A Day to Remember

In the first half of yesterday's game in Braunschweig, it kind of all came together.
Like everything, a variety of factors played into the creation of the moment: a beautiful stadium, a perfect playing surface of manicured grass, a very worthy opponent, thousands of loud ass German fans rooting against us, teammates that came to play, and a gorgeous summer evening sky of pink and orange swirls that made the whole scene resemble Lando Calrisian's 'City in the Clouds', or the last scene in Gladiator when Maximus' friend buries his idols in the Coliseum dirt as the camera pans upward into the heavens.
Anyway, the stars were aligned and from the outset we moved the ball however we wanted. Guys that were supposed to block blocked, guys that were suppose to run routes to open spots and catch the ball did their job, and I was the lucky guy receiving shotgun snaps and getting to throw the ball. I had a good pregame talk with myself and arrived at a place of clear mind. Whenever I felt my mind stray to anything other than the immediate task at hand I would ask myself, “What time is it?” and reply, “Now!”
We scored four times in the first half and I threw two of the touchdowns and ran in another one. I smiled, laughed, high fived, hugged, and emitted thunderous yalps from some primitive place deep within. I was in the zone, and it felt good.
The second half’s enjoyment was derived more from the winding down of the clock and the knowledge that our lead was insurmountable because of said fairytale first half performance. After the game I really did not want to leave the field. I stood and watched players and coaches from each team conversing and after a while I sat down on a sideline bench. Some kids had come down to the field and were throwing the ball around and it reminded me of myself at my brother’s high school games and of the kids at Davis that would play on the field after the games.
I think I could have slept right there on the sideline in my uniform, but alas, I decided to take it in to the locker room to de-garb and shower up for the ride back. Before I departed the field I took one last mental picture to ensure that the place deep down where those primitive yalps originated earlier would remember this fine, fine day of American Football in Germany.