An Event 15 Years in the Making...

So, as many people already know, I'm crazy about Troy Aikman. I've been crazy about him since I was about 9 years old. I grew up watching him on TV and I guess you could say he was my childhood hero. I had my entire bedroom covered in Dallas Cowboys gear - I had my mom make me a duvet, pillow cases, and curtains. I bought a blue Troy Aikman jersey that I proudly wore to school, even on Mondays after the Cowboys lost.

I was so inspired by Aikman's performance in the 1994 NFC Championship game (they lost) that I wrote him a fan letter. I vividly remember being so inspired by the fact that Aikman didn't give up and I think I saw him encouraging the rest of the team to play hard. I think it was in that instant, when I fell in love. Yes, a complete school girl crush. I convinced my dad (an avid Redskins fan) that I HAD to write to Troy and tell him how he had inspired me. Some how, Dad found me the address and I remember laying on my stomach in front of the TV, writing out my letter to Troy. And everything I wrote to him was true - as a little girl and then as a teenager, any time things got hard, I always thought of Troy Aikman and his ability to stay in the game and play as hard as he could, no matter how bad they were losing.

Trust me, I realize how dorky that sounded but its totally true. I guess my crush on Troy Aikman wasn't the same as a crush a teenage girl would have on a normal star - I feel like there's more to it than just that. Anyways, now that Mr. Aikman is up in the announcer's booth, I've decided that I should really try to meet him. Every now and then, he announces Redskins games here in DC. That means that at some point, we will be within a few miles of each other and I have a chance of running into him. I'm going to start practicing what I'll say to him when I get to shake his hand. Not that I haven't been rehearsing for 15 years ;)