Just My Opinion - by Mary Kilen
It Felt Like A Championship Game
If you were in the Stanley High School gym for the boys’ basketball game on Thursday of last week, you know what I’m talking about. The atmosphere was electric. Fans of both teams were cheering their hearts out. You could see how much the players were feeding off that excitement. I love to see our fans so completely engaged. The stands were packed and nobody was leaving during that game. It was just too good of a game.
I love seeing our fans support our students. I would love to see that level of engagement for every event in our schools. I don’t mean just every sports team, but for all the other events. There is so much going on including fine arts, academic activities and more. It would be great to see more people at those events. Think about it next time you have some free time and notice that there are events like speech, one-act play, spelling bees and more.
It’s All Over Except The Commercials
The AFC and NFC championship games are over and for many of us the football season is now over. I know the Super Bowl is coming in a week and half. To say that a good share of my Facebook friends were disappointed by the outcome of the games is an understatement. I do have friends who are diehard fans of the Eagles or the Chiefs. I have friends who are ambivalent.
I also have a lot of friends who are diehard fans of teams that have gotten beaten throughout the playoffs. My team didn’t even make it that far.
I am pretty sure that my Lions fans friends are wondering what the heck happened to the Commanders on Sunday. They are also likely sure their team could have done a much better job against the Eagles.
My Bills fans friends are likely sitting in a corner trying to figure out what their team has to do to get a win against the Chiefs in the playoffs.
One of my favorite posts after the game reflected on the “game nobody wants” and a map of the United States. It had small circles over the Chiefs fans and Eagles fans, while the rest of the map was gray. That noted they were either cheering for a meteor strike or some other equally funny outcome.
For me, I haven’t really had a dog in the fight in the Super Bowl for a very long time. I usually end up just hoping for a good game. This year, I’ll have to cheer on the Chiefs because as a Cowboys fan, I just can’t cheer for the Eagles. It’s kind of the way Vikings and Packers fans feel about the other team.
Again, I’ll be waiting for the commercials. That being said, they’re already starting to post commercials ahead of the game. I’ve already seen the Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. While I loved it, I really would have rather waited to see it on game day. They’ve been putting out teasers of some of the other commercials as well.
Based on what companies pay for commercials during the Super Bowl, you would think they would make us all wait to see them during the game. Maybe they’re just concerned that viewership won’t be as high with the two teams playing?
Either way, I’ll be there Super Bowl night watching the commercials. I’ll watch the game too because it’s on, but I don’t have a dog in this fight.
As Seen On Facebook
I’ve seen so much negativity on Facebook lately. I had saved this one a while back, but I’ll be honest I have no clue who posted it originally. Instead, I’ll just share it here and ask you to think about being kind.
They say you should walk a mile in someone’s shoes, but I’ve found it’s better to just walk a mile next to them.
Because you shouldn’t have to go through something yourself in order to care about it happening to someone else.
You shouldn’t have to know that exact pain to show concern or compassion for theirs.
And because you should recognize that you are seeing but a tiny part of the overall picture, much of it may be outside your ability to truly empathize with.
Here’s the thing, though. You can still be a good friend. You can still help.
Simply by acknowledging that what they are going through is so hard. Simply by being there for them.
And you can choose to trust their experience of the hard thing, instead of trying to imagine yourself in it.
Sometimes we don’t need someone to put themselves in our place.
We just need someone to hold our hand and walk alongside us.