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Ed Orgeron is one of college footballs biggest personalities, and for much of his life he has done everything big. He has coached big, played big, lived big -- and, yes, he has dreamed big.On Saturday, this self-described Cajun brawler realized one of his most cherished childhood dreams when LSU introduced him as its full-time head football coach.As somebody who grew up on LSU football in the small town of Larose, Louisiana, and helped lead South Lafourche High School to a state championship in 1977, Orgeron considered the Tigahs -- as he calls them in his unmistakable baritone voice -- football royalty. He listened to every game on the radio with his father and envisioned former LSU great Ronnie Estay devouring ball carriers.Orgerons playing career lasted about two weeks at LSU, as he grew homesick and returned home. Previously he had turned down a chance during the recruiting process to go to Alabama and play for Bear Bryant.As Orgerons lifelong friend, former NFL quarterback and Louisiana native Bobby Hebert, notes, it was sacrilegious in those days to leave the state and play for anybody else if you had the ability to play at LSU. So when Bryant called the Orgeron house, hoping to arrange a visit, Ed Orgeron Sr. told Bryant not to bother, that his son was going to LSU.So imagine the pride Ed Orgeron Jr. felt when LSU officials told him early Saturday morning that he was their man.It doesnt matter if he was their second, third or even fourth choice. The people who know him best, his fellow Louisianans, will tell you very pointedly that he was the right choice. Hes one of them. He eats the same food, speaks the same language and can make a tasty roux with the best of them.Orgeron assured me in early October, when I spent some time with him right after he was named LSUs interim coach, that he was going to get the job permanently. He wasnt being arrogant or boastful or pretentious. He was just being himself. Its why hes so revered in his home state. He revels in meeting the steepest of challenges head-on, whether its whipping up a gumbo or developing another stud defensive lineman.But not even Orgeron, 55, could have imagined as a kid hed one day have the keys to the LSU football program.Its hard to explain what LSU meant to a kid from the Lafourche Parish, Orgeron told ESPN.com in October. The only LSU game I remember watching on TV was LSU and Notre Dame, and Ronnie Estay must have had about 18 tackles. He was my idol. I had the channel changer. I had to keep it because nobody was going to change the channel.When I think about LSU, I also think a lot about my dad. Cancer ate him up. We tried everything, but lost him four years ago. He was a huge LSU fan. He had a GED, but had an unbelievable work ethic. My mother peeled potatoes. Her parents trapped for a living, muskrats, and caught shrimp down on a camp in the marsh, and she lived with her sister so she could go to school.Thats where I came from. Thats where I get my fire, my parents.Its that same fire that has endeared him to players and fans alike, but its also a fire that Orgeron has learned to better keep under control. He was admittedly a bull in a china shop during his first foray as a head coach at Ole Miss, where he was 10-25 from 2005 to 2007 and fired after three seasons. To this day, some at Ole Miss will tell you that Orgeron was borderline maniacal when he was coaching the Rebels -- but Orgeron said it was more a case of him not channeling his passion and energy in the right way.Plus, that was more than a decade ago, and he has evolved as a head coach, which is underscored by his success at both Southern California and LSU during difficult interim stints.Its night and day from what I was at Ole Miss, Orgeron told ESPN.com in October. I treat everybody with respect. I treat every day like its a recruiting day. I want everybody to have a role and have ownership and enjoy coming to work.I went to Ole Miss as a D-line coach, he said of his approach back then, and when youre a D-line coach, thats how you are.In other words, dont expect to see him ripping off his shirt any time soon.The last time I ripped my shirt off was at Tennessee, Orgeron said. I said, You know what, the Wild Boys act is over.And while he might not chug Red Bulls by the gallon like he once did, he still sips on an energy drink from time to time. Ive got some Monster [energy drinks] in my fridge. Im going to drink some caffeine, Orgeron said. If thats the worst thing I do in a day, Im in good shape.He takes over an LSU program thats also in good shape, but a program that Orgeron wants to return to championship shape. Les Miles is no longer around because he hadnt won an SEC title since 2011 and had lost five straight to Alabama and Nick Saban. That drought was extended to six straight earlier this month when Alabama beat the Orgeron-led Tigers 10-0 in Baton Rouge.Ive always felt God had a plan for me, and this is where I was supposed to be, Orgeron said. I lived away from my family for so long when I was coaching at USC, but now were all back together. Im happy, and theyre happy. I want the people of Louisiana to be happy. Theyre my family, too, and I want to connect them.I know what they expect out of their football team. Its the same thing I expected when I grew up rooting for the Tigers, and were going to give it to them.Forgive Coach O if he takes a second to pinch himself just to make sure hes not dreaming.Chris Doleman Womens Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Chuck Foreman Vikings Jersey . At a Manhattan federal court hearing, attorney Jordan Siev said his law office has gotten more evidence nearly every day to support its lawsuit accusing MLB and Selig of going on a "witch hunt" to ruin Rodriguezs reputation and career. He said the defendants went "way over the line. http://www.thevikingsshoponline.com/Youth-alexander-mattison-vikings-jersey/ .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. Dru Samia Jersey . It just didnt show when he hit the ice. Berra made 42 saves and Kris Russell scored at 1:32 of overtime, lifting the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night. Dru Samia Youth Jersey . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence.In July and August, espnWs weekly essay series will focus on body image.Ive never felt so beautiful in my life. Women arent supposed to say such things.At 32, Im surprised to find myself divorced and childless. Though this is not at all how I imagined my life, I dont begrudge it. There is nothing I hate about myself. When I look in the mirror, Im satisfied with what I see, which some days feels like a miracle considering the world we live in. Even when I do doubt myself -- I refuse to slide into a vortex of self-criticism.I dont know how many times I have found myself among groups of women flagellating themselves about their physical appearance. ... I hate my thighs. My breasts are too small. I wish I had a bigger ass. I cant stand my crows feet. ... The self-criticism can get ruthless, and years ago I decided I would never participate in these kinds of pile ons.I didnt all of a sudden adopt Beyoncés Flawless as my anthem. I didnt one day get up and decide to become the subject of a sappy Dove commercial. The self-love took years of focused, and painstaking, effort. The relationship I have with both my body and my mind has gone through a transformational shift in the past few years. Ive always loved being a woman, but Ive just now begun to embrace my femaleness with a sense of exuberance.Last year I discovered that I love to run. My fondness of running came as a surprise to me because I hated sports as a child; I was so uncoordinated that kids would groan when I was placed on their teams in gym class. I felt awkward, ugly because of my growing breasts, and embarrassed of my chubby body and clumsiness.I saw running as a chore, a way to counteract my love of burgers and beer and maintain my weight. As I was recovering from a horrific bout of depression, however, I increased my distance, and running became a salve for me. Running was part of the cocktail to treat my mental illness -- therapy, Prozac and my Buddhist practice. After my separation from my husband last winter, it became even more cathartic. I began to enjoy the feeling of exhaustion, the breathlessness.For that hour, I was disconnected from all forms of communication and felt fused with my environment. Running was a meditative experience and I was flooded with creativity. The solitude allowed my mind to make leaps that it hadnt made before. I gave myself pep talks on my runs. You are a bad-ass bitch, I would say to myself. You can do anything. Love yourself, you dummy! It was hokey, but it worked. I pushed myself in ways that were unfamiliar to me. I was running for five-mile stretches several times a week. The ache of my muscles afterward was satisfying because it reminded me of what my body had done.The exercise boosted my endorphins as well as my confidence. My back became firm, my posture improved, my ass was well-sculpted, and my stumpy little legs were now tight and powerful. Not only that, I had more energy and my clothes fit me like a goddamn dream.It wasnt until I began to run more seriously that I realized what I was missing.ddddddddddddThere is a sense of liberation that comes from running through the city. Not only does it exhilarate my body, dodging traffic and jumping over broken glass and dead rats makes me feel like a tough broad. I find the solitude fortifying.It was inevitable that this feeling of transcendence manifested in other realms of my life. Older women always tell me how wonderful their 30s were in contrast to their 20s. This is the time when you finally figure yourself out and grow into your own. Well, theyre right. I spent my younger years clawing my way up in my career, feeling insecure about my body, and letting men treat me like garbage. Now that Im a grown woman, I like who I am. I know exactly what I want and what I deserve.As I have become more self-assured and in-tune with my body, Ive entered what feels like a sexual awakening, which I suppose is not surprising. They say that women reach their sexual peak in their 30s because this is when we feel most comfortable with our bodies and sexuality.In fact, a study found that women feel their sexiest at 34. An article published in 2010 in the journal of Personality and Individual Differences also found that women aged 27 through 45 are significantly more sexual than younger women. This particular study posited that the increase in sex drive is biological -- women become more sexually active as their fertility begins to drop. Whatever the reason may be, its real and my desire to have children has followed, a feeling so intense that the other day I saw a beautiful pregnant woman walking down the street and sobbed. My tears were both startling and embarrassing. Part of me felt betrayed by the body I had worked so hard to strengthen and love.I feel like Im brimming with possibilities at this moment in my life. And as Ive reached this precipice -- spiritually, emotionally, and physically -- I find myself single. I cant decide if this is ironic because I know Im definitely not the only one experiencing this. Im surrounded by beautiful and accomplished women who are similarly alone. Are we frightening? I often wonder. Is our power perceived as emasculating in a world built on male fragility?Dont get me wrong. In no way do I find our lives tragic or sad. The women I know are fierce as hell. And despite the incertitude I feel about myself at times, I know that Im flourishing, that Im a complex and complete woman.I feel sorry for those who are incapable of sharing this abundance.Erika L. Sánchez is a poet, essayist and fiction writer. She is the author of Lessons on Expulsion (Graywolf 2017) and Brown Girl Problems (Knopf 2017). Her nonfiction has appeared in Al Jazeera, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and many other publications. She has received a CantoMundo Fellowship, a Discovery/Boston Review Poetry Prize, and a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. ' ' '