Be A Champion.

"A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't."    -Jack Dempsey

Champions are willing to do what they hate in order to get what they love.

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit.  Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."   -Muhammid Ali

                        W
                         O  B  F
                    D  R  E   A M
                    E  K   L   I
                    D       I   T
                     I       E   H
                    C       V I S I O N S
                    A       E
                    T
                    I
                   O
    G R E A T N E S S        
 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *CHAMPION

All For the Love of the Game

There is never enough time in the day.  We get up early, and stay up late.  All for the love of the game. Games played at 8 a.m. in a town an hour and a half away, double headers at night that don't get over until amost the next morning.  We endure it, we embrace it.  All for the love of the game.
Putting up with crazy fans, terrible umpires, and rude opponents because those come with the package.  All for the love of the game.  We suffer through long, hot practices when we can see everyone else splashing around at the pool just a short walk away.  All for the love of the game.  We play through the heat, the wind, the rain, and the cold.  All for the love of the game.  We go hard day in and day out.  All for the love of the game.  That burning passion we have for this sport, that is something that no one can ever take away from us - the love of the game.

Our Sport

What people don't understand is that softball isn't just a sport. It's a way of life.  What people don't see is how hard we work at practice to prepare for that big game, just the winning or losing fight under the lights every Thursday night with the smell of hotdogs and fresh chalk in the air.  What people can't see and what they will never in a million years understand is what makes us push on, why we want it so bad, and how the chalk and dirt run through our veins.  We are viewed as little girls just passing the time away, but that isn't true at all.  I bet they think we're all little girls after that game when the visions of our blood, sweat, and tears litter that field with the memory of our fight.  When people don't take our sport seriously, that's one thing.  But when they think we don't take it seriously, that's another - it's one step over that line that that they shouldn't have crossed.

GAME ON.

Girls of Summer (Boys of Fall Parody) written by me!

When I feel that heat, smell that fresh laid chalk
I'm back in my helmet, cleats, and batting gloves.
Standin' in the huddle listenin' to the plan
Fans goin' crazy for the girls of summer.

They didn't let just anybody on that field
Took every ounce of heart and sweat and blood
To get to wear those purple jerseys down the street
The queens of the diamond, man, we're the girls of summer

[Chorus:]
Well it's, turn and face the stars and stripes
It's fightin' back them butterflies
It's call it in the air alright yes sir we want to field.
And it's kickin' and talkin' trash
It's slingin' chalk and dirt and grass
It's I got your number, I got your back
When your back's against the wall
You mess with one girl, you got us all
The girls of summer

In little towns like mine that's all they got
Photographs fill the Facebook walls
The parents will always think they know it all
Young boys will dream about the girls of summer

[Chorus:]
Well it's, turn and face the stars and stripes
It's fightin' back them butterflies
It's call it in the air alright yes sir we want to field
And it's kickin' dirt and talkin' trash
It's slingin' chalk and dirt and grass
It's I got your number, got your back
When your back's against the wall
You mess with one girl, you got us all
The girls of summer

[Chorus:]
Well it's, turn and face the stars and stripes
It's fightin' back them butterflies
It's call it in the air alright yes sir we want to field
And it's kickin' dirt and talkin' trash
It's slingin' chalk and dirt and grass
It's I got your number, got your back
When your back's against the wall
You mess with one girl, you got us all
The girls of summer

We're the girls of summer
We're the girls of summer

Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda.

My heart breaks when I think about all that this season could have been. One game away from what would have been the biggest moment in my life.  I should have pushed harder, thought smarter, acted quicker.

We battled, and lost. We battled, and won.  The scoreboard didn't show the real status of our results, though. We were champions, warriors, day in and day out.  That season may have ended much too soon, but those memories of those fights and those games will last me forever.

#SouthernPlainsHeat Forever!