only backgroundI'm a wife, mother and grandmother. I'm opinionated. I contradict myself frequently. Most of all, I love my kids. I believe in them. I fight for them. They're weird and wonderful. If you want to know more, here's a bunch of other stuff from my old site.
It’s no secret that I love football; I’ve blogged about it many times. It’s no secret that I love my kids and my niece and nephews. I’ve blogged about all of them. Let me tell you now about one of my nephews, a special kid who inspires me.
Jake is a middle child, the younger brother of my godson, Luke and older brother to my beautiful niece Stephanie. His mom is my sister. Jake and my son Nick were two of the most mischievous kids ever; I can’t even begin to list all the mind-boggling antics these two devised together. They certainly kept us on our toes!
Jake and his brother have played football, first for the city league and then for their schools, since they were in grade school. As they got older, they also began to cut grass for extra spending money. Their dad instilled in them a powerful work ethic that is evident in every aspect of their lives. From attaining straight A’s through high school and college, to spending every weekend, even while in college, cutting grass, to their dedication to the team on the football field, my nephews give every obligation everything they have.
Jake’s high school football career was exemplary. He’d played on the same team with his older brother but it wasn’t until Luke graduated that Jake really began to shine. In his senior year as running back, he rushed for 2100 yards. He broke school records that will probably stand for quite some time. He took his team to the State championship, where they hadn’t been in over a decade. Their opponent, the largest single A school in the state, was a powerhouse; the Madonna Blue Dons were the 3rd smallest high school with a football team in all of West Virginia. Jake and the Madonna High School team believed they could win. So did the fans.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget that game. I stood in the stands next to Jake’s brother, Luke and we watched together as, with a 0-0 score in the first quarter, Jake got hit hard and went down with a knee injury. I thought Luke was going to leap over the railing and onto the field. Jake had to be helped off the field and we just knew it was bad as we watched him limping up and down the sideline a few times. We spent the rest of the game cheering for the team and checking on Jake’s knee.
Our beloved Blue Dons did lose the game but they fought hard despite worrying about Jake. You see, these young men were not just teammates; they were best friends for most of their lives. They’d all played football together, gone to school together, hung out together for the past dozen years. This was never about one player; it was about them doing this one last thing as a team, before heading out into an adult world of college and work.
Jake’s football career has been sluggish since those glory days in high school. He’s been plagued with an extended illness and several injuries. Nevertheless, any time he did play at West Liberty State College, he excelled. No one can ever deny Jake’s talent or his work ethic.
Tonight, the Madonna High School Blue Dons will again meet the powerful Wheeling Central Knights. This semi-final round game will be played on that same field where Jake ended his high school career. According to Rich Stevens from the Charleston Daily Mail, the Class A semifinal means more to Dons than Knights. I have to agree. It’s like a battle between a Doberman Pinscher and a Chihuahua. No one expects the Chihuahua to come out on top. Well, no one except for the Chihuahua, that is.
It’s a mismatch, to be certain.
“I love Madonna and I’m pulling for them hard, but Wheeling Central is a powerhouse,” said Myers, utilizing realism, not negativity, on his alma mater.
These schools are separated by 30 miles, but they don’t play - Wheeling Central is AAA in the OVAC with an enrollment of 330. Madonna is A with a meager 110 students in grades 9-11.
This is a classic example of the haves and have-nots.
I still remember the let down of that game in 2004 because we really believed that we could win it. I also remember how quickly Jake put it all into perspective and accepted the outcome. Again, he amazed and inspired me with his attitude. I thought about it all and remember saying that there had to be a reason that the Blue Dons didn’t win. At the time, I couldn’t imagine what that reason was but now I think I might know. That game was the last for Wheeling Central’s late coach Jim Thomas. Perhaps it just had to be that way.
And this year? Well, things are different, that’s for sure.
Not a whole lot has changed, except that Wheeling Central is a heavier favorite than it was that December three years ago.
Actually, Madonna is nothing more than tumbleweed as Central tornadoes toward the title, but Myers hopes to provide some inspiration for his Blue Dons.
Almost three years later, Myers provided some pep to Madonna’s step in practice this week.
His speech to the team, well earned after his senior season, included advice on having fun because he wish he “would’ve embraced it more.”
This task is taller for the players who, three years ago, hailed the 17-year-old Myers as a working-class hero among Weirton’s working class. The gap between the tiny Dons and mighty Knights wasn’t as large when Moorefield and Wheeling Central dominated the state’s small school ranks.
I can’t help but consider, though, that the thing that made Jake and the 2004 Madonna Blue Dons real champions was their attitude and their belief in themselves. If the 2007 Blue Dons have that same attitude and believe they can take down the might Knights, then they might just make believers out of all of us. As Rich Steven says in his article,
There aren’t enough metaphors to describe the potential one-sidedness of this game.
There also won’t be enough hard hits and Maroon Knight touchdowns to overcome the energy and enthusiasm that Madonna brings to the clash.
That’s because this is just another game to the Knights, but it’s much more than that to the Dons.
Yes, it is more than just another game to the Blue Dons. And yet, Rich is right on the money when he mentioned in an email to me that the players from 2004 probably learned more from the loss than they would have from a win. In fact, that loss taught them how to be real champions.
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