The Ecstasy of Victory: The High School Football Version

1.53 am. That was the time on my watch when my D walked through the door this morning upon her return from her school, jubilant, chatty, despite the physical toll exerted on her for having being out of the house for two consecutive days (calendar-wise). I guess this is what victory does to you, it's so spirit uplifting that for a moment there the mind takes over the body. I shall recap briefly the events that led up to that euphoric moment later in the blog.

On the other hand, I was slouching on my seat, mind half asleep wandering through the events of the last two days: rising early at 5 am plus to get the tires fixed, and again yesterday morning to send my D to her school for her Miami trip, followed by the release life activity in the morning, and celebrating the recent matrimony of a fellow buddhist friend in the evening, and coping with the near continuous worrying about her whereabouts spawned by her remaining largely incommunicado on the return trip from Miami. I suppose the constant din in the bus and the excitement of the game itself must have drowned out the pleading rings from a pair of anxious parent. And so it is a matter of she calling us, strictly one-way communication. And she did, to her credit, and that helped put our minds at ease, until the next panicky pang struck. You know how parents are.

She left the house at 6 am the previous morning to head for Miami as part of her school's entourage heading for Miami in chartered buses to support the school football team in the State 4A championship game. She was all excited and all that, this being her very first outing to such a distant place (more than 300 miles away), in the company of cool friends (seen here with one of them, and obviously having a good time), and for a worthy purpose as far as her school is concerned.

So while we settled at the home base for the release life activity blogged here, our D braved the elements (the weather down at Miami was actually comparatively sunny as opposed to the chilly weather (in the high 40s, Farenheit of course) here, the consequence of a cold front passing through), in the open air Dolphin Stadium, prancing around and hopping up and down to the rhythm of the match. And yes, the last bit was my imagination as they seemed pretty controlled here, their team in white jerseys and back facing the photo while the opposing team (in golden jerseys was in the field warming up).

Now the Dolphin Stadium is the home field for the professional football team, the Miami Dolphins, which normally is filled to capacity when a home game is on. But as you can see, it looked rather deserted when the game involved two out-of-town teams, and high school boys at that. Anyway, the encampment is distinct, HB Plant High on one side and the opposing team on the other, kind of like within holler distance if you shriek at your full-lung capacity. This shot was taken at half-time when the band from HB Plant High was doing their bit to fire up the passion for support, and you can see from the scoreboard (top of image) that the Panthers (that's my D's school) was leading 17-3, which actually stood at 17-zip just prior to that. Seemed quite a comfortable lead right? Wrong, the Panthers, in an uncharacteristic fashion led by its quarterback who threw two interceptions in the second half, conceded 21 unanswered points and was actualy down 21-17 with another 3 minutes to go. Talk about nail-biter, at the edge of your seat anxiety, and living dangerously.

Anyway, to cut through the chase, the Panthers of the HB Plant High School finally won, 25-21, a feat not settled for certainty until the last 3 seconds of the game when the Quarterback of the opposing team was sacked. And then the whole hell broke loose. Imagine thousands of highly strung high school kids invading the field, hoisting up their team members, and dousing cold water on the coach. Yes, that's my imagination running wild again, having seen the entire sequence repeatedly on TV and live telecasts of professional and college football games. I'm sure the high school kids are no less dramatic in celebrating a well-deserved win.

Unfortunately, you will have to bear with my plain narrative as in her moment of anxiously waiting for the team to return (her entourage reached the school at about 11.30 pm, about one and a half hours earlier than the team bus), she has left her camera in her ride's car. So no pictorial depiction of the dizzying moments when the team went up the stage to a standing ovation, hoisting the trophy high, of the coach and the players making thank-you speeches, and of confetti being jettisoned from all corners of the Gym. No? Well, I told you I've unbridled imagination.

For those, you would have to read today's issue of the Tampa Tribune, complete with eye-riveting images and attention grabbing headlines like Cinderella-like season, winning spirit, and such, and professioanal journalistic display of prose writing.

And apologies if I have not mentioned the name of the opposing team, partly because it's a monthful: Ponte Vedra Beach Nease High School, located on the east coast in St. Johns District near to Jacksonville, despite it being the defending champ. But no disrespect is intended.