Adjust and Proceed

I’m a Steeler fan and as such, I’m bummed. My son, The Bean, over the years became a HUGE Steeler fan. Tonight was very tough for him. As he sat through the game, each Packer touchdown and each Steeler turnover brought him closer and closer to a 7.9 Richter scale meltdown.

Losing is a big problem for The Bean. His high school football team won its first eight games, before dropping three ugly turds at the end of the season. Those last three games weren’t close – they weren’t even on the same planet. And through them, The Bean exhibited meltdowns of horrific proportions. These were “I hope the referee doesn’t throw a penalty on The Bean” types of instances, where The Bean was certainly “using his words” but not very wisely. (“Where did he learn to talk like that? Oh, never mind…”)

Before the Super Bowl started, The Bean was as ready and was as high as a kite. His Steeler cap was on, the Terrible Towel in hand, and he was planning his victory celebration. Throughout the day, as I was trying to prepare him for a loss, he continually assured me he had everything under control.

As the first quarter ended, the Pack was up 14 – 0 and The Bean was in a complete nose-dive. We talked him into a chair where he sat and rooted for a comeback. More Steeler tragedy ensued and the spiral, momentarily on pause, was underway again.

This happened throughout the game – up and down. The game came down to the last two minutes, where the Steelers had to put a 90-yard drive together, or go home as runners up.  At this moment, I got The Beans attention and told him “This is your Super Bowl – right here, right now. Not what happens on the TV screen, but what happens in your chair.”  The Steelers’ drive didn’t hold and they lost the game.

The Bean… he held. He took the challenge and he pulled himself together. “The Packers played a great game.”  For those in the room, it wasn’t fun listening to the drama throughout the night, but at the end, he held it together.

We made progress tonight. Tomorrow, who knows. Tonight, however, while the Steelers lost, The Bean got a win.