Thanks, D.J.

What a pretty picture.

Donk.

Ok, now that I've gotten that out of the way, I am going to give myself a bit of encouragement after a five-day stretch that has seen extreme highs and bitter lows. Read if you want. It is, after all, a public blog. But don't think ill of me for preaching... I'm not writing this for you tonight.

Last August, I proclaimed my belief that Georgia would go 7-4. I didn't think Shock would get all of the way through the season as a starter. I think I had reasons to believe that, and I was absolutely dead wrong.

As many have already said, D.J. has to go down as one of my favorite Dawgs ever. 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 paydirt 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 the sweetest tonight.

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, or in belief itself... 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 sweeter because it was all but impossible.

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, go, go, go, goooooooooooo!" I love Sid Bre@m running on a bad 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 the afterburner firing on the last turn for the victory, 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 think that might have something to do with why I chose a profession in which the odds are so bad.

I needed to be reminded to get to know the geeky-looking 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 write against the market, 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 belch, to take the scenic route, and to risk imperfection.

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.

Thanks D.J. I am glad this had paid off for you so far, and I hope it continues to do so for a long time. It definitely did for me.