In December of 1980, we had lost at East Moline 73-37. And truthfully, the game was not as close as the score might indicate. It was a game that started badly, and just got worse! At this time, only the first game vs conference teams counted, so East Moline had won the WB6 with a perfect 5-0 record when we played them again in January of 1981. We entered the game with an undistinguished 5-5 record.
After our first game, some quotes by players and the coach in the Quad City paper were not very complimentary of our team. One quote that stood out was a statement by the coach,"When they came out and tried to play us man to man, my jaw dropped." He went on to basically say he could not believe looking at their talent and our talent that we would even think we could guard them man to man.
I don't really believe in the Knute Rockne pregame speeches, but the day of the game we met in my classroom after school. I read the article from the Quad City paper, kind of a reminder to them. And I think our themes then were about pride and about respect.
To give the story full disclosure, our best player, Amy Crisman did not play in the first game vs. UT. Was Amy good enough to worth 46 points to our team? No, probably only 40 points! Amy was 5'8", quick, could handle the ball, could shoot, could defend, and could REALLY compete. But in reality, we needed more than just having Amy playing.
We had other good players. Melissa Greer and Amanda Allen were the other guards. Lanyta Steward and Teresa Powell were the posts, while Lyndale Pickrel came off the bench. Lanyta and Amy went onto play college basketball. Teresa played college volleyball. Lyndale placed in the long jump at State. And Amanda played college tennis. So I would say we had some good athletes.
I could be wrong, but I am guessing most of us (players and coach), went into the second game vs. UT, hoping we might win, believing we could keep it close, and fearing we would get blown out. My point, I don't think we had any real basis for firmly believing we would win. We probably all said the right things and we were determined, but UT was a dominating team.
But this was a game where everything that needed to go right, it went right. We hit shots, we got offensive rebounds and put backs. We surprised them and pressed for just 7-8 possessions, and got not only turnovers but turnovers and scores. And, we followed their coaches advice and played a 2-3 zone. The outcome was a 59-51 win for the Streaks. For those of you not good at math- that is an unbelievable 54 point turn around.
The picture is the celebration after the win. Our players and fans today would think the gym was empty that night. Back in 1981, only the main floor bleachers on the north side were pulled out. The crowd was their parents, our parents, siblings that were forced to attend, and boyfriends if there was nothing good on TV. My point, the energy in the gym was generated by the players, and some loud and proud parents.
We have had some great celebrations after wins. Beating Moline for the conference title in 1990, beating Belvidere in 1996 to go to state, and beating Moline in Sectional in 2000. As exciting as those celebrations were, I really don't think any team was more excited with their win than this 1980 team.
There are many things we can learn in sports- work ethic, value of team work, unselfishness, and more. I think one of the greatest things we can LEARN from sports is that we are capable of more than we thought. It is one of the most exciting experiences of us as humans, to realize that we are better than we thought we were. These girls in 1981 were excited because they proved to they could do something they were not sure they could.
In my psychology classes, we did a lesson on potential, where I shared a short essay written by Terry Orlick, a sports psychologist. The following is what Orlick had to say...
Exploring Our Limits
By Terry Orlick, Sports
Psychologist
" My personal experiences as a competitive athlete have been rich
ones. There have been some memorable highs which remain with me. Some involved
achieving personal goals, others involved the sheer joy of being absorbed in
the experience. One of my achievement highs was when I first did a quadruple
twisting back sommersault on the trampoline. Some might say-- so what? Who
cares if you can spin your body around in the air four times before coming down?
What difference does it make?"
It may not make any difference to anyone else, but it made a
difference to me. It was important to me, and that was enough. It was kind of
neat doing something that very few people have ever accomplished. Although I never
started out with this as one of my goals, over a period of about eight years,
it began to happen bit by bit...half twist...full...double...triple...three and
a half...three and three quarters...quadruple! I remember an exciting feeling
rushing through my body...a satisfaction in having explored my potential in one
small seemingly meaningless, but personally meaningful, area of existence. I
had stretched my personal limits, or at least thought I had at the time.
"The desire to do your personal best, to excel, to attain the
highest standards of performance, to be supreme in one’s chosen field is a
worthy human ambition which has led and can continue to lead to increased
standards and personal growth. If no one was concerned with the quality of
their contribution, their work, their product or service, our society would
take a turn for the worse. Yet high levels of achievement and excellence in any
area do not come easily. The trail is hard and steep. There are numerous
obstacles to overcome and barriers to push forth. Becoming a highly skilled
person in any field, athletics, art, surgery, science, writing, teaching, or
parenting, demands commitment and sacrifice."
"The greatest barriers we confront in our pursuit of excellence
are psychological barriers which we impose upon ourselves, sometimes
unknowingly. My failure to even attempt a quintuple is a good example. Somehow
I had come to believe it was “impossible”. Perhaps it was like the four minute
mile. At one time this too was viewed as an impossible barrier...until it was
broken by one man...and then almost immediately by a host of others. It wasn’t
the physiological make-up of runners that changed; it was their psychological
knowledge of what was possible. As man’s beliefs about limits change, the limits
themselves change."
One of the greatest things we can take from sports is the excitement of recognizing that we have more potential than we realized. We are not as limited as we had thought!
Sometimes parents will say things about their child to me... "They don't know how good they could be if they would just play harder." The parents are absolutely right when they say things like this. Often young players don't know how good they could be. It isn't a case of laziness, they just have learned about their potential.
The players don't just learn how to shoot and play defense- basketball skills. The players are learning psychological lessons. It is exciting when experience causes the "lightbulb" to go on- and the athlete takes off. Under the right circumstances, sports can give us a chance to celebrate who were are- and who we are is often greater than we realized.
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