A Concentrated Dose of Emotion

Posted on by Wynne Leon

I’m not much of a football fan. I say that to preface any errors that I might include in my description of an incredibly human moment in a football game.

This past weekend, my alma mater, the University of Washington (UW), played Washington State (WSU) in the Apple Cup, our in-state rivalry game. The tension felt higher than usual – the shake up of the Pac-12 division means the two schools will not likely be in the same division going forward, the UW team had a perfect record of 11-0, and while UW was likely to win, the unpredictable nature of this rivalry had everyone amped.

I had the game on, but didn’t sit down to watch until the last two minutes on the clock. The game was tied 21-21, UW had the ball, and they ran a really risky play on 4th down and 1 yard to get the 1st down. Then they were in field goal range.

Their kicker had missed three out of the last four kicks. The quarterback got them as close as possible but then got sacked. It was down to the last five seconds on the clock and the kicker came in. He got all ready to kick, and the other team called a time out to ice the kicker. Then they came back to the line of scrimmage to do it all again.

A perfect season on the line. A kicker that’s missed the last three out of four kicks. Five seconds on the clock. A bitter rivalry. The amount of tension was incredible – even for me sitting in my chair watching a game that, in the big picture, I don’t really care about.

The quarterback for UW has his head buried in some sort of sidelines structure. He couldn’t even watch the last five seconds. The whistle blew, UW kicked, and won the game. Wow.

It was all so suspenseful that I rewound it and called my eight-year-old and four-year-old kids into the room to come watch. They got so into it that we watched it twice.

The UW quarterback was, apparently, so overcome, that he never looked. After a while, the coach standing next to him during all of this shielded him with a coat, and walked him off the field.

All of this reminds me of a phrase I got from playwright and HoTM contributor, Jack Canfora – “a concentrated dose of emotion.” We watch a play, see a movie, read a book, go to a game – and we get to see a story from beginning to end. It’s so satisfying to get that perspective of what works and what doesn’t, to discern some meaning for it all. We get to imagine how we might react to the big moments, and get a sense of how others will stick with us in the low ones. We get to intensely feel the tension that comes with life, and then have it resolve one way or another.

Maybe I’m more of a fan than I thought.

(featured photo from Pexels)

45 thoughts on “A Concentrated Dose of Emotion”

  2. Palpable tension! I could feel it as I read…and I love that you got the kiddos involved…watching and rewatching. I feel for the quarterback. I don’t suppose it’s too cool to peek through your fingers, as if you’re watching a horror film in such a tense situation. Bad sideline etiquette, I’m sure, in football. Better to let the coach envelop him with a blankie/coat. 😁🥰😁

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  3. You prompted me to rethink the thousands of sporting events I’ve watched as a kind of theater. The description of the quarterback and his coach was also remarkable. Was the former injured, overwhelmed or both? From your account the coach displayed an uncommon tenderness not typical of a game that is, like war, about taking ground from others — but since it is a game, without any meaning but that which we give it. Thank you, Wynne.

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  6. “We get to imagine how we might react to the big moments, and get a sense of how others will stick with us in the low ones. We get to intensely feel the tension that comes with life, and then have it resolve one way or another.”

    Like that game there is no way to go in life but to see each big moment through and then move on to the next. Sometimes we have the power to impact a final resolution, and sometimes it’s all out of our hands and perhaps we just have to trust…trust that things will turn out the way they were always meant to be…whatever that is.

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  9. I admit that I didn’t watch the game, but as a UW alum, I’m always rooting for the Huskies. However, what has happened with the Pac-12 and particularly to WSU and OSU leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Now that collegiate football is also all about the money, I don’t know that I’ll follow it much.

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    1. I hear you, Margaret. (And nice to have a comment from a fellow UW alum). I’m not even qualified to comment on what’s happened with the Pac-12 but it’s struck me as a failure of leadership even more than the money. But either way, it’s mind blowing to think that conference has been destroyed! Thanks for reading and the comment!

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  10. I agree with Todd, I find that I love the game, but I love even more the epic stories that play themselves out in ever game. It’s what keeps bringing me back each week and following games and teams that I might not even care all that much about. Looks like you’re becoming a fan Wynne. And for the record, UW has a great chance to go far in reaching the National Championship. Should we expect to see you blogging now on each week’s game, giving an update on UW’s chances and even how they’re taking over the Big 10 next year. Or maybe even your NFL Fantasy Draft and who you’ve picked for your team. Oh, I can definitely see that happening!!! Ha, ha.

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  12. I love that phrase “a concentrated dose of emotion” – really captures that adrenaline rush and hit of euphoria when we watch a good game, movie, concert or pop culture moment, which for me includes the moment the winner of a Survivor season is announced.

    I don’t watch sports but I do hop on the bandwagon when our city teams make it to the playoffs – winning the basketball whatever you call it a few years ago. I think what makes the dose even more palatable is when an entire city unites together for the team.

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  13. You described that pretty well, Wynne. I watched the end of that game too. My son used to coach with Washington’s defensive coordinator at a different school, so we were rooting for them.

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  14. I am a football fan, in the sense that I’ll watch a game once in a while but don’t follow any team religiously. True fans tell me I’m not one, but define yourself. That being said I’ve watched games where I got caught up in concentrated dose of emotion and I didn’t really care about the outcome. I can only imagine how much more intense it must be for a player.

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