Sometimes I Dream
by: Gary Kline

(Aerosmith lyrics playing softly) "Every time that I look in the mirror. All these lines on my face getting clearer. The past is gone. It went by like dusk to dawn. Isn't that the way, everyones got their dues in life to pay..."

Sometimes I dream. My solo rainy day drive with the radio quietly playing songs from an antecedent forgotten time always seems to evoke the passions of youth within this middle-aged soul. The light that shone from the fires of passion that burned years ago within my adolescent being has since been darkened somewhat by the dimming nature of life. The goals of distinction on the field of play have subsequently been replaced by a desire for a level of comfort with my existence. A good father, a good husband... that's all.

Yet as I drive these windy roads I can't help but dream. I know it is somewhat fatuous to believe that the weariness that time piles upon the body will ever be totally shaken. Even though I can't reverse the tide of age, I can rekindle the feelings of youth through being part of something very special. And that my friends is Marshall football. On September 1st I , along with many others ,will be flying and driving into one of college footballs cradles of dreams. I will sit among people much like myself who are living life, if just for a moment, recapturing something that has been latent within their souls for quite sometime. That to me is what it's all about. If you really think about the game itself, it is somewhat difficult to understand what unites a group of people to the levels of passion exhibited by a crowd of fans. After all, football is merely a game. In the grand scheme it means very little what a gathering of our most God Blessed and physically gifted young members of society accomplish on a given day. This battle for inches of turf is only a facade hiding something much more important. For those who participate, it is a chance to prove for themselves that they are worthy of meeting the challenges of their dreams. For those of us who watch, it is a reminder that dreams and passion still exist within our being.

(Music continues) "I know it's everybody's sin. You got to lose to know how to win..."

Those who follow Marshall football are among the most aware of what being a fan is really about. They understand that it goes beyond the game. Sometimes in displaying this cognition they are misinterpreted as being arrogant and unrealistic. This feeling is displayed sometimes within these very forums. The very nature of this understanding is the fuel that powers this program to the height that it has reached. And it will be this very understanding that will power this program to a height not yet realized. Perspective can sometimes be sobering when viewing football as merely a game. We appear quite childish if indeed that's all their is to our discipleship. But we know better don't we? It's just more than that.

The windshield wipers continue it's steady pattern against the rain as if trying to keep rhythm with the song on the radio...

....dream on, dream on, dream until your dream comes true" (lyrics fade out)