Well, Damn

Finding the words to start this is hard.

Usually, I have no problem getting started with these things, the hard part is figuring out a way to end them and at the same time try to have my fingers keep up with what my big brain is wanting to say.

Dr. Seuss was a wise man, he may have had some questionable items in his personal life, but the guy could write. I mean, the number of copies being sold of "Oh The Places You'll Go" this time of year speaks for itself. But in the quote above, he is spot on.

Words are easy though because I have tears in my eyes right now because I'm hurting for the Jackets and their parents. But at the same time, I couldn't be more proud of them either.

I may be premature in posting this because I really haven't processed everything that happened this evening. I'm currently feeling as though the referees played way too much of a role in the game. I think both sides would agree that they didn't do the best job, and also feel as though both sides can't honestly say they were biased one way or the other. They just did a poor job of calling the game. Hopefully they will learn from that because as we all know, you either win or you...well, you know.

The tough thing for us is that it was the last lesson and I, for one, am having a hard time finding out what it was I'm supposed to learn.

I know that if I didn't personally watch that game and had someone told me the final score, I would've immediately assumed that Kingfisher won, I mean 29-31 sounds like another night of dominating Jacket defense. And it was! Holding a team like Douglass to 31 points is something that very few, if any, teams can say they have accomplished.

We just didn't get enough in the bucket on our end.

We had chances for sure.

Unfortunately, it came right down to the last few seconds. In overtime. And the ending sucked.

Confucius said "The will to win, the desire to succeed , the urge to reach your full potential...these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence."

So let's break that down from a fundamental standpoint.

1. Did the Jackets have a will to win? I will answer that with a resounding hell yes (sorry I know-kids show but I'm a little worked up here). These guys have had the will to win since the moment they were born.

2. Do they have the desire to succeed? Again, hell yes. They know what it takes to achieve their goals.

3. Do they have the urge to reach their full potential? Time will tell. I won't bet against any of them though.

There are a lot of people, not too many of them read this blog though, that will say it's just a game or it's just high school basketball. I actually feel sorry for those people because they completely missed the point of what athletics teaches our kids.

It's not wins or learning experiences, it's not the number of rings or anything else.

It's about learning how to motivate yourself to become a part of a team to achieve a goal. Plain and simple right there.

Think about it, what employer wouldn't want someone who knows how to be a team player, knows how to accentuate their own talents in order to help others succeed and also is able to identify a task and does what it takes to get the job done?

These Jackets, boys and girls, have soooooo much ahead of them. We all see it. We all know it.

Listen to the podcast where we interviewed Drake and Emily. I'm STILL in awe of Emily's mindset. I've been around some serious competitors before but know this, if I was going to choose someone to be on my team, she's definitely a top draft pick.

So that takes me back to Dr. Seuss' quote, don't cry because it's over-smile because it happened.

Smile because the boys have accomplished something that very few teams ever have and even fewer will.

Smile because the girls fought through the learning bracket twice to make it to The Big House.

Smile because they are such incredible people and that we are so proud of them for being exactly who they are.

It's easy right now to look back to the last few hours or days and say what should have been called or what should have happened. But I would suggest to look back a bit further and remember all that they have done and how they got to where they are now.

I'm pretty sure that if you do that, you'll have a smile.

Thank you Jackets, for another memorable season. It was one that I will certainly remember fondly for a very long time and I hope you do as well.