I waited until most of Clarkston’s gridiron heroes had left the field before I made my way up the tunnel at Ford Field last Saturday.
As I walked up the ramp to go to the press conference, I ended up surrounded by the players as they high fived each other and hugged each other on their way to the locker room.
Over the last 10 years, I have seen a lot of emotion at Clarkston Athletic events – celebration and heartbreak, tears of overwhelming joy and tears of a season finished too soon.
The championship winning moments are the best, especially over the last five years with football winning three state titles and boys basketball bringing home their state trophy from their second trip to Michigan State University.
The players and the coaches want it – not for themselves, but for their team, their school, and their community.
Clarkston Varsity Football Head Coach Kurt Richardson touched on something after the Wolves’ wins over Detroit Catholic Central and West Bloomfield in the final two games for the state title. There were people who thought the Wolves couldn’t do it.
Two things happen when words like those get out there – either it is believed you can’t, or you believe you can. You visualize you can do it. You have family, friends, teachers, coaches, teammates who know you can win.
I hope everyone has at least one person in their life to say you can do this, get off your duff and go do it.
Luckily, the Wolves have an entire community. Like Coach Richardson said, “Clarkston is a special community.”
Onwards to my little boys in blue. Next weekend my son will hit the big 2-years-old and officially be a toddler. We’re pretty lucky – he has a good balance between running around and also enjoys his quiet time with looking at books and building with blocks.
He enjoys all sorts of blocks – the Duplo Legos which fasten together and cardboard blocks, which for him are just fun to stack and run through.
It’s fun to watch how his mind works when he organizes certain toys or ponders over a page in a book.