As reporters, we spend a lot of our time looking down.
We look down on players: Is Tim Tebow at practice? Is he going to play? Why didn't he play well? What's wrong with the receivers?
We look down on coaches: Why didn't he play John Brantley? Why isn't Emmanuel Moody getting the ball? Why aren't they throwing it more?
We look down on fans: How could they possible think that? They don't know what they're talking about. How could they possibly disagree with our opinions?
We spend so much time criticizing and analyzing and speculating that we forget what it feels like to look up. We forget what made us love sports to begin with.
I was standing on the sideline at Tiger Stadium last Saturday making some kind of half-joking comment about whether or not David Nelson had actually played, and then it happened.
LSU cornerback Jai Eugene picked off Tebow's pass right in front of me and Death Valley erupted. The noise was deafening. The excitement was almost tangible.
That's when it hit me. I was actually standing on the field in Baton Rouge.
The band was playing. The players were celebrating. The crowd was going crazy. It was the kind of night that I had always dreamed about.
I've been fortunate enough to cover a lot of games in some really great places during the last couple of years, but it's scary how complacent we can become.
Far too often in life we allow ourselves to grow accustomed to things that are part of our routine, even the really special things. We take things for granted. We don't appreciate life while it's happening.
Through some unbelievable stroke of luck, my life had actually led me all the way to that field and instead of enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I was cracking jokes.
I'll never forget what it was like to look up at the stands that night with the lights shining down on Death Valley.
We can become so focused on the smallest details that we forget the big picture.
Saturday is homecoming. It's Arkansas and Ryan Mallett. It's Tebow and the Gators.
But really, at least for us students, it's not the game we'll remember years from now.
It's the barbecues and the tailgates. It's Gator Growl and the after parties. It's the friends and the memories.
Don't be too cool or too proud to do something you'll remember.
Go to the game. Go to Growl. It doesn't matter that you might not like the band or you think the comedian is stupid.
Who cares if Florida is better than Arkansas and the game will probably be over by halftime?
It's not about that.
Go sit in the stands and be with friends. Go look up at the lights of Florida Field. Don't be afraid to get swept up in something great.
There's a reason thousands of alumni come back every year.
In the end, the memories are the things that we keep with us forever. Don't let them pass you by.
