ZBu: It was late at night on a Saturday my senior year of high school. Huddled up in a circle on the outfield grass, down on one knee were nine eighteen year olds looking around an empty field under the bright lights. Some stared aimlessly. Some had anger in their eyes. Others tried to no avail to fight back tears. These were nine eighteen year olds realizing the past four years were over, life was about to change forever and they had fallen short of a goal they had been working so hard towards... a state championship. Some knew they would move on and play again in college but others realized their time on the field was done. Such is the life of an athlete. Such is life in general. Everything you have come to know can be taken from you and over in an instant. But to this day, now ten years later, I remember looking around at my teammates and feeling so proud to have been a part of such a great team filled with many different personalities who cared for each other nonetheless.
I was reminded of this moment in my life while watching North Dakota State's post game press conference last night after being ousted from the NCAA tournament by San Diego State. I really hadn't thought about it in a long time though its one of those life moments that never leaves you and that's probably because I was one of the guys fighting back tears knowing I'd never play again. Something I really love, however, is that even though it has now been a decade since I played on the Wando baseball team, if I ever see any of my teammates out and about, now matter how long its been, we can pick right up and have a conversation as if we were hitting balls off a tee hours before. These are guys I'm forever connected to because we once shared the same hopes and dreams while growing into men together. The North Dakota State's men's basketball team will undoubtedly feel the same way towards each other and if nothing else can always have a drink and discuss the time they knocked off a higher-seeded Oklahoma in their final season.
Our last blog was about kids getting out and being more active. I stand by everything we said in that piece and kids should be able to decide for themselves whether or not they want to play sports. But its nostalgic moments like the one described above that really makes me hope my son or daughter invests in athletics. Not simply for a healthy body but for a healthy soul that has felt heartache and bliss all at once. The rest of life is too serious not to lose yourself in a game that can hurt badly at times but only makes you stronger in the long run. Win or lose, the memories and experiences are yours forever.
PAV: I got chills when I thought about that moment after our 4th loss of the season to Stratford. We were nationally ranked and we had really no business being so. We had no top prospects to name (no offense to Mike). We lost to a team that had two current MLB stars. We could've won! That's what I keep telling myself. I'm sure the North Dakota State team is saying the same thing: "If we could've stopped Xavier Thames, we had that game." The comaraderie those guys will feel after a great season by all measures will be everlasting.
The overwhelming feeling I'll always have about our amazing 2004 season will be that we were nationally ranked and outs away from a State Championship DESPITE our coach. Ask any of the 15 guys on our roster that year and all but one of them will tell you that. It was a moment in my life when I learned I could lead and when I learned that just because someone may be older and more experienced than you doesn't mean they are greater than you by any means. We won that year because we had faith in one another at all times. Can't learn that from Call of Duty.
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