Sr. Nancy, Like She Meant It
You know that part in Jerry McGuire where Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., is knocked unconscious making his career changing touchdown? And he regains consciousness, slowly gets up to the cheers of the crowd, and then breaks into a celebration dance and handstand spin before leaping into the stands? Well, every time I see this, I think of Sr. Nancy, or every time I think of Sr. Nancy, I remember this moment in the movie. Sr. Nancy Hynes was my academic advisor when I was a student in the late 1990s, when Jerry McGuire came out in theaters. During one of our meetings, she told me she loved Tidwell’s dance. She thought it was great. I didn’t know what to think of the comment at the time. A nun had never talked football to me before, let alone a nun that read Virginia Woolf. I think I was trying to determine if she really meant it or whether she was merely trying to buddy up to me and make inroads through my stoned-faced stoicism. It wasn’t until a year or