Change...

You know those life changing epiphanies that most folks have? The ones where it finally dawns on them about what they should be doing instead of what they've been doing? I never have one. Maybe because I actively seek it out. My latest trip in search of self was to the New and Improved Alumni Stadium here at DSU this afternoon. I actually went out there earlier this week to take a walk around the track, but I ended up copping a discarded square of the new A-turf that was laid down earlier this spring (Turf-tory is mine, bitches. Kiss the fake grass ring).

This time I stood at the 50 yard line from seating level, looking around at the gradual changes that old Alumni had undergone since I first came to Delaware State in 2001. Gone were the rickety old visiting bleachers where an opposing fan could rightfully sue the school for all it's worth after falling. In place is a fairly new, expanded, and more comfortable brand of seating that DSU fans and visiting folks alike can enjoy.

Added to the mix were light towers, and the first night games in Hornet football history will be played this coming season. Football under the lights at DSU...who knew? So no longer will late-October, early-November games be forced to start at 12 noon to avoid the quickened setting of the fall Sun.

And finally, the A-turf. Its soft, Sealy Posturepedic Mattress-like feel starkly contrasting nature's grind, old divots in the grass now a distant memory. Fake grass as far as the eye can see, and no reason for opponents to complain about "Mud Bowls" and adverse conditions if the Hornets should beat them in the rain in the-always unpredictable Delaware fall season.

And these changes have come after 45-plus years of the Stadium being the same way. Now Alumni seems to be refreshed, renewed, glistening even. A proud structure indeed.

Change. Yeah, it happens. Sometimes initiated, other times forced. The key is are you prepared for it? Can you deal with making changes or taking them on as they are thrusted upon you? Are you willing to make changes if they are for the betterment of yourself and those around you, even if the process is slow, tormented, and even painful? Will you be able to take things in stride that once bothered you to emotional breakdowns and complete lack of common sense and a bold show of irrationality in your decision making? Can you see yourself changing for the better? Do you want to change for the better?

Those were the questions Old Alumni Stadium seemed to be throwing at me in all its new fangled glory today. And I wasn't able to give answers.