Today is Valentine's Day, and I thought I would send out a Valentine's post of my own to our beloved football team. We are all enjoying the after-glow of the 11-2 season and the Cotton Bowl win, but I would have written this poem last year as well after its disappointing end. I think it was St. Paul who wrote that love beareth all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. He was writing to the Corinthians, but he just as well could have been writing to college football fans about themselves. The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning arguably wrote the most famous of love poems when writing to her husband in "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." I hope the Brownings don't mind, but I am going to piggy-back, haha, on their poem for a tribute of my own to the Hogs.
How do I love thee? Let me signal the ways.
I love thee to the three deep and breath and height
Our stadium can reach, when feeling out of sight.
For the ends of autumn glory and
Grace in the air.
I love thee to Saturday's roar, by sun and stadium light.
I love thee in Fayetteville.
I love thee in Little Rock.
I love thee with red passion put to use
In my old Hog hat, and with my childhood's faith
I love thee with a love that is not lost
With the final score - I love thee with the breath
Cheers, tears, of all my seasons! - And if
God chooses, I shall but love thee even better
After the final second of my clock has expired.
Yes, haha, I do need a girlfriend! But I know you feel just as passionate about the Hogs. And why? You don't need a why. Just because they are your team. That is good enough. Feel free to share with us any testaments of your love for the Hogs if you like in the comment section. But make sure you have first told the one you love how much you love her/him here on Valentine's Day.