.
The hype of any pre-game event for any sport is brutal.
Remember how many people hated Joe Namath for so long because of things he said before that Super Bowl against the Colts? I do.
It's so easy to judge, isn' it?
But how many of you know that while Cam was having that interview he could hear Denver Brocos cornerback Chris Harris talking about their game plan and questioning Newton's ability to throw the ball.
And, oh yeah - want to talk about Bill Romanowski calling Newton "boy" on Twitter?
Y'all. Sports are brutal.
And I'm sorry, but if you're a person with an ounce of sensitivity, it's gonna hurt.
I expect we'll see Cam Newton mature over the next few years. And I can only hope it's not at the cost of his child-like joy in a game he loves.
But, you know - there are an awful lot of people out there who are going to enjoy trying to knock it out of him.
Sad, that.
If I'm anything, I'm loyal. and I choose to stay loyal to The Carolina Panthers AND to Cam Newton.
I do have a few words I would love to say to Deion Sanders. A guy who also had more than a few detractors when he was younger and less aware of his apparent newly found wisdom when it comes to how to handle these sorts of things - - Deion? Hey, man - shut. up. Give a brother a break, what say? And maybe a little one-on-one advice rather than ragging on him in the media?
I used to be such a football fan.
College football - Georgia Tech.
Pro football - well . . . Long story.
My football love started when I was growing up with a dad who was an obsessive Colts fan. Actually, I'm not sure there was any other kind of Colts fan.
Tickets were impossible to come by.
When someone died their Colts tickets were passed down.
My dad did not own a Colts season ticket, but he owned "part" of one.
So he didn't get to all the home games, but those he did get to were always something he enjoyed more than just about anything else he did.
And he was usually in trouble the next day.
He would go with this crazy crowd of cronies. They were always later getting home than he said they would be. Much later. And he would usually bring my mom a gift to ease the pain of the wrath of Hazel.
I hesitate to mention some of the gifts 'cause I don't want you to think less of my dad, but LordAMercy. They were awful.
Okay. Here's one.
Only a group of idiot men coming home late from a football game will think it's a good idea to stop along the side of the road and pick up (okay, let's just say it - steal) a State of Maryland smudge pot.
Anyone remember when this is what road crews would use at night to mark the roads? Like say, they were doing a repair and wanted to re-route cars away from the repair site? There would be a line of these flaming smudge pots showing a new traffic pattern.
Well, we had one.
And no, my mom was not happy.
I think I remember her saying one time when she was mad at my dad that she was going to call the State of Maryland and turn him in for stealing state property.
And I think we all got kinda tickled about that, truth be told.
What can I say - I was raised by crazy people who laughed at crazy stuff. And did crazy stuff.
Anyway.
When my dad couldn't be at a game and when it was on TV there was always this group of rowdies hanging out at our place. The Arcade.
Here's the roster - Tom Duncan and his dog Bobo (I loved Bobo. Loved Tom too). Dude Willoughby and his younger brother Young Dude Willoughby. Some guy named Fish. Another guy named Moose. There was a Donnie (the only one I didn't particularly care for). And a sweet old guy named Fred.
They would drink beer. A lot of beer.
My mom would make sandwiches, or sometimes cook them a nice meal. She would put it out on the kitchen table so they could help themselves and then she would disappear into the bedroom, close the door and read or nap.
She was not a fan of football.
Me?
I was usually on the floor, sitting between my dad's feet sneaking sips out of his beer.
This was a problem.
My mother would pitch a fit about him allowing his only child to become an alcoholic before the age of 10. (I'm telling you, she had some great lines).
It was also a problem when the Colts would score and everyone in the room would stand up, arms straight up in the air, screaming SCORE!
I occasionally had my fingers stepped on. I also occasionally would accidentally hit someone in the nose when my hands went straight up for the SCORE!
We had an old sofa that sat on 4 short little wooden legs. When the guys sat back down one Sunday after the SCORE! all four legs popped off the sofa and pinged against the walls.
Oh, yes - Hazel Wilkinson was thrilled.
Long story short - a new sofa was bought.
But the very next time the guys were over to watch the Colts someone's cigar was dropped and there was a nasty burn in the sofa arm.
WHY my mom put up with all this I will never know.
But these things did make for great stories, I have to say.
You might already know the end of this particular saga.
Colts owner Robert Irsay moved the team from Baltimore to Indianapolis, completely unannounced, in the early morning hours of March 29, 1984. This after having been THE team in Baltimore since 1953.
Believe me when I say this is still a topic of conversation and it has not yet been forgiven.
When we were cleaning out my mom's apartment we found this -
Oh, yes. This was a huge hit back in 1984.
But I had to laugh that my mom still had it.
Tucked in a drawer.
An old 45 that had been my dad's.
Back when he was heartbroken and mad as hell about losing the Colts.
Back when we actually had a turntable on which this record could be played.
Moving ahead quite a few years and I was now in Atlanta and pulling for the Atlanta Falcons.
There were always, always, always, people at my house watching football.
Once again, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
My furniture was now the furniture bearing football scars.
My house was now the place people were drinking beer and standing up to shout SCORE!
I was the one making sandwiches and leaving them in the kitchen for everyone to help themselves.
LordAMercy.
I had become my mother AND my father.
I was also flat in love with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
All of them!
But mostly I loved Terry Bradshaw, Mean Joe Greene, Franco Harris and Lynn Swann. Man - I loved those guys.
But, as time went on I lost my taste for football.
But.
It's back.
and in a big way.
Now I'm head over heels in love with Cam Newton who is a breath of fresh air.
And now I'm a happy girl with my bum parked in front of the TV on Sundays watching the Panthers play ball. And I will still stand up and shout SCORE!
Football is fun for me again.
Who knew?!
So. In about 30 minutes I'll be reliving the kind of Sunday I used to live. Back from the time I was a kid sitting between her dad's feet stealing sips of beer. Today though I'll be in my own chair, drinking my own glass of wine, and I'll be thinking about my dad.
And, I'll be darned, after the Panther's game - I'll probably be right there in that same chair watching the Steelers.
Are you ready for some football?
