Victory Day

"There was a saying that
a man's true character was revealed in defeat.
I thought it was also revealed in victory."

-- Alison Goodman, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn

Victory Day participants and volunteers 9-7-14

"Be ashamed to die 

until you have won some victory for humanity."

-- Horace Mann

Victory Day participant scoring a touchdown 9-7-14

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better

But because I knew you ...

Because I knew you ...

I have been changed for good."

-- Steven Schwartz, "For Good," Wicked

Sometimes "good" doesn't even come close.

Yesterday a indescribably beautiful thing happened at our high school football field.

Coaches coached.

Cheerleaders cheered.

Victory Day participant, Max, in a running drill.

The band played.

The crowd cheered.

Teams pushed each other to score touchdowns.

Except this time, they literally pushed their star players across the goal line in wheelchairs.

That's because yesterday was "Victory Day," an event organized to let kids with special needs experience the thrill of playing football under the stadium lights, hearing their name on the loudspeaker, doing an end zone dance, hearing the fight song, and being part of the team, or the band, or the cheerleading squad -- if only for a day.

Varsity players from our school's team, the Huron Tigers, joined together with boys from the neighboring St. Mary's Panthers, and proved in the most glorious way that football is about a whole lot more than winning ball games.

In fact, both teams lost their Friday night games -- on Saturday -- because their final quarters were postponed due to a severe storm that halted play on Friday

Ours was a 13-14 heartbreaker.

They lost their game 46-39.

Victory Day participant and volunteers 9-7-14

But by the end of Saturday afternoon, I'm willing to bet that if you'd asked any of these guys how they felt about their teams' loss, they'd have said "Loss? What loss?"

And if they did remember, the "agony of defeat" would have faded to a mild sting at best.

Victory Day gave their perspective a pretty dramatic makeover. Guys who were hanging their heads in defeat hours earlier were laughing, smiling, cheering, clapping, playing, and realizing that the importance of the game they play can extend leaps and bounds beyond wins and losses, and us and thems.

I'm always proud of our boys and how they conduct themselves on and off the field. But yesterday I felt a different, deeper, off the charts kind of pride.

It made me want to cheer.

You did good, boys. You did real good.