A raw wind howled and ripped through my clothes as if they weren't even there, gnawing on my bones with a bitterness usually reserved for mid-February -- in New England.
This was not a week for the weak-willed at football practice fields throughout northeast Georgia.
But if you're still practicing at this point in the season, you don't know what weak-willed means.
Buford, Gainesville and Jefferson certainly don't. And the three defending state champs attacked this frigid week on the practice fields as if it were preseason camp.
I even saw a few smiles -- of course they could have been frozen on thanks to Wednesday's sub-arctic winds -- but what else would you expect from three teams that have reached the state quarterfinal round (again)? And this week I witnessed the kind of dedication that would have made Vince Lombardi grin, as a handful of young athletes toiled through the elements while so many of their classmates slept in, re-tuned their X-box skills and began to count the number of plates they would fill come Thursday.
It is a dedication that is necessary for ultimate success, and certainly the Wolves, Red Elephants and Dragons have it in bunches... and for that we should all be thankful.
Of course each team has plenty of talent to spare -- Deshaun Watson is a once-in-a-lifetime high school star surrounded by speed and a play-making defense; Buford has the size and strength to compete for titles in Class AAAAAA and lines of scrimmage that would make some college coaches drool; Jefferson is deep enough to absorb a huge loss at quarterback and thrive, as well as the kind of balance most smaller programs could only dream of harboring.
And yet all that is not enough to net a title(s).
In a state with ability and collegiate stars on the rise, it takes far more than talent to harness success, and each championship must be based on desire and grit just as much as 40 times and innate ability. And sometimes even those factors must be buoyed by luck -- and I don't just mean the break of the ball, as injuries play a key role in every season.
So while you're sitting down to attack that third plate of turkey and dressing today -- don't forget the gravy! -- take a moment to think how incredible it is that we now have three championship-level teams in our midst.
Yes, northeast Georgia produced champions in the past, but the three that came last season -- and the three still on the line this season -- signify something wholly new for us. And for that, we should all be thankful -- even those of you who pull against the three teams in question.
Playing against and watching what it takes to be successful at the highest level will only rub off on the area's other programs -- many of which are already verging on something special themselves. And it might not take long before any number of the other local stars find themselves gearing up to happily practice in those bitter winds of Thanksgiving week.
There is no guarantee, of course, that we're in for three more titles this season. There are still three more brutal games to go before the trophy is raised in the Georgia Dome. But from what I witnessed this week, each defending champ is ready for that challenge. And while they may be packing on the turkey themselves today, you can bet that come Friday, they will be plenty hungry for something else.
-- Morgan Lee is sports editor for Access North Georgia.com
Check back later today and on Friday for video features and previews of Friday's big quarterfinal showdowns.
Saturday
November 23rd, 2024
11:33AM
