memoirs of a champion

Cool breeze flutters through bars into a hot steamed helmet, Many faces staring into...fear?hate?sadness?happiness?completion? The crowds rant and yell but only a low hum gets to the warriors all shielded in there equipment ready to battle one of the "greatest battles you'll ever face" or so says the coach. The announcers Booming voice echoes in the stadium that seats 50,000 but holds 5,000. This is what they had fought for, this is where fourteen straight wins week after week had put a hundred or so teens and twelve men. This is where you get to go when your a state champion, I would know I was one of them...Fifteen games earlier i was barely able to start at center, while our first string center was hurt. I played two games before he came back, when he did return, I started to walk to the back of the line, my coach said "boy where you going?", I looked at him with a quizzical look on my face he responded to this with a "get your ass up here boy I need you at guard.", astonished I hustled to the front of the pack and started to learn, being an offensive lineman it isn't hard to learn the other spots there, they are all similar.I started the rest of the season, being in the "trenches" of battle with men that were bigger, smaller, quicker, slower, stronger, and weaker than me. Even in those circumstances we still prevailed or else I would not be writing this now.The state game little boys dream of it grown men envy it but I got the better of the two i got to live it. This wasn't any ordinary playschool football game with two-hand tag and fairplay, it had become war. The opposing team, which made the win so much more important, was cross town rivals Northwestern High School.Bragging rights for a whole year, rings to show children and grandchildren, bonds that will last a lifetime. It was all on the line the only thing left was to win, as these ideas processed through my mind and such, "WIN" flashed in my mind, neon colored red, blood soaked, air-written any way possible "Win".My line of brothers also had WIN in their minds you could tell from their faces anger, hatred, and most of all satisfaction, as one unit we had gotten to the point that so many others have dreamed of and we were living. As a joke the right side of the center (I was right guard) we were known as the judicial system. The center was "The Truth", I was "The Law", and the tackle "The Executioner", why we named ourselves that I can't Honestly Remember, possibly from the fact we always ran it to the right-side, or that when two of us were together that it was practically impossible for anyone else to compete. I do remember though that whatever the reason was, we were unstoppable. as we were in the state game. we acted as though the other team had commited every one of the seven deadly sins and at our familys so we did what we alyways did and laid a little justice on them.That night as I finally lay in bed upon a warriors victory a quote crossed my mind by Vince Lombardi he said "I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious", and I thought even though my battlefield was three hours away in a small town called clemson I layed on that battlefield finally complete with my goal and my dream. I have done the amazing I have done what so many could only wish, I have won where so many have lost, I finally could call myself.State Champion.