January 11 2018 – Click here to listen
I am a rabid Georgia Bulldog fan, two of my sons graduated from there and I have supported the Dawgs through thick and thin, and it was heart-breaking to watch them lead the National Championship game until late in the 4th quarter only to lose in overtime. I was beyond sickened.
The Dawgs were shutting them down and we were leading 13-0 at half-time. Then Alabama’s coach Saban changed quarterbacks using Tua Tagovailoa, a backup quarterback behind sophomore Jalen Hurts. When he came in the game I noticed that he had crosses painted under each eye and I knew he was a person of faith, but the Dawgs were my team and I was happy when he initially struggled and allowed us to take possession. I saw him on the sidelines walking with Coach Saban with his arm around him and a big smile on his face. I imagined that he was trying to reassure the frowning coach that things would be all right.
As it turned out things were more than all right as Tagovailoa went on to complete 14 of 24 passes for 166 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. Georgia tied it up and it went into overtime. We got the ball and made a field goal, but Tagovailoa threw a 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime to another freshman, DeVonta Smith. With that throw they were the National Champions and the mighty Dawgs went down to defeat. I was crushed, disgusted, sickened, and madder than a wet hen.
But as though God was supplying salve to a wound in the post-game interview Tua Tagovailoa wasn’t hesitant to give God the credit.
“First and foremost, I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ . . . All glory goes to God. I can’t describe what He has done for me and my family. Who would’ve ever thought I would have been here at this moment.
“I was praying,” Tagovailoa says. “I was speaking in tongues. It kept me calm.”
He continued: “I would say my poise comes from my faith. I just pray for peace.”
Hmmm . . . It took some of the sting away from losing to hear this young man say on national television, on liberally biased ESPN no less, that the Lord deserved the credit. Prognosticators are already predicting that he will win the National Championship again in 2018, and to that I say poppycock. The Dawgs hopefully will dethrone them, but I do wish this young man of God the very best, right up until they play Georgia, and then man of god or not the gloves will come off and the Dawgs owe them a whuppin’.
Tagovailoa’s Twitter bio contains this this comment: HIM BEFORE ME accompanied by this verse:
1 Corinthians 2:9
“But as it is written, ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'”