Another venting session about the game...

Some people workout when they're upset. Some eat junk food. When I get really upset about a particular issue, like many people, I poor my frustration into (very emotional) writing. If anyone's interested, here is my venting session from this morning, still working out the left-over emotions of last night's game. This one, of course is completely biased, but I thought it was worth sharing. It says a lot about how I feel about some of my students who are athletes, too. So please take this as a piece of emotional writing...


The happy sunshine team deserved to win Friday’s game, and they did win- at football. The defeat suffered by the team, the school, and the entire community was not at the hands of skilled competitor athletes; there would have been justice in that. This was a far more painful kind of defeat.
Athletics are known for the intensity with which they twist the hearts of the competitors, the dignity that may be found in throwing all of one’s strength and courage into something, the outcome of the mind and body’s complete focus, the comradery of a team, and the integrity of accepting wins and loses with grace. The Sunshiners achieve this grace and integrity in their practice and their conduct, and maintained it at Friday’s game, in the face of a force that could bring any proud man to his knees. It seems that the community has never had more reason to be proud of its athletes than they did on Friday.
The game was griping. Sunshine district maintained the lead for nearly the entire game. Push after push, the Sun-shiners threw themselves into all-out battle, despite bad call after bad call. Anyone would be hard pressed to recall a more dramatic or more painful scene in the history of athletics than the scene witnessed by the Sunshine district supporters who saw the reaction of the team after Friday’s game. Fury, feelings of helplessness, tears. The community cried with them. What consolation could team mates offer each other in the face of something like this.
Perhaps it was not the poor calls that wounded so deeply that night. It seems that stronger and more historical forces (please review the races of the players and head referee for more information) were on the minds of everyone watching the game. If the Sunshiners had lost fair and square on Friday, there still would have been pride in that. These gentlemen have plenty of reason to be proud, and the team is more than strong enough to handle a loss or two and come back fighting harder still. The community did not have the opportunity to witness their team give it their all and take a defeat. The community witnessed a team that gave it their all, that fought harder than the competition and wanted it more- a team that deserved a victory.
No wonder these young men and women so often express frustration and hold so dearly to pride and respect. Our teams put in phenomenal efforts daily under leadership of a coach who demonstrates and teaches integrity. Again, the community has reason to be proud of its athletes. Win or loose, our athletes show what they are made of and come out on top.