Bruce Springsteen had it right in his song \u201cGlory Days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Think of reliving the time 20 years ago, when you threw your last fastball,\u00a0 took your last game-winning jump shot, made your last meaningful touchdown pass or did whatever was at the center of your life way back when. I think the Boss was too cynical in his closing lyrics as he sang that \u201ctime slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of glory days.\u201d<\/p>\n
Springsteen has always been one of my favorite singer\/songwriters. In fact, in between sports debates, I argue with unabashed passion that he should be considered the greatest rock and roll singer of all time.<\/p>\n
Experience one of his three-hour-plus long concerts and tell me differently. But that\u2019s for another day, another column.<\/p>\n
Springsteen\u2019s ode to past glories and living in the present came to mind as I was thinking of the joy and the deep sense of accomplishment of winning championships, and how fortunate these young high schoolers in our region have been lately as they have hoisted state trophies and banners.<\/p>\n
The proud, newly crowned champions run the gamut from perennial baseball power Barbe, with back-to-back, hard-earned Class 5-A state championships. There are also the Kinder Yellow Jackets, with trophies for two straight State 2-A baseball titles now in their case. And there’s the Sam Houston Lady Broncos, who recently carted off their fourth Class 5-A state softball title in five years.<\/p>\n
There are the St. Louis Saints boys soccer team and Lacassine girls basketballers, who seem to win a state championship every other year. And there’s the Hackberry girls, who captured their fifth straight Class C state softball title this year.<\/p>\n
Toss in the Kinder football team, who captured the state football title in Class 2-A in 2014.<\/p>\n
Southwest Louisiana\u2019s cup runneth over with state champions.<\/p>\n
It does seem that spring-time celebratory dog piles are getting more frequent than crawfish boils.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve noted in these pages before how difficult it can be just to win closely contested games, and how that level of difficulty increases exponentially when a team begins and ends a season with a championship.<\/p>\n
I know the coaches live, breathe and face that hard challenge every year. I’ve heard and felt many of their pride-filled moments and expressions of gratitude and appreciation for being the best of the best for that year, for that place in time.<\/p>\n
The young players unfurled from those dog piles live in the moment, as youth tends to do. But they too must know what it means \u2014 especially the boys from Barbe and Kinder and anyone who’s successfully defended a championship with that bulls-eye on their backs.<\/p>\n
The investment of time, work, planning and focus will weigh on any athlete of any age who was the last one standing with arms raised.<\/p>\n
Over the years, I’ve heard the stories of former champions who won early and young and didn’t fully appreciate the accomplishment because they thought they had years ahead of them for additional titles.<\/p>\n
Many were won and done, as life has a way of giving and taking. Years later, they will express telling emotions over how much more they cherish that championship as an adult. That\u2019s the way it works.<\/p>\n
In youth, there is vigor and endless optimism. With age comes wisdom and reality.<\/p>\n
Our most recent crowned champions were the Barbe and Kinder boys baseball teams. Both squads were coming off impressive title-winning seasons the year before. Two years ago, Barbe, one of the best prep teams in the country, rolled through the state playoffs en route to the 5-A state trophy, and eventually laying claim to being Louisiana\u2019s first ever high school national champion in any sport.<\/p>\n
The Bucs lost the core of that national championship team as many went on to play NCAA Division One college baseball this season as freshmen. The returning Bucs got off to a slow start and struggled to a fourth place finish in arguably the state\u2019s toughest baseball district. Barbe lost two close games to eventual district champion Sulphur.<\/p>\n
They would not be denied a playoff berth going in with an uncharacteristic 30-10 record and a fifth seed. Barbe coach Glenn Cecchini spoke openly about talk he heard all season that these Bucs were the worst team in the program\u2019s illustrious history.<\/p>\n
Neither he nor the players were affected by the negative chatter. They regrouped with renewed confidence and baseball more indicative of past years. Barbe collected impressive playoff wins over Dutchtown; a pressure-packed sweep of Live Oak and then a series rally over district rival Lafayette in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
That led to a third and decisive showdown with Sulphur\u2019s best team in school history for the right to play for the state championship.<\/p>\n
A sellout crowd of more than 5,000 jammed into McMurry Park for the long-awaited matchup against All State pitcher Kale Breaux and the nearly unbeatable Tors.<\/p>\n
The cross-parish rivalry, the history, the passion of the fan base and the prowess of both teams set up a game that might well have eclipsed a state championship game in emotion and anticipation.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t an epic game on the field. But it was thrilling just the same, as Sulphur could not beat Barbe for a third time.<\/p>\n
The Bucs’ 6-1 state final victory over Catholic-Baton Rouge might have been anti-climactic for some, but it delivered Barbe\u2019s sixth Louisiana title in 10 years. That\u2019s a Green Bay Packer and Boston Celtics type dynasty.<\/p>\n
It may well have been Cecchini\u2019s best coaching job in his long tenure in Barbe\u2019s blue. He navigated through a district losing slump and those two deflating regular season losses to Sulphur. But he kept the players’ belief in the team intact and focused.<\/p>\n
Cecchini’s consistent message about life\u2019s adversities and how you respond to the knock-downs will serve these young men well throughout life.<\/p>\n
Kinder coach Kenny Courville surely preached to his young Yellow Jackets to savor their second consecutive state title, but never to take it for granted. Their 11-3 blowout over Oak Grove will be remembered for a wacky seventh inning that included nine Kinder runs. The Jackets, like the Bucs, didn’t appear to have a team or the momentum to repeat as champs until the playoffs began.<\/p>\n
Courville is riding a two-year cycle of talented players with what seems to be a deep pool to pull from for the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n
It’s two in a row and counting for these two elite area baseball programs. There’s enough hardware to rival Stine\u2019s now sitting at Sam Houston, Hackberry, St. Louis and Hamilton Christian.<\/p>\n
Those trophies come with memories that will become more meaningful beyond high school, through the college years, after the weddings, the children, work and careers.<\/p>\n
The championship rings will be stashed away deep in a corner drawer \u2014 maybe even lost or forgotten about over time. What will not be forgotten, though, is the team, the locker room, the bonds and friendships, the years of hard work, the labor of love, the heated games and the loss of breath from being buried in that dog pile.<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t reproduce that experience, even though some try hard to relive their past. We probably all know that ex-pitcher or old quarterback who can\u2019t let go of past glory days. There are those who try to conjure up their past by living through the athletic exploits of their kids or some former star athletes. They can\u2019t seem to let the past go and move on to the present.<\/p>\n
Springsteen sings that cautionary tale. Most recently, the risk was well portrayed in the movie Where Hope Grows. It’s an excellent film for all high school-age kids to see to learn about past glory, addiction, faith, hope, redemption and the special love and happiness that comes from a young Down Syndrome man who befriends a downtrodden ex-major leaguer and town hero.<\/p>\n
Becoming a champion or being a member of a championship team involves hard work with years of dedication. It is earned. Never given.<\/p>\n
The obnoxious references to “I” and “me” in the same boastful breath as the champion should be ignored.<\/p>\n
What should be remembered and cherished are the life lessons and the rightful pride that a true champion lives by \u2014 then and now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Get Rick Sarro\u2019s perspectives on sports on Soundoff 60, which airs Monday through Sunday nights at 9 pm on Suddenlink Channel 60 and Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10 am as well.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Bruce Springsteen had it right in his song \u201cGlory Days.\u201d Think of reliving the time 20 years ago, when you threw your last fastball,\u00a0 took your last game-winning jump shot, made your last meaningful touchdown pass or did whatever was at the center of your life way back when. I think the Boss was too [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,33],"yoast_head":"\n