 A Look Back thru the Lens: The Greatest Gift of All The Fancam- August 1996 It’s not difficult to identify the most important contribution of the Jaguars to our community. It’s the reason I wake up at six for home games with the giddiness of a ten-year old on Christmas morning. No, I’m not speaking of the anticipation of a slab of mesquite-grilled baby backs with good friends or tossing a football with youngsters in the parking lot. No, not even the satisfaction and pride of watching our well-coached team of hard-nosed young players growing in confidence and accomplishment. I refer to the feeling of harmony and fellowship prevalent among fans. It becomes a tangible phenomenon as even the most dour-faced pessimists shelve their cynicism for a time. Indeed, in no other place do so many diverse people come so close to shedding their social accouterments and realizing their common humanity. For a space-in-time, gender, racial and socio-economic differences are pushed to the back burner and we all become, quite simply, just Jaguar Fans. And more importantly, just people. We must conclude, as observed by that great sage, Edith Bunker, that "everyone is my superior in that I may learn from them." Such a mentality will allow us, as individuals and as a society, to begin to take responsibility for our actions and the condition of the world in which we live. I’m not suggesting that professional football is the answer to all of our society’s problems. Simply that we’ve been given the rare gift of looking at our world through common eyes. And perhaps this seed of common humanity will help us evolve someday into an acceptance that we are all leaves of the same family tree. So thanks to the whole Weaver family for your commitment of time, emotion and money. The intermediate and long-term structural benefits to our city from the Jaguars will be substantial, yet are dwarfed by the potential for change in the way we feel about ourselves and each other. Those who consider this a pipe dream of
a lifetime football fan,
intoxicated by the
splendor of a home-town team, are cordially
invited to our tailgate parties in Parking Lot R.
As you nibble on baby backs, rib-eyes or
13-pepper chili, you’ll be able
to test your
cynicism against the euphoria of Wayne’s World. Just look for the goofball with a camcorder
bolted to his head, a cold one
in hand and mango BBQ
sauce on his chin. He’ll be chronicling the most positive
quotient in this complicated pro football
equation- the common FAN. Thanks
Delores & Wayne! |
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