A Toast.....To Perseverance!!

Last night I had the amazing opportunity to witness an amazing football game between my alma mater, Flushing High School, and Brandon High School. The Brandon Blackhawks entered the game with a record of 2-4, already eliminated from playoff contention and simply playing for pride at this point in the season. Flushing, however, started the game with a 5-1 record knowing one more victory would gain them admittance to the 2014 playoffs. On paper, one would think Flushing should run away with the game, that it would not even be a contest, yet games are not won on paper. In fairness, I feel obliged to also mention it was Flushing's homecoming game with all the traditional festivities and goings-on occurring as well.

The game began and already I could tell there was something off, the team from Brandon was able to march down the field with little to no difficulty and within four minutes it was already 7-0 Blackhawks. I was astounded; I had done my research and knew the Flushing defense was better than this considering the teams they had defeated earlier in the season. Immediately my football mind began to look deeper, what were the intangible elements that led to such a weak defensive showing on the first drive.

Putting that conundrum on the back burner until the next defensive series, I resigned myself to witnessing what our offense could achieve. I could hardly blink before it was 7-7 as Flushing's run game carved up the Blackhawk defense in 3 plays. Not only did the fast score tell me I had nothing to worry about with the offense, but it would allow me to figure out what was bothering me about the defense far sooner than expected.

On the second defensive series, I saw the reason why our defense looked like a paper wall. The Brandon receivers were not only faster than our cornerbacks, but also much taller. This physical mismatch combined with our corners playing man coverage with no cushion was making it far too simple for the opposing quarterback to simply look to whichever receiver had gained a step and throw it up for grabs. This trend continued for the rest of the first half, leading to a halftime score of 35-14 Brandon.

As the second half began, I could sense something different, something strong coming from the Flushing team. They came out of the locker room like they still owned the game, that it was theirs to lose even though they were down by 21 points and seemed to have no answers on defense. This sense of confidence was immediately confirmed with a quick touchdown after halftime.

The defense was back on the field and it became apparent that the coaching staff must have noticed what I had seen. The corners began providing cushion and they were going with a nickel package almost every play; the only way for undersized corners to combat a tall, fast passing game. For the first, and not the final time in the game, Brandon was forced to punt.

I'm not going to bore you with the rest of the game's details as it became a repetitive cycle of Flushing scoring and Brandon punting. The final score of the game was 42-35 Flushing. They secured a playoff spot and provided an amazing victory for the whole community to rally around going into homecoming weekend. Most of all, they gave me a memory I will never forget.

I have always held the ideal of perseverance very high. Many things in my life have given me cause to give up, yet still I find a way, a reason, to move forward. The definition of perseverance is the steadfastness to do something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. That entire game was the epitome of perseverance.

Alas, I arrive at the true reason for the story above, a promise:

I promise to all those I love to never give up, to always love you no matter how difficult it becomes or whatever obstacle stands in my way. I will overcome anything to make sure you know I adore you with everything I am.

Good vs. Evil

Throughout history there have been many epic battles both on the battlefield as well as the political theater. Amid those many battles has been a singular theme - Good vs. Evil.

A few conundrums exist in this epic contest that defines man's history. The first of which is which side is truly evil. Isn't evil a matter of perspective? While the common consensus is that Hitler was evil (which I am of the volition that he was indeed), there are many who lived in Germany during his reign that believed he represented a righteous and pure cause. Or how about current events? Those in the Middle East who are labeled as terrorists, while they are the minority, they believe so strongly that the cause they are fighting for is a good one and that those coming into their homeland are evil. The purest truth on this facet of the grand battle is that the side of good is claimed in history by the winner. If the Third Reich had won WW2 they would have been able to lay claim to the side of good whilst the scraps of evil were left unto the allies.

On occasion, Good does completely defeat Evil, but not for long. If all the evil in a battle is defeated, the range of good within the good will inherently redevelop into another battle of good versus evil. The results from WW2 prove this concept. During the war, The United States and Britain worked with the Soviet Union to surround and crush the Nazi forces. While there were catastrophic losses for each country, the losses on the side of evil (Nazis) were crippling and the enemy was defeated. In the ensuing decades, the USSR began to get power hungry and so began the Cold War. The Soviet Union went from being a strong and powerful ally to a strong and powerful enemy that thankfully we never came to blows with. If we had, the world would most likely be a nuclear wasteland.

Until now I have only mentioned the battle of Good vs. Evil between two forces, but what of the fight between the two opposing forces within one consciousness? Within each of us there are both good and bad thoughts. What we choose to do with these thoughts and how we act upon them is what defines us as good or evil. The biggest ruse that any person in this world could ever believe is that a person could be completely good or completely evil. Accepting that each of us have angels and demons inside us trying to sway the course of our lives is the first step in understanding that how we should be judged is not by one act, but by the whole of our work on this earth.