the    sides

I’ve been neglectful in my postings of the season.

Okay - the bad news - we’ve yet to win a game.

Good news: We’re scoring touchdowns, throwing deep passes, getting safeties with double blitzes, running a hurry-up offense.

Bad news: It appears that it is next to impossible for a 9 year old to go to the bathroom BEFORE the game starts. ??????? Think you’re going to use those timeouts for strategy and clock stoppage? Think again. You are going to use them so that you can substitute one of your players that has to pee. It’s pretty comical until the guy that subs in doesn’t really get what he’s supposed to do and that’s the one play that goes for a touchdown.

The kids are laughing, having a good time. I’ve heard a couple of our ‘rules’ repeated by parents - “Stay positive. Always.” “Do your best then get back to the huddle.” “Pay attention to details and good things are going to happen.”

So it’s paying off in terms of life lessons and the kids learning some skills and loving the game.

They’ve learned how to lose graciously and learn from it. They’ve learned how to stay positive and keep working. They’re catching the ball now, moving the ball and scoring touchdowns. That’s all good.

I just want them to learn how to win as well. How to stay focused for the whole game and get a W.

One conversation with a parent kind of sums up my feelings on that.

She said “Johnny (not his real name) loves flag football this year. He won more games last year but hated it. This has been a great experience.”

“I appreciate that. I just want to get one win.”

“Winning isn’t everything.”

“Neither is losing. I’m not saying I want to dominate the league and go undefeated. I just want them to learn what it takes to win and handle that just as well as they’ve handled their losses.”

Playoffs are this weekend. We get one game to get it done. If we win, we move one. If we lose, we go eat pizza. Either way - it’ll be a good day.