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Fight Like A Man The Rose Bowl reminds us that men worth waiting for are men with guts. by Sally Conroy Maybe my attempts to help the guys in my life have been a bit misdirected, maybe I shouldn't make them at all, and maybe I should pay more attention to my own faults instead of harping on guys so much. The other night, though, I saw a glimpse of masculinity that was so beautiful that I have to talk about it. The bad news: I'm not done talking to guys about what women want. The good news: What we want most is for them to be men. In case you missed the Rose Bowl this year, let me catch you up: The Longhorns of the University of Texas, ranked second in the nation in college football, played the Trojans of USC, ranked number one, for the national championship. The game as a whole was exciting, with the lead going back and forth almost every quarter. When there were six minutes left in the game, however, the Trojans held a 12-point lead, and the Longhorns would have to play almost flawlessly to close the gap before time ran out. The Texas team had lost a number of key players to injuries and cramps throughout the game, and even though they were playing well that night, it looked almost impossible for the weakened team to catch up in time. While the announcers commented on how bleak things looked for Texas, a camera panned in on Vince Young, Texas's quarterback, putting on his helmet to take the field. When I saw the look on Young's face, I remembered exactly why I love football. Asked to reenter a losing battle, with small hope of turning things around to any effect, Young motioned to his teammates to raise their discouraged heads before turning towards the USC defensive team with a look that dared them to try and stop him. Led by Young, Texas scored 15 points within the next five minutes of play to win the game. Having played soccer in high school, I know too well that playing through the discouragement of a large deficit and with too little time left, strains the spirit of even the most determined optimist. But at a time when the rest of his team seemed ready to give in to defeat, Vince Young challenged them to fight to the end, and they rose to that challenge and won the game. I don't mean to say that a man, to get a girl's attention, has to come from way behind to win a big game. What I mean to say is that the same glint I saw in Vince Young's eye, stepping up and fighting when he could have quit, is the same glint I hope to see in my husband's eye someday. In some strange way, that glint reminds me of how Jesus looked on the mountaintop in Gethsemane when he looked straight at the priests and told them who he was, resisting the temptation to take the easy way out and sacrifice us. Where I used to think that a Godly man would be nice, would be tamed, I realized while watching a football game that the man God has made capable of winning my heart should look a lot like Him. In that game, Young fought to win a championship, but Jesus fought on an infinitely larger scale to win my heart, even though I was working against him the whole time. I don't know that I can settle for less than a man who will fight with the same determination to protect my heart, and to be honest, I'll take the role of forever being the cool aunt to my friends' kids before I'll marry a man who gives up with six minutes left to play.