For fans of the sport, football speaks to something visceral within. The raw competitive character of the contest, the physical risk undertaken by its players, and yes, the often-violent confrontation of opposing teams fuel a kind of mass catharsis that affects even the most humble among us.
Football is no less an intellectual pursuit than it is a physical endeavor, but unlike other sports, football is more democratic—anyone can see himself as the quarterback, the linebacker, or the running back.
Yet, we insult the sport and its practitioners if we limit our understanding merely to the collision of bodies in space.
Because football remains consummately accessible to the fans, it offers something transcendent—a reflection of the power of human will, and the belief that we can accomplish in community that which eludes us as individuals. It is infused with the boundless potential of the human spirit.
Our team has already shattered the expectations of those who did not before know its quality. They know now. Saturday our team continues its determined march toward history, and we, Tigers, have a job to do.
The spirit within every snap, every carry and every tackle ebbs and flows. We can siphon it with absence and silence, or we can multiply it with our presence and our volume.
The spirit in the stands replenishes the spirit on the field. Our team can hear us. Our support means something to them. They feed off of what we provide, and that binds us together—we become united in the pursuit of excellence.
Our players sacrifice themselves to represent Ouachita on the field of play; are we fans not thus obligated to respect that sacrifice by supplying a boundless reservoir of spirit from which they can draw?
Can you imagine the stands of A.U. Williams, filled to capacity with rabid Tigers, rocking with all of the energy and noise that we can muster? I find the core of energetic Tiger fans that has emerged this season exciting and refreshing—they bear the standard of what we all can be in support of our team.
Rain or shine, spare or flush, win or lose, they believe in the Ouachita Tigers.
They understand that we prevail or fall together. They recognize that their passion for sport rightly belongs to their alma mater.
More than this, however, they express it, and they challenge every one who comes to the game to sit in inexplicable silence, or half-heartedly golf clap while our team dismantles nationally ranked programs, to realize that the better part of spirit lies in how we act upon it.
We embrace this notion in our faith walk; can we not translate it into support for our athletes? The obvious answer is “yes,” but action must begin with belief.
I believe that our team will decimate the Harding Bison this Saturday. I believe that our team has the talent, the coaching and the discipline to deliver a nine-win season for the first time in over twenty years. I believe that we can create a meaningful home field advantage here at Ouachita.
I ask you to join me this Saturday, and let them hear us—one team, one spirit, one Tiger Nation.
It’s a simple question, and it now demands an answer: do you believe in Tiger Football?
