October 13, 2007

High School Glory : If you were looking for in-depth analysis of the LCS you probably weren’t looking to me anyway. On Thursday October 18th at 8pm I will be watching a high school football game between Cy-Fair, Texas and Cypress Falls, Texas.

It would have been late September of 1993. The days were getting shorter and the 60 degree air would have felt slightly chilly after the long hot days of summer had ended. I had grown six inches between the end of football season my junior year and the start of football my senior year. I had been moved at the start of camp from running back where I had spent my first three years to split end and then at this point of the season I was moved again and named the starting tight end. I was told of the switch after classes had ended one Monday and we had a game that Friday night, so I had just four days of practice and three days of contact to learn an entirely new position. I was thrilled, I was a starter and as I stood there on the practice field out behind the school I could smell the freshly cut grass faintly behind the heavy stench of honest work. By the midpoint of that season as I stood there I knew that I wasn’t going to attend the one college that had expressed any interest in me as a football player and I had a pretty good idea that this team wasn’t destined for the playoffs. I had just four games left in a football uniform and then at seventeen I would hang up the cleats for good. What does all of this have to do with my weekly column you ask? On Thursday October 18th at 8pm I will be watching a game between Cy-Fair, Texas and Cypress Falls, Texas on ESPN2. Texas High School football and I can watch from the comfort of my own home. Houston area high school football would definitely fall in the category of games that are under the radar. Obviously, I will also be watching the MLB league championship series throughout the week as well but if you are any kind of sports fan you probably have already heard enough about how the Red Sox are heavily favored and what a great story about those Rockies, and don’t underestimate Eric Wedge and the Indians. Did you know Wedge is a frontrunner for AL manager of the year? Blah, blah, blah those articles have already been written by people a lot more knowledgeable than I. If you were looking for in-depth analysis of the LCS you probably weren’t looking to me. I have no particular rooting interest in either of these teams; Texas is actually one of the states that I have never been to. I am watching this game basically for the love of sports to steal my own line. The game will be played in the 11,000 seat Berry Center which serves as the home field to several Houston area schools. The stadium was also the sight of last year’s Cypress Falls 22-21 victory over Cy-Fair according to the Cypress Fairbanks Independent School District website. If you are looking for star power than I can give you one name; Cy-Fair Running back, Sam McGuffie is listed on the ESPN 150 Watch List as the 98th best prospect in the country and while Rivals.com does not have him in their top 100 they do have him as the #12 prospect in the state of Texas. McGuffie is listed at 6’ 188 pounds and he runs a 4.32 forty yard dash. While none of that sounds particularly impressive for a future division 1-A tailback, I would suggest you google “McGuffie Mixtape” and watch the 6 minute highlight video on YouTube that someone put together on this kid. He has been sidelined with injuries most of this season but as a junior last year he rushed for 3,121 yards and 43 touchdowns (and no that is not a typo) and he should be playing in this game. The Michigan commit is an absolute freak, don’t take my word for it, just watch the video. High school sports are what fans often think of as the beginning of an athlete like McGuffie’s career but for the vast majority of us that homecoming game your senior year is your swan song and when you play that final home game of the season then that just may be the last time in your life that the work that you do will be greeted with applause. To say that the beauty of high school sports is the innocence of it is not quite right. If you want athletes that are completely innocent I recommend the Little League World Series, even when there is a scandal the kid involved is still probably an unwitting victim. Every kid in Williamsport wants to grow up to play first base for the Yankees or to be President. Unfortunately, we only have one President and the Yankees only have 3 first baseman (yes, that is a subtle jab at the Yankees) so a lot of those kids are going to be disappointed some day. No, to me the beauty of high school sports is the way the kids play with a true sense of urgency. For a lot of these kids there is no career as a million things could go wrong along the way. For me it was the ever tragic complete lack of talent. The point is that by high school some of these young men have started to realize that the dream may not come true and that is what makes these games all the more important. And as for the rare athlete like McGuffie who has a legitimate chance of making a living playing a game, well he still has a long we to go and we as fans have a chance to say that we saw him way back when. As always I look forward to either column suggestions or general feedback and I can be reached via email at kyrilmitch_76@yahoo.com.

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