Danielle Pelkey: Have "stickability" in all areas of life

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September 14, 2012

Danielle Pelkey: Have "stickability" in all areas of life

By Danielle Pelkey North Jefferson News The North Jefferson News Fri Sep 14, 2012, 06:03 AM CDT

COMMENTARY — Nothing screams that fall is just around the corner in the South quite like the cheers of football fans.

It doesn’t matter if you are cheering on the high school, college or professional team of your choice. You just have to let people know who you’re pulling for.

I suppose it is a great year to be an Alabama football fan, as they are currently ranked number one in the polls. And, as I am an Auburn fan, it seems as though it may be another long year in the making.

There are already rumors flying about whether or not Chizik will still have a job if we lose this weekend. It would seem that Louisiana-Monroe would be an easy move to the win column, but since they pulled quite the upset last week against eighth-ranked Arkansas, all heads are turned toward Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Since our state is divided between Alabama and Auburn football, it’s easy to see how the passion for this sport keeps its sparks flying throughout the years. Fathers against sons, husbands against wives and friends against friends — nothing else seems to matter for the three hours that your team is playing.

It’s hard to watch a team that you really believe in, go down with a loss, but how often do we watch them have a bad play, game or season and still stick to our guns? Personally, I can’t stand a “turncoat” or anyone who would trade out teams to hop on a new bandwagon.

If you pull for Alabama this year, keep pulling for them in the rough years too. If you pull for Auburn this year, then you obviously must be a true fan and nothing close to a turncoat in definition, seeing as how this will probably be the roughest year of football we’ve experienced in my lifetime.

This point goes much deeper than football. It seems that our American society is so quick to leave when things get tough, that we’ve lost our “stickability” or the ability to stick out a situation even when things are less than ideal. It’s apparent in our workforce, in our churches, in our marriages and even in our choices of football teams.

If you’re going to be devoted to something, then dig in your heels and tough it out in the bad times, and live it up in the good times. Anything worth having is worth fighting for, so fight for something.

Don’t just walk out on your marriage because the stress is getting to you. Don’t quit your job because you don’t like the way your boss is treating you this week. Don’t change churches because the preacher talked about tithing last Sunday. And surely, don’t pull for the winning team just because they are winning. Pick a side and stick with it.

I’m an Auburn fan. I was in 1985, I was in the perfect seasons of 1993 and 2010 and I am in our 0-2 season of 2012. Stick to your guns, even in the tough times. It makes the good times just seem that much sweeter.

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