Crazy, Stupid, Love.

So as I was sifting through the dreck of Boootube videos, I found myself oddly looking to compile my own list of the best of the worst. It’s exactly what you’d expect: twerk fails, incoherent tirades, and intolerable baby-yoga.¹ Then I stumbled across an article on deadspin.com about what was seemingly just another ho-hum cheesy music video.

This article highlights a craptastic² video that just so happens to feature Bill Cowher. That name might have triggered a bell, because Cowher was both a former NFL linebacker and the head coach of the Super Bowl champion  2006 Pittsburgh Steelers. If you remember Cowher as a mustachioed, sideline-stomping head coach, though, you’re in for a surprise, because in this video he’s managed to mix Selena Gomez smokey-eyes with Marilyn Manson goth. This does not exactly fit the bill for a guy who normally wears the cape of one of the toughest guys in sports. So what gives? Well… his girlfriend just so happens to be the lead singer.

This leads me to believe one of two things: either his girlfriend is blackmailing him, or he did it for love. And I’m choosing to believe it’s love.

But even if it is for love it still leaves me baffled. Not because the explanation doesn’t match the action, but because love will have – once again – confounded my expectations. Sure, love is patient, love is kind, but St. Paul never said anything about love being crazy, but it sure seems to come with the gig. I guess it’s one of life’s lessons: if you fall in love, expect a healthy amount of crazy. (Even though St. Paul missed it, both St. Bob of Dylan and Freddy Mercury apparently knew it well enough to put it in their song titles, Bob with his great track Crazy Love, and Freddy with the pointedly monikered “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”).

But let’s not confuse love-crazy with bat $#!% crazy… unlike this list of The 7 Most Insane Things Done in the Name of Love, love-crazy and crazy-crazy are not the same.³

But I gotta give Cowher props – he gets it. Because love isn’t just about being patient or kind. It demands humility, and letting go, and generosity and courage, too. It may even require doing something you ordinarily wouldn’t do for someone extraordinary. Oftentimes that sort of crazy love looks like Lloyd Dobbler holding a boombox over his head in Say Anything or the card-scene from Love Actually. But recently, I’ve seen this crazy love most exhibited by ‘super-hero’ fathers for their children. If anyone deserves that sort of extraordinary form of crazy, it’s gotta be children. Like this little guy who’s dad dressed up like Spider Man to surprise him:

Or the incredible (and incredibly cool) Batman Dad:

Honestly, it’s this type of crazy love that inspires, consoles, and deepens any relationship. Love requires being a little radical… even if that means going goth, or boombox montages, or dressing up like a superhero to make your four year old laugh.

The best part about crazy love, though? It seems to be infectious.

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Author’s note: I’d love to hear “Crazy, Stupid Love” anecdotes or stories or videos from anybody out there. Whether they’re of you or done for you, please send them along.

The cover image, by Koinos Zoi Photography at Flickr, can be found here.

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