It Doesn't Get Bigger Than This

Sometimes in life, you find yourself waiting on the edge of something big. You've done all the preparation you can do, and all that's left to do is to wait. Anticipation can become a tangible thing. You can feel it living inside you, growing and building, consuming your thoughts if you let it. I imagine it's an all-too-familiar feeling for the Bobcats tonight.

Tomorrow, they will once again suit up in the orange and blue. They'll tie their cleats and strap their helmets on. They will take the field wearing not only their uniforms, but the anticipation and pride and hopes of an entire community. Each player's jersey bears a number representing not only that young man but every Bobcats who has proudly worn that number before him. He carries tradition, legacy, and expectations. And the weight of the world.

Tomorrow night, these guys will amaze you. They will demonstrate the courage and heart that have become hallmarks of Woodland football. They will fight with a relentless spirit. They will become bigger than they are. They will do things they shouldn't even be able to do. They will understand that 7 months (and a lifetime before that) of preparation comes down to what they do in the next 48 minutes. They will accept the magnitude of the task before them and the expectations and pressure and not let it get in between them and what they know they must do. And, while they may not be perfect, they will never, ever quit, because they know that you never know which second, which down, which play will be a turning point. And, they will not let their brothers down. They will do things that make us forget that these are only just boys playing a man's game. And, hopefully, they will be victorious.

But tonight, they wait. They'll do whatever it is they do to calm their nerves and prepare for the coming day. The coaches will spend a restless night going over and over the game plan in their heads, rehashing everything they've taught this week, making sure that they've given their players every possible advantage. We coaches' wives will wait up on them to come home from painting the field. We will offer a sympathetic ear if they need one and be a voice of reassurance. We will iron their coaching shirts and clean the grass off their shoes. And, we wait.

It may not seem like much to you, but we know that it doesn't get bigger than this.