Experience

The Experience.

That's what it's all about.

Not the money.

Or the glory.

Or the babes.

It is about the experience. Our journey. The road. The sometimes painful, but always relevant, pot-hole laced two-lane highway. And the saga of how we got here.

Masters create the experience for us. At the movies, we get to watch beautiful people perform superhuman feats under extreme duress (usually being chased by some form of evil). Musicians, artists, architects, engineers, software designers, developers, chefs, guides, monks, strippers, travel agencies. All create the experience.

We create our own as well. I have proven countless times that the less perfect my training regimen, the more drama (in the form of pain) will appear somewhere near mile 20. Intertwined is an element of cause and effect. If I eat nothing but crap I pretty much know I will feel like shit. (sorry).

Does the actress work, rehearse and study her character in order to retire comfortably with a robust 401K?

Does a surgeon perfect his operating skills to lower his golf handicap?

Does a middle-of-the-pack age grouper train 15 hours a week in order to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated?

Does a mother of three run five miles a day to send her youngest to Harvard?

No, sometimes, but more often than not no, and no.

Why then do we do what we do?

For the experience. Go to a concert, a movie, a nice dinner, an exotic cruise, a bike ride, to school, the library, a coffee shop, the beach, France. Sing in a band, build a solar powered water heater, make love in the pool, play catch, teach the old dog to fly a kite. Train for a triathlon, learn a new skill, help others, paint the den, plant a garden, start a blog.

Experience, the.

I was thinking the other day about an answer Jake Locker gave as pivotal in his decision to return to the University of Washington and play football his senior year. He turned down a million bucks to lead the Huskies to an exciting and dramatic season, one filled with irony, explosive energy, agony, doubt, fear, yet ultimately, three crucial wins down the stretch and a huge victory over Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. Major WOW factor number 10, thanks.

It was the experience of doing where Jake found in his heart of hearts, meaning, the goal. To experience the experience. To risk. To be there. To feel the defeats as real as the victories. To persevere. To inspire those around him. To lead. To finish.

To finish what he started five years ago.

Jake's Huskies finished the 2010 season at 7-6. The first winning season at the UW since 2002 and their first bowl appearance since the 2001 Rose Bowl. It was a wild and wonderful ride. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I am just a fan. Imagine the experience of the kids.

And imagine the experience they will have next year.

Something for Chris Polk to consider.

Pix: Huskies take the foggy field against UCLA. What that must have felt like for the seniors. Junior in an eye-popping Christmas moment. We're all sophomores in this school.