Heart-pounding intensity.   Brutal, resounding hits.  Sweat-drenched combatants.  The screams of battle ringing through Kansas night.  And that was just in the stands!  Saturday night’s victory over St Cloud State was a complete team effort, both on and off the field.  It brings to mind an interesting thought:  Who enjoys a Gorilla victory more, the fans or the players?

At first blush, this seems to be a no brainer.  Surely it means more to the players.  After all, this is what they came to Pittsburg, KS for.  Watching Jimmie Taylor celebrate a big 4^th Down stop with a 40 yard “airplane run”.  Elliott Austin getting the crowd going before going downfield to sacrifice his body on kickoff coverage.  Andy Majors launching himself like a human missile for a two-point conversion.  Think these guys are doing it for fun?  You bet they are! 

Sure it’s a lot of hard work, sacrifice and pain, but nights like last Saturday make it all worthwhile.  Gameday is their reward.  That’s when Chauncey Jones gets a chance to pretend he’s a fleet-footed wide receiver.  Aaron McConnell gets to be a real-life running back.  Tim Austin gets to step out of the shadows, and make his mark on Gorilla football.  Yeah, these guys definitely love their “job”.

But what about the fans?   Is our “preparation” any less strenuous?  No, we don’t have to go through the physical hardships, but in many ways, the mental stress is even greater than that of the players.  We don’t get to have “fan practice” to get us through the week.  Most fans aren’t privy to how things are going during the week, and consequently don’t really have a feel for how things are going.  This uncertainty breeds a feeling of helplessness in the fans. 

The best thing about Saturday is the fact that it’s Gameday.  The worst part about Saturday is that it’s SEVEN DAYS until the next game.  That’s roughly one hundred and sixty eight hours of waiting.  And waiting.  And waiting.  When game time arrives, we have seven days worth of energy to expend.  Seven days worth of celebration to spend. And we let it all go in three hours time.  We scream, we holler, we jump up and down.  We high-five everyone in sight.  We question every “bad” call by the zebras.  The stands are our playing field, and it’s Gameday.  And when victory is complete, we celebrate with our other “teammates” the ones down on the field.

So what’s the answer, who enjoys it more?  It’s simple really, the Gorillas do.  All of us.

This weeks Unsung Hero Award goes to Brent Watson.  The 6-1, 238-pound transfer from NEO A&M College was all over the field Saturday.  He made 6 tackles, and a bunch of hits on special teams.  He brings intensity and size to the linebacker corps, and another maniac presence on kick coverage.  For his efforts against St Cloud State, Brent Watson is the Unsung Hero for this week.

Well, that’s what I saw this week.  Let’s keep focused on the goal, and drive the Gorillas to victory!