Game On

It's 11:35, and my shirt is sweaty. In order to fully understand the cause, and the actual impact of this phenomenon, you must let yourself go. Forget the qualms for a moment. Believe in the power of dreams for the next 5 minutes, for me.

Tonight we proved to the world that dreams are real, that anything can be overcome with determination. Tonight we stood up, and proudly announced to the audience that we were not going to lie down and die. Tonight, there was power running through us all. A power that you couldn't see, a power that you couldn't quite name, but a power that brought us together.

Tonight the sophies ran the old men at frisbee.

We proclaimed loud and clear that we truly were to be taken seriously. We exclaimed "No, you can't sit back and own us, you've got to fear us." Tonight, we were a threat. An unforseen threat that pulled together to wake the world up and say "Eat poop Brad."

4 times we dug the dagger a little deeper. 4 times I got to take the podium of life and say "You just got scored on by a kid without a driver's license. You just got ran up and down the field by a bunch of 15 year olds who don't know how to shave. You just got beat by the kid who still goes to region dances, and almost pees his pants when a girl asks him to dance. You outweigh me by 40 lbs, you've got 2 inches on me. Tonight you got ran, and there's nothing you can do to change that."

Tonight, we forced the world to recognize us.

The field will never be the same. A new power has been unleashed, and nothing but the powers of congress can stop us now. Seeds have been planted, and, like the wildfire, they will grow forever stronger. Trees are springing up, trees of strength and power. Valiant trees, firm in the face of peril. Never shall we fall, never shall we give up. Life demands we keep fighting, and fight we must.

Tonight, the world changed forever.

AAll poetry aside, tonight was absolutely amazing. As many of you had heard, tonight was the night I'd been waiting for for months. The night when my boys finally showed up to frisbee. I've been playing frisbee with the old men for a very long time, since the beginning of last summer at least. I'd never really brought friends though, because we had enough people, and cause I was intimidated. After much deep thought, I determined that it was time to bring them in to the fold or amazing frisbee action. Tonight, we all crossed the line that seperates the boys from the men.

Me, Kyle, Levi, Jason, and Glen. Tonight, we are the 5 most amazing people alive. We got to the field eventually, and we found only Brad, Brady, Mcqueen, and Noakesy. We played a few games splitting up for a while, always joking about the idea of sophies vs. old men, but never taking it seriously. Because of the way the teams were stacked, the team with brad on it always won. So, after 3 games of blowouts, we decided that it was time for sophies vs.

Now, you've got to understand, these old men are heroes to me on friday nights. They can throw a frisbee from one endzone to the next in a perfect line, they can jump 8 feet high, and they could kill a bear with nothing but a pencil and a forehand throw. They are people to be respected. I was the only sophie that had ever played frisbee with them, and I've probably logged more hours playing frisbee than the rest of my boys combined. Victory seemed impossible. The old men can take on a bear, and we're in driver's ed! We knew that it would be difficult, but we were determined to walk out with our heads held high.

Prior to the game starting, I brought the team over for a little meeting. We took a knee, got in close, and decided on the plan. We knew that they outskilled us by far, and that they were physically superior. We knew we coulnd't out throw them, or out catch them. We couldn't jump higher, swat harder, or run faster. The outcome was written in stone before the game ever started, but we were destined to pee all over that stone.

The game plan was simple. We had to physically, mentally, and emotionally try harder than they were willing to. We were willing to lay it on the line, and we had a hunch that they weren't. Move the disc upfield quick, with alot of short passes on cuts. We couldn't huck, we couldn't wait for the open man. We had to break it open and go quick, confusing, and confident.

And so we did. They kicked first, and our plan was set into action. A quick pass, a quick pass, an awesome cut and a quick pass. And then failure. A drop, a fumble, a misfire, we turned the ball over. They picked it up, and in a matter of a very few passes dropped it into the endzone.

The old men had scored, but we were not defeated. Our plan for all out shock-and-awe wasn't dead, just delayed. Another kickoff, and another valient effort. For some reason, we just didn't have it, and they scored again pretty quick. Despite all this, hope was not lost. Taking the walk of shame back to recieve the kick, we felt no shame. We were proud to be on the field.

2-0, they kick, and we recieve. Everything starts out just like it has the other two times. a pass, another pass, maybe another pass. Somebody breaks out behind them, and gets the catch. We're not about halfway down the field, closer than we've ever been before.

Before the old men can fully appreciate how much this means to us, we are booking it down field. Momentum was on our side, and we just dodged the disc back and forth between us, always moving up field. There must have been 15 passes made. Quick, efficient, and above all terrifying. We move, and the pass straight in to the endzone is flicked out. It flies, gentle as a bird, straight to the hands of the reciever.

And then he dropped it.

The runaway train stopped. A sheep walked across the tracks, and it stopped. The fiersome bull of a locomotive ended its rampage just like that. The disc touched the icy earth, and the old men took possesion. Another point for them followed shortly thereafter.

We had been so close. We had stared our destiny right in the face, and had the chance taken away from us. Still we were not defeated. We pressed on, and recieved the next kick. 3-0.

Again, we pressed forward with momentum. They still didn't quite know how to counter us, and we took advantage of it. They were lazy old men, and we were sophies out to prove something.

The disc moved upfield, and then all of the sudden, it happened. The end-pass is tossed, and the catch is made. The sophies scored. 3-1.

The consequences of that point will be felt for the rest of my life. In one gyroscopic sweep of the great arm of fate, the windows to the future were opened. A point, against the old men. A new generation is rising from obscurity. Once again we looked our destiny in the eye, and dork-slapped it across the face.

That's right, we scored. Our intensity and momentum were too much for the old men. We had scored, and they couldn't take that away. The rest of the game was very similar. We made some dumb mistakes, and so did they. We made some good plays, and they did as well. In the end, the score was about 11-4. They took us by 7 points, but they got scored on by sophies, and that's a greater prize than any victory.

Tonight we learned that David really can smite Goliath. We did not back down, nor will we ever. The stone said we were to be anihilated, but we refused to lay down and die. Tonight we made 4 points. Pure sophomore pride points. Like Rocky, we fought with heart, and we were rewarded.

Sure, we lost, but in our hearts, we are all winners. We are coming for you Brad. We are no longer faceless sophomores, we are the sophomores that ran you and your team of old men. We will never forget these 4 points.

Tonight, the dark sky as our witness, we scored 4 points, and refused to die. Sophomores no more, heroes forevermore.

A special salute to Levi, Kyle, Jason, and Glen. You guys are amazing.