Many people have been asking me where are the updates to the site. It has just been impossible for me to sit down and write this until today. I never said I was an impartial observer and last weeks game, while it was possibly the best game in Glendale history, and I KNOW it was the best in recent history even though we ended up just shy of the win, was an emotional game for me and I just didn’t know what to say.
The 2011 Glendale Falcons gave us all something to be proud of taking Lees Summit West to the brink of elimination when nobody, outside of Glendale family and fans, gave us a shot to win. Most people were calling for a 40 point plus loss, something we as Falcon fans were confident was NOT going to happen. Many chances slipped through our fingers through this game to put it away and finish them in regulation, but there is nothing to take back and nobody to “blame” for this one. These Falcons left it all on the field, and then some!
That being said I am now going to address the reason why I have had a difficult time with writing this in an open letter to Glendale Falcon Nation:
This year has been a wild, fun and roller coaster ride. Something for us all to remember and cherish, and memories this great group of boys will carry with them forever.
Many of the boys on this team I have “coached” since as young as first grade and many more along the way throughout the years. I have pictures in my upstairs hallway of Dakota Brake, Will Rogers, Jeremy Armstrong, Nolan Bettlach, Logan Bauer in team pictures from a very young age. Many people feel “Mighty Mites” is not necessarily a good thing and can teach bad habits resulting from poor coaching. I’m writing this today to tell you that I didn’t teach these boys football, there isn’t time and they don’t have the capacity for it at that age. My goal was to foster a passion and love of the game of football and an attitude that they can carry with them through the years and a love of the “TEAM”. At the end of every year I gathered the boys together and told them that they were a part of a team that would always be together, not just for a few short weeks in the fall.
My goal was to instill in the boys an attitude that it didn’t matter who they lined up against, how good the team was supposed to be across the line, if a kid is the number one player in the nation overall or at his position, we walked tall, proud and had a confidence that we would not fear anyone or anything on the field. A swagger if you will was my goal, and I have NEVER been more proud of that group of young men and ALL the other Falcons that were on that field Monday night. I’m certain that history means far less to them than it does to me, but boys, now men, you GOT it and you showed it to Lees Summit West!!
Carry this season with you, stay in touch and please play this game as long as you can. No matter when you stop you will at some point look back and wish for just “one more.”
