Thursday, October 21, 2010

Sometimes we "Get It"


Originally Posted, Sunday, November 29, 2009

    With the completion of the State Football Championship games, we can now close the books on the 2009 fall sports season. Although the Panthers fell a game short of their ultimate goal of a state championship game appearance, the fall season can be looked on as a success on many levels. All three fall sports, football, volleyball, soccer and cross country made deep runs in the state championship playoff system. The Panther boys cross country team appeared in the state meet again, and the Panther Volleyball team went to state for the third time in the last four years. The Panther Soccer team won its first ever state playoff game and the Panther football squad made another deep run in the playoffs, falling to eventual state champion Bishop Miege in the sub-state game held at Panther Stadium.
    The title of this blog entry is “Sometimes we get it!”. What is “It”? To me, “it” is the idea that we all want to compete at the highest level, all the time. We want to test ourselves against the best that our competition level has to offer. We want to be measured against the best, to ultimately be the best. The Paola Panther fall sports coaches have set the bar high in the past few years, putting the Panthers on the map when it comes to playoff level competition.
    It’s a big deal now when a team faces, and defeats, the Paola Panthers. Other schools measure their level of success by looking back and saying they played and defeated Paola. School look at their schedules and see the Panthers on the horizon, and they mark that game with a little extra, because they know they will have to play their best to compete, and to be victorious. 
    It has been accurately said the road to the state championship in Class 4A football runs through Holton, because the Wildcats have been so good for so long that every team who makes it to the state championship game will have defeated them along the way. Well, the same is beginning to be true about Paola. Year in and year out, the Panther football team is one of the last four or eight standing when the playoffs are drawing to a close. “It” is alive and well in Panther football.
    Volleyball has “It” too. All the Panthers did this year was re-load a team that lost to of its best players of all time, and after a rocky early season, found an identity and rode it all the way to the state championships. Granted, the Panther horses were not as strong as the others at state, but that doesn’t matter, “It” got the Panthers to state, and “It” will serve them well for years to come.
    The Paola Panther boys cross country team has “It” too, developing a strong core group of runners that know what it takes to compete and win at the highest levels. The Panther girls are finding “It” too, but they are a year or so behind their counterparts in making it happen.
    The Panther soccer team won its first ever state playoff game, and is gaining an identity, and learning what it takes to play at the state’s highest levels. The soccer program is learning quickly that “It” is needed to compete, and it’s not good enough to just win a game or two, to be really good, to compete at the highest levels, “It” must be found and lived day in and day out. The soccer team got a glimpse of “It” winning the first round playoff game, they must not continue to build and move deeper in the state tournament in the coming years.
    “It” is defined differently by each and every school, coach, athlete and parent. Some are happy with lesser accomplishments and lower levels of competitiveness, and that is fine. “It” can be a league title, or a tournament title, teams have to compete at a level where they are comfortable, much like the “Peter Principal” teams will rise to the level where they are most comfortable and will stay there, that is until the climate changes and something or someone demands they step outside their comfort zone.
    The Panthers have made that commitment, they are committed at all levels to compete, not just once in a lifetime, but every year, in every game, for the ultimate prize. The Panthers, their fans, players, coaches and administration have “it” and it was fun to watch it in action this fall. I can’t wait to see what the winter sports have in store!

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