Saturday, January 31, 2009

twas the night before the game

As we move closer to the Super Bowl...I wanna let you in on a little secret...there is no such thing as getting rest the night before the game.

It is a misnomer.


Trust me.

The night before the game is the night where you get the LEAST amount of sleep. When you are about to play in the biggest game of your life...in front of the world...the mere thought of it keeps you up for most of the night. I've never played in a Super Bowl. Neither have you. One can only imagine what it must be like in the hours leading up to the game.
As many of you know, I played football when I was in college. I played at South Carolina State University. When I played, I could barely sleep the night before the game. Neither could most of my teammates. It would be routine to find my teammates up until 3 or 4 am. Some would be playing a game of cards. Some would be up watching tv. Some would be studying. Some would be mentally preparing for the game. Very few would be asleep. Too much anxiety. There is a lot of preparation that leads up to the 3 hours that you spend on the field. As you prepare, sometimes you forget to do the little things...like get some rest. I remember times where my roommate Russell and I would stay up talking about the game for hours...before we even played it.


We only played on the college level. It's magnified even more when you're talking about the NFL.
The players who will participate in the Super Bowl will probably get very little sleep tonight. They've worked hard all year to get to this point. You can't view the game as "just another game" because it's not. It's the only game. I've only attended one Super Bowl in my life. It was Super Bowl XXI...the Denver Broncos vs the New York Giants. My uncle, Harry Carson, was the starting middle linebacker for the Giants. He told me that he barely slept the night before that game. He said that just before kickoff, he found himself unable to breathe and hyperventilating. I understood. I had the same thing happen to me a few times when I played at South Carolina State. There was one time where I nearly fainted after the 1st play of the game. It was the emotion...adrenaline...anxiety of playing in a game. I'm sure that it's 10 times more extreme when you're playing in a Super Bowl. My uncle also told me that he had several teammates throw up just before they went on the field. One teammmate, quarterback Phil Simms, only had an hour of sleep. Simms went on to lead the Giants to victory that day and was named the Super Bowl MVP.

As you watch the game tomorrow, don't be suprised if you see guys getting oxygen before the game starts. Don't be surprised if you see some guys sitting on the bench and they are yawning. There is a lot of pressure and anxiety that is built up. And the one thing that we all need...will be the thing that the players won't get tonight...a good nights sleep.

10 comments:

  1. I hope I never have to deal with any kind of pressure like that, I can't even imagine.

    But the good thing is that one side always wins, right kyle!

    And the other side go home with there head in their hands, wondering what went wrong, how they could have let the other team do them like that.

    Sure would hate to be on the loosing time wouldn't you?

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  2. @ Soloman
    Welcome to the 12th Planet. Make sure that you come back. We have a good time over here. We're here every day...like a stray cat.

    Good points. I think the competitor within us knows that there has to be a winner and a loser. We're sooo focused on winning that we don't entertain the thought of losing.

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  3. I am enlightened as always by ur posts.

    In this post the passion and ur absolute love for the sport comes through in every word.

    ...Its almost as if it should be whispered -- like u were telling me a secret about pre game preperation.
    Of course the steelers will win!

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  4. I'm gonna watch the game, but trust me ... I am not losing sleep over it.

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  5. glad I dont play...or into football. I need my sleep....wait its 350 in the AM....(yarning)

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  6. Hell of a game last night. Man, I wanted the Cards to win. I knew they had their hands full, but it was exciting nonetheless.

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  7. Great Game Last Night..One of the most competitive Super Bowls in years! I'm hoarse from all of the yelling I did.

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  8. Dang folk
    but 2nd best game of all time after titans vs rams

    happy black history months

    RDB

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  9. So was this true? The superbowl got interupted by Porn?

    Look on BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7864733.stm

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