There was a football movie out years ago entitled "Facing the Giants" and I assumed (wrongly) that it was probably about some team playing a rival team called the Giants.
The Giants this team faced wasn't any other actual team, but rather the "giants" within themselves.
A scene from that movie has been played and replayed in many places on the internet. In that sequence, the head coach is depicted challenging a player to do a physically challenging drill. This player, though he had a ton of talent as a lineman and was a natural leader, held a poor attitude and was not playing up to his potential.
In this particular scene, the coach blindfolded this player, had another player ride on his back, and then challenged the lineman to death crawl (crawling on all fours with his knees off the ground) for 40 yards. The player did so, with the coach exhorting him along the way. The player got tired, weary and wanted to quit but the coach kept pushing him until the player finally did stop. The player didn't realize that he had crawled 100 yards and was in the end zone before he ran out of gas.
Though this movie was just a movie, the events that occurred in the film were based on actual events from several other places. The aforementioned scene was a demonstration of what self limitation can do to people.
In the real world, I have seen this play out several times. I was the high jump judge at a four-state regional track and field competition several years ago. In the 13-year-old division, a coach approached me about his female athlete who was the best in the field but who had a mental block about clearing 5'0". He asked me if I would tell her that she was jumping two inches lower than she really was.
She was quickly the only athlete left in the field, so I went along with the coach's request. I skipped the height from 4'8" to 5'0" but didn't tell her. She easily cleared 5'0" on her first attempt, but failed miserably on 5'2" which she thought was 5'0". When I told her that I made a mistake, and that she really cleared 5'0" earlier, she was stunned. The coach thanked me, and three weeks later, the athlete cleared 5'4" and won a national medal.
Sometimes the giants we face are things we perceive around us. In the Old Testament, when the Israeli spies during the Exodus saw the rather tall people who inhabited Canaan, the story related that eight of the spies were scared, saying they felt like grasshoppers in comparison. That fear led to many years of wandering. They had escaped out of Egypt in the face of Pharoah's army, so it seems a bit odd that they would back down over a lesser threat. The key fact was they backed down because of their fear and false perception.
Sometimes the giants we face are the things we perceive around us, and sometimes they are the things within us. During my coaching career, I had the opportunity to coach about two dozen really talented potentially national class athletes. Only a very few of them ever approached their potential.
One of them set a Missouri state high school track and field scoring record and later went on to become a four-time NCAA All-American. Most of the others had problems with either laziness, lack of commitment, problems with substance abuse, or a myriad other things that kept them from achieving their full potential. As an old cartoon character from the Pogo comic strip once said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
There are lots of giants that loom around us every day. Temptatation to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, or be the wrong thing. Giants can be sneaky and you can't always tell that they are there.
My high school giant was routine. I loved routine. I was a 400-meter runner, and my routine had me stuck on 51s in that race for more than a year. My usual Monday workout was eight 400s, all under 60 seconds. My coach told me that for my senior year, I would be doing ten 400s under 60 on Mondays. I felt I was being punished, so I asked him why. He said: "Because you can."
And I did. Those last two 400s were hard, really hard. Later when I dipped into the low 50s in my races, my coach reminded me that those last two 400s on Monday was the reason I improved over a second. When I extended myself past what I thought were my limits, that's when I improved the most.
Another lesson my coach coach taught me was that while winning was important, it wasn't the most important thing. That was the main lesson of "Facing the Giants."
My coach often said: "it isn't what you win that counts, it is who you become."
Coaches like my old one, the movie character coach, and the coaches here in Pea Ridge have a common bond. They all seek first and foremost to make their players better people, with better character, better habits, and with the ultimate goal of making them productive citizens for the future.
The problem with high school sports is that the teams are filled with teenagers. Kids who often make mistakes, do the wrong things, or act without a clear comprehension of what their actions might lead to.
The good news is that kids can learn, some the easy way and regrettably, some the hard way.
4A-1 District
Football standings
1. Pea Ridge^4-0
2. Shiloh^4-0
3. Lincoln^3-1
4. Prairie Grove^2-2
5. Gentry^2-2
6. Berryville^1-3
7. Gravette^0-4
8. Green Forest^0-4
MaxPreps/CBS 4A
State football poll
Bauxite is continuing their rise to the top of the state 4A polls with an undefeated 7-0 ledger.
The Miners were cellar dwellers when former Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton took over the program three years ago. They have gotten steadily better, winning their games by an average of more than 20 points. However, they are now entering into a version of "Murderers' Row."
The Miners will be hosting the No. 2-state-ranked Robinson Senators this week, after which they will play the defending state champion Arkadelphia Badgers on the road with their regular season finale game at home to battle the No. 6-ranked Nashville Scrappers. If Bauxite can win those last three games, they might grab the state's top ranking.
The 4A-7 is still the toughest district in the 4A state, with a power ranking well ahead of the other six districts. The 4A-8 is the second most powerful league but still trailing the leader by a significant margin. Surprisingly, the 4A-2 is now the third toughest district led by Stuttgart. Outside the Ricebirds, there are no powerhouses in that league, but most of their teams rank in the top half of the state.
1. Warren^7-0
2. Robinson^6-1
3. Bauxite^7-0
4. Rivercrest^7-0
5. Shiloh^6-1
6. Nashville^6-1
7. Dumas^6-1
8. Stuttgart^5-2
9. Ozark^5-2
10. Dardanelle^6-1
11. Hamburg^6-1
12. Westside^6-1
13. Pea Ridge^5-2
14. Arkadelphia^2-5
15. West Helena^5-2
16. Southside^4-3
17. Heber Springs^3-4
18. Gosnell^3-4
19. Harmony Grove^4-3
20. Ashdown^3-4
21. Trumann^4-3
22. Pottsville^3-4
23. Lonoke^4-3
24. Elkins^6-1
25. Fountain Lake^3-3
26. Lincoln^6-1
27. Pocahontas^3-4
28. Star City^2-5
29. Mena^4-3
30. Prairie Grove^3-4
31. Bald Knob^3-4
32. Crossett^2-4
33. DeWitt^3-4
34. Central Arkansas^3-4
35. Highland^1-6
36. Gentry^2-5
37. Malvern^0-7
38. Riverview^2-5
39. Waldron^2-5
40. Berryville^3-4
41. Cave City^1-6
42. Dover^1-5
43. Subiaco^1-5
44. Brookland^0-7
45. Monticello^0-7
46. Gravette^0-7
47. Mills^0-7
48. Green Forest^1-6
•••
Editor's note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 10/17/2018