We were supposed to be down. Too many good players off of last year. Too many players who hadn't proven themselves. Hey Clintwood you had a nice couple of years, now let's slide back a notch or two.
The only problem is, someone forgot to the tell the guys who would be on the field that. They worked and busted their humps to try to not only be better than people thought they would be, but to be better than they though they would be. There was some nice signs early. Some strong performances, some very nice efforts. We took a loss to a very good Lebanon team and was mad about it, not because we lost, but because we felt we gave it away. The attitude was right, a good team, a bit of a chip on its shoulder. We came out against the preseason favorite Powell Valley and dominated them. Nobody was overlooking us, we were a good team and now they knew it! Had to go to Shelby Valley, a very good team, very wet field and played pretty well, although maybe we had some executing problems. Nothing horrible. Then to Appalachia, horrible field, better team than they were. Maybe not our sharpest but that's ok. Then we have Kelly, who everybody wanted to think was a cakewalk. We found out they weren't. They also exploited a few problems, maybe not problems, but areas that a few people had stopped working as hard, maybe a bit of complacency had set in. One thing we didn't realize, we went from the hunters to the hunted. We wasn't the team that had something to prove, we were the team that others wanted to prove their worth against. So now we come to this week. A team that we should in no way overlook, not expect to line up and give us everything we want and probably more. It's at Norton. They think they have been better than us the last few years and we've gotten by on lucky breaks. In their mind and a lot of other peoples minds, we aren't supposed to win and we won't. You know what that should do, that should make us hungry, angry, playing with a bit of a chip on our shoulder again. Every mistake that we've made the last few weeks, we shouldn't make. Everytime we thought we could go through the motions and do ok, this week should realize we have to go not just at 100% but a bit more. Does anybody think that Norton isn't going to go at 100%? I'll bet you they go at 105% which means we have to go at 110%, if they go 110%, we gotta find 5% ourselves.
What's the song, how bad do you want it? Well how bad do you want it? The beginning of the year, we wanted it. I don't think anybody wanted it more. Now, well that's something we have to prove all over again. The best part, we can prove it all over again. The players on our team, the players that will be on the field, on the sidelines can prove it. Over the last bit, as always, people want to find blame, point fingers, stir the pot and complain about anything/everything. At the end of the day, at the end of the game, the players who execute the plays they have called the best, no matter what the play, will win. If we have a simple dive play,if the line blocks, the back attacks, the qb hands it perfectly, the receivers run people off or make blocks, we take 3-4-5 yards or 20 yards and we keep doing that, we will score. If on defense, if there is 3 of them and 1 of us on a busted play, if our one makes the tackle, we will keep them from scoring. I don't claim to always know the X's and O's. I do know that our coaches coach the team up and will have them in a position to win the game. Coaches don't make tackles. Coaches don't shake blocks. Coaches don't catch throws or make throws. Players do. Big time players make big time plays. We can have a defensive player who goes the whole game without making a tackle who wins the game for us by opening up things for his other teammates to get there. We can have a lineman who never touches the ball on the offensive side of the ball who makes the offense thrive. Ego is the enemy of the team concept. If you are on the field and never touch the ball, make sure that the other team thinks you are going to touch it everytime you are there. If you are on the sidelines, be into the game, watch, tell your teammates who are out there if you see something that can help them. Yell, scream, cheer. If our team plays as a team, we will beat Norton. If our team plays as the team they are capable of being and that they have showed earlier they can be, they will beat Norton. If we allow negativity, ego, doubt or lack of desire to invade us, we will lose to Norton. They want it. I think we do. I hope we do. I want to see that Greenwave pride, that fire, that desire to prove everybody that we are better than people think we are. An angry green team is scary. An angry green team that takes it out on the field on the player in front of them ends up being champions. Let's hope we see that tonight.
Go Green and enjoy it. Enjoy the night and the good things that come with it by winning this game. Silence the critics, you are the only ones who can.