I?€™ve had a lot of romantic young women writing me in the last couple of days.
It?€™s uncanny. They all have asked about Lanny.
And they?€™ve asked me to play Cupid on Valentine?€™s Eve.
Lanny, as much of young single female America seems to agree, was unjustly uninvited Wednesday night to remain as one of three contenders, from an original cast of 25, on ABC-TV?€™s ?€œThe Bachelorette.?€ť
After looking for love in all the wrong places, a relative handful of internet-savvy fans of ?€œThe Bachelorette?€ť have turned in this direction, looking for Lanny Lawrence, the former Demon linebacker (51 tackles in his senior year, 1999) turned network TV heartthrob.
I get e-mail pleas that are simple and direct: ?€œI saw the article you wrote about Lanny on the NSU website.? Would you possibly know how to contact him??€ť
Frequently, the notes are funny, if not frantic: ?€œHow the heck can I get an address? It is like the CIA, top secret or something!?€ť
Occasionally, they come almost off the pages of a Jennifer Blake novel: ?€œLanny Lawrence? warmed this true Southerner's heart.? Transplanted to the North last Fall after a doomed relationship ended ... please? let Lanny know even in the big city he has made fans.?€ť
Sometimes, they?€™re eloquent and humbly apologetic: ?€œI'm sure you must have received hundreds of these emails following the February 3 article entitled "Reality check -- updating Lanny Lawrence's adventures on 'The Bachelorette'", and I, shamefully, join the ranks.?€ť
And always, they?€™re right from the heart: ?€œI have been watching him on the Bachelorette and he is a doll.?€ť
All of these ladies say they?€™re ?€œnormal.?€ť They?€™re not. And that?€™s not bad at all.
?€œNo, I am not a stalker, just a country girl looking for my knight in shining armor,?€ť says one.
?€œYes, this is bold, but look at the lengths Lanny went to by going on the Bachelorette,?€ť says another. ?
And a third: ?€œThis is utterly embarrassing to even ask, but, hey, you only live once :-)?€ť
Some include pictures, presumably of themselves. (Fortunately, Janet Jackson hasn?€™t written.) Quite a few unabashedly tell me they are, at the very least, ?€œcute?€ť -- interestingly, all of the ones who include pictures would fit that description -- and nearly all of them say they are ?€œnice.?€ť
This outpouring of soaring passion, over a guy who?€™s ?€œone of us?€ť and yet ?€œunreachable,?€ť is the crux of the Lanny Lust.
?€œIt makes me wonder how great guys like that are out there and the only time you see them is on a TV show, then there is no way of ever getting in contact with them,?€ť writes one heartsick honey, hoping I?€™m her ticket agent to happiness -- a formidable assignment, indeed.
Who are these ladies? Some are cowgirls and businesswomen, teachers, an editor of a law review, and even a fellow sports information director. Several say they were touched by Lanny?€™s references to his religious beliefs and they are convinced their faith can make them an ideal match for him.
Like the Beatles, whose arrival in America 40 years ago was commemorated last week, they believe ?€œlove is all there is.?€ť
As for the linebacker/love interest who is the hottie de jour, he?€™s got one more night in the spotlight, on Feb. 22, when all of the Bachelors who weren?€™t picked will gather for a ?€œtell all?€ť session.
I?€™m told some of the other guys have their own websites. Not our hero, much to the frustration of my newfound friends and his ardent fans. On the ?€œBachelorette?€ť page on www.abc.com, the message boards are ablaze with posters who think Meredith missed out when she let Lanny leave.
Our www.nsudemons.com poll earlier this week, as we?€™ve done for a few weeks now, asked you to predict Lanny?€™s luck in love on the show. For the first time this week, we added an ?€œenough of this cheesy stuff?€ť answer: ?€œDon?€™t care, I liked Lanny as No. 52.?€ť
Of the 105 responses, 23 chose that answer. There were 56 of us that thought Lanny would collect another rose. Just 26 voters had it pegged correctly, forseeing his gallant ride away from a Bachelorette who admitted she ?€œjust adored?€ť him and said her decision was only because they didn?€™t have enough time to know each other better.
Instead of the limo, shouldn?€™t the producers have arranged for a white horse and a sunset for Lanny?€™s exit scene?
The biggest upside of Lanny?€™s ?€œdownfall?€ť this week is that I will not accidentally be subjected to another moment of ?€œCelebrity Mole.?€ť Didn?€™t it make you want to Lysol your TV?
I?€™m sure there will be a couple more big bashes at the Fox ?€˜N Hound Pub in Richardson, Texas, with Lanny, his brother Matt and a few hundred friends to watch the remaining Bachelorette episodes. I wonder if any of the women who have written me would step away from their computers and fly to Dallas for a real chance to meet their ideal Valentine.
Now THAT would be as bold as a country boy from Texas going on a network TV reality show, willing to consider he might find the girl of his dreams amidst a pack of 24 other guys hoping the same thing.
I?€™ve always searched for a story that would write itself. Those are like the ?€œgreat guys?€ť mentioned earlier by one woman -- you hear about them, but do they really exist?
Well, to some degree, borrowing unashamedly from the hearts of women I?€™ve never met, this story did. Quoting a favorite sentiment from these e-mails:
?€œThanks if you even got through reading this!!!?€ť
And yes, ladies, in the spirit of Valentine?€™s Day, I?€™ll play Cupid and hit the ?€œforward?€ť button toward Texas for you.
How could I say no?
