High School Hoop Dreams

This weekend Value City Arena will host the OHSAA boys basketball state tournament. Just down Lane Avenue over the bridge, the Varsity Club will host high school basketball fans. You can join the conversation between games and enjoy a cold beverage before walking back to the Schott for the next game; or you can stay there all day and watch the games on STO. Whether you watch them live or on the big screen at the VC, its sure to be a good time. There will be a few groups of storytellers sure to be in attendance. Count on that.

Let the stories begin... When I was a junior at Ottawa-Glandorf High School, we played in the state championship title game and lost by one point. We had an unbelievable season and nearly pulled off an amazing 21-point-comeback championship victory, but it wasn't meant to be. Coincidentally the school that beat us in 1996 won the semi-final game this afternoon and will play Saturday for another chance at a title. Orrville High School. If they win on Saturday, as part of my work's partnership with the OHSAA, I will deliver a congratulatory speech to their team. - I am hoping Lima Central Catholic wins that game; but the kicker is that Lima beat Ottawa-Glandorf in this year's regional tournament to get to the state tournament... Either way, O-G lost. And that finally is the point of this post... To the winner go the spoils, and no one remembers the losers. (Except maybe the story-telling patrons at the Varsity Club)

I will always remember the one-point loss to Orrville as a heartbreaker, but I will remember the emotional distraught of our seniors, coaches, and fans more than the loss.

I use this example of community comradery because its relevant to the curent events of the weekend for one, but also because it represents the essence of high school sports. For the past month, I have watched high school athletes win and lose in the state tournament of their respective winter sport. Wrestling, Swimming, and most recently girl's and boy's basketball tournaments have built character and taught lessons of sportmanship, integrity, and class to the athletes competing through the elation of winning and agony of defeat. I'm a firm believer we learn more about our personal fortitude through defeat than we do in winning, but that doesn't make it any easier to accept, especially at 17 years old.

I have been fortunate to watch many high school sporting events here of late due in part to the Refuel with Chocolate Milk campaign; and the one lasting image that stays with me is the image of an athlete brought to tears at the realization of their final game/match/event as a high school athlete resulting in a loss. To have come so far, but not far enough. I have to say, as an athlete who has been in those shoes, it's a difficult situation to find yourself in; and managing those emotions can be impossible for the kid who literally invested his/her entire personal commitment to that team. For many, it's their first true love. It may be overwhelming. Numbing. Maybe even sickening. But at the end of that bus trip home is a welcome reception... A community proud of their team. They may not have won first place, but even the consolation prize of a state tournament deserves respect from a community who have reaped so many exciting memories as a result of those 15-17 year old kids. The second place team may not have won gold, but they became stronger young men and women through the process; which reassures my belief that sport creates a greater good in our communities... A utilitarian greater-good that brings forth teamwork, commitment, and trust among young people. I hope all the teams competing this weekend as well as those communities enjoy the experience of a state tournament as much as I did fourteen years ago... even the kids from Orrville.

Who Dat Havin all that Fun!?

Saints Video: Bourbon Street

A team that has never been to the big one is finally getting it's chance to show the rest of the NFL what Who Dat is all about. This video exemplifies my theory of sport producing a greater good in a community. The fanatical comradery that has engulfed the New Orleans Saints Who Dat Nation is an excellent example of what can be overcome by a community that has something to believe in. Those in sports know the story of the New Orleans Saints following Hurricane Katrina and have seen the images captured of shelter-seeking New Orleaners flocking to the Superdome for help. But time changes, and time heals - and now those same once displaced New Orleaners are feeling the love from a city that may just have the next SuperBowl Champions.

There's no doubt the unique vibe that makes Bourbon Street in New Orleans a must-experience city was in the air last night following the overtime thriller. What was also in the air though was euphoria. Look closely at the emotion of the faces of the Saints fans as Bourbon Street explodes with cheers. Fans are absolutely taken over with elation when they realize the kick was good and the Saints are going to the SuperBowl. (Just got goosebumps)

This is what professional sports should be about. A community and a team who support each other in bad times and good times, working together to elevate a community to be greater than the individuals that make it up. As a player, I would have loved to experience the euphoria and elation the Saints players, especially Garrett Hartley felt as the overtime field goal split the uprights to send them to the SuperBowl; but put me in the middle of Bourbon Street surrounded by the sights, smells, and electricity portrayed in this video and I think I would have been equally as happy.