They lost

My nephew's football team. You have to understand, where we live football is like a religion. Friday nights in September, October and November are what we spend our lives preparing for. To some it probably sounds ridiculous. To those who understand I need say nothing more. They start them young...4 or 5. My nephew, Will is a born athlete. The kind that have real potential. Sure all families think this of their kids but the kid has something special. He didn't start until he was 7. The politics were almost enough last year for him (and the rest of the family) to quit. To walk in after most of these kids had been playing for 4 or 5 years (he is huge so he plays up an age bracket) is not something easily done. But he did it. He worked his a$$ off, lost 21 pounds this season and he went from a very poorly coached JV team last year to a very prestigious varsity team this year... and he started... both ways.

They start in July with summer camp for two weeks. Then two weeks off and practices start in August. Four days a week for two hours. In mid September, when school starts, practices go to three days a week for two hours plus a game on Saturday. If you sat down and calculated the amount of hours these very young kids put in during a season it is mind boggling. But Will did it with never a complaint. His team managed to go undefeated, another rare feat because again, where we live football is a religion and the teams in surrounding towns couldn't agree more, until today. In the division championship, they lost in uninspired style. They didn't score. They did very little. Will did run down a kid from the other side of the field who was 20 yards out in front for an open field tackle but it ended up mattering little.

The look of defeat for these kids as they walked off the field, tears streaking their little baby boy faces, was agonizing for every parent waiting to hug their player. It crushed both players and coaches and family members. After all hundreds of hours have been poured into this. And then we remember... they have their whole careers ahead of them. On next Saturday afternoon when our undefeated high school team takes the field and we scream like a bunch of maniacal phanatics people might think we're crazy. But we'll know. We will know the blood, sweat, tears and heart that have gone into almost 15 years of preparation for those kids. So when you think sports fans are just a bunch of nuts remember that athletes, at all levels, pour their entire lives into this journey. The breath their sport. They live it ever moment. So it's something bigger than they are.

You had a great season Will.

The Little Chiefs 2009 Season Record 9 and 1... not too shabby!