Winning and Losing
The thought of losing can never mean so much to a person until the final buzzer sounds, until the gun is fired, until the final out, until the last shot.
Football my sophomore year was incredible. Eight seniors started on both sides of the ball and they were a mix of the finest athletes in the area. We had been lucky to witness, let alone play with these men. Most were friends of mine, a few were just acquaintances.
We were connected in more ways than just that. We were involved with a football team that played as one. Each person having different jobs but all had the same job site: the football field. That was our office. That was where we did our work.
That’s also where we dealt with our problems, taking our aggression out on the opposition, not just every quarter or half. It was done every play. Every ounce of energy was used chasing down the enemy or running for a game clinching touchdown. We were all fortunate to have that same attitude every game, every day of the season. Not just in games but practice. We were all business: No games, No fun, strictly business.
We had different leaders on the team. Some were out going. Others were quiet. They didn’t have to talk, yell, or bitch. Those were the ones that just let their skill on the field do the talking. I was one of those players. I never trashed anyone and kept my mouth shut every play. Then there was my opposite. Jess always had something to say. Although his words cane across as bitching, it was actually his constructive criticism that kept us together as a team. Jess knew how to play. He played with more heart than any other person I’ve ever witnessed. Jess was arguably the best player in the U.P. He was the reason we went as far as our team did.
The summer after my freshman year of high school was the fastest three month period of my life. I don’t know if it was just a coincidence or if the anticipation of our football season was too great to contain. Like usual the summer practices sucked. I just wanted to start the games, a normal feeling among our team. We were too anxious to just start bashing teams. We had no fears, doubts, or worries. We were totally confident in our talent and our team chemistry. We knew our season would be fun and exciting. A state title was in all our minds, but we took one game at a time. It was difficult to try to forget about winning a championship though.
The season started like our team and community expected. We destroyed our first two opponents. Our third game was a different story and we had left our school with a ten [next page]