Dat: Tackling Life and the NFL

8. Dance Hall Daze

C H ฀ P T E R 8 Dance Hall Daze Trust me:฀it’s฀not฀nearly฀as฀bad฀as฀Becky฀makes฀ it฀out฀to฀be.฀If฀you฀listen฀to฀her,฀you฀might฀be฀tempted฀to฀believe ฀that฀I฀have฀so฀little฀rhythm฀I฀couldn’t฀even฀play฀a฀radio.฀ That’s฀simply฀not฀true.฀I’m฀not฀holding฀out฀any฀long-term฀hopes฀ that฀I฀will฀ever฀be฀asked฀to฀join฀a฀hip-hop฀boy฀band—although฀ “Nguyen฀ -฀ Sync”฀has฀a฀nice฀ring฀to฀it—because฀of฀my฀musical฀talents ฀and฀dance-fl ฀oor฀moves.฀But฀hey,฀as฀I฀like฀to฀remind฀people,฀ it฀was฀on฀a฀dance฀fl ฀oor฀in฀1995฀that฀I฀fi ฀rst฀met฀my฀gorgeous฀wife.฀ The฀short฀version฀of฀the฀story฀is฀that฀I฀left฀a฀major฀impression฀ on฀her฀with฀my฀smooth,฀rhythmic฀moves฀and฀my฀feet฀that฀were฀ so฀obviously฀made฀to฀move฀to฀the฀funk.฀ ฀ The฀long฀version฀of฀the฀story,฀though,฀is฀that฀the฀major฀impression ฀I฀left฀on฀her฀was฀probably฀more฀negative฀than฀positive.฀ After฀appeasing฀me฀on฀the฀dance฀fl ฀oor฀for฀a฀few฀minutes,฀she฀ pulled฀the฀old฀fake฀left,฀go฀right฀move.฀During฀our฀dance,฀she฀told฀ me฀she฀needed฀to฀leave฀the฀fl ฀oor฀to฀go฀to฀the฀bathroom.฀I฀naturally฀ assumed฀she฀meant฀she฀was฀going฀to฀the฀bathroom฀inside฀the฀ 118 ✮฀ Chapter 8 club.฀She฀apparently฀meant฀the฀one฀in฀her฀dorm฀room฀because฀ she฀never฀came฀back.฀She฀left฀the฀building฀faster฀than฀a฀Barry฀ Bonds฀home฀run฀headed฀for฀McCovey฀Cove.฀The฀next฀morning,฀ while฀she฀was฀discussing฀her฀night฀out฀with฀her฀girlfriends,฀she฀ casually฀informed฀them,฀“I฀danced฀with฀the฀biggest฀Chinese฀guy฀ I’ve฀ever฀seen฀in฀my฀life.” ฀ Becky฀has฀become฀the฀love฀of฀my฀life,฀my฀soul฀mate,฀buddy,฀ partner,฀and฀the฀answer฀to฀my฀prayers.฀I฀thank฀God฀for฀putting฀ her฀in฀my฀life฀and฀making฀the฀life฀we฀have฀together฀possible.฀ She฀is฀the฀wife฀of฀my฀dreams,฀and฀she฀is฀the฀best฀mother฀on฀the฀ planet.฀I฀love฀her฀humor,฀wit,฀warmth,฀charm,฀intelligence,฀smile฀ .฀.฀.฀everything฀about฀her.฀I฀also฀love฀thinking฀about฀our฀future฀ together.฀But฀our฀past฀makes฀for฀some฀interesting฀imagery,฀as฀ well.฀Becky฀is฀my฀most฀prized฀catch,฀but฀she฀was฀initially฀more฀ difficult฀to฀corral฀than฀the฀Nebraska฀option฀in฀its฀prime.฀She฀gave฀ me฀more฀slips฀than฀a฀water-slide฀park.฀There฀were฀polite฀brushoffs ,฀“I฀just฀want฀to฀be฀friends”฀speeches,฀awkward฀times,฀down฀ times,฀and฀times฀when฀she฀made฀it฀clear฀to฀me฀that฀it฀was฀over.฀ It฀certainly฀didn’t฀seem฀like฀one฀of฀those฀“meant฀to฀be”฀relationships .฀But฀from฀the฀night฀I฀first฀met฀her—and฀from฀the฀first฀moment ฀she฀ever฀“juked”฀me—I฀never฀really฀gave฀up฀on฀the฀idea฀of฀ our฀being฀together. ฀ If฀you฀could฀have฀seen฀it฀all฀unfold,฀you฀would฀have฀said฀I฀ was฀a฀glutton฀for฀punishment.฀But฀I฀call฀it฀persistence.฀I฀saw฀the฀ woman฀I฀wanted,฀and฀I฀never฀let฀go฀of฀that฀thought—even฀when฀ I฀appeared฀to฀let฀her฀go.฀You฀know฀that฀silly฀old฀saying฀about฀how฀ “if฀you฀love฀someone,฀let฀’em฀go.฀If฀he฀or฀she฀comes฀back,฀you฀ know฀it฀was฀meant฀to฀be.”฀Well,฀there’s฀probably฀some฀truth฀to฀ that.฀It฀worked฀for฀me.฀In฀fact,฀it฀may฀have฀been฀my฀patience฀and฀ persistence—even฀ more฀ than฀ my฀ best฀ electric฀ boogaloo฀ dance฀ moves—that฀finally฀won฀her฀heart. ฀ Our฀first฀meeting฀took฀place฀during฀the฀summer฀of฀1995฀following ฀two-a-day฀practices฀of฀my฀redshirt฀freshman฀season.฀It฀ Dance Hall Daze ✮฀ 119 was฀really฀late฀or฀really฀early—depending฀on฀your฀perspective— and฀I฀was฀with฀one฀of฀my฀friends฀from฀Rockport,฀Sam฀Spears.฀ Sam฀and฀I฀had฀been฀doing฀a฀little฀unwinding฀as฀I฀celebrated฀the฀ conclusion฀of฀two-a-days,฀and฀we฀decided฀to฀go฀into฀a฀dance฀club฀ called฀ Vertigo.฀ As฀ I฀ previously฀ mentioned,฀ College฀ Station฀ is฀ known฀for฀its฀conservatism.฀That฀one฀word฀typically฀describes฀ the฀politics,฀culture,฀dress฀code,฀religious฀foundation,฀belief฀system ,฀ and฀ just฀ about฀ everything฀ else฀ regarding฀ the฀ area’s฀ residents .฀But฀there฀is฀probably฀an฀eclectic฀clique฀within฀virtually฀ every฀population฀base,฀and฀many฀of฀those฀folks฀were฀on฀display฀ at฀Vertigo฀that฀night,฀jamming฀to฀the฀pulsating฀sounds฀of฀the฀ techno฀beat฀that฀seemingly฀never฀ends.฀If฀you’ve฀ever฀been฀to฀a฀ dance฀club฀like฀this...