Sunday, November 29, 2009

Yesterday...

Yesterday was the best day and the worst day of my life, all rolled into one. Not to go into details, but my South Dakota State University Jackrabbit foootball team played in its first playoff game in thirty years... and after three heavenly quarters, hell came raining down in the fourth quarter as Montana knocked off my Jacks 61-48.

A lot of hurting folks at the SDSUFans.com message board, including yours truly.... I posted this as a "look on the bright side" to boost our spirits... I thought I'd share this with all of you..


"I Think We'll Be Okay"...
Sorry to steal this from Filbert, but I thought it made a nifty title.

Yesterday was about the lowest I ever felt as a Jackrabbit fan... and that includes "The Game That Shall Not Be Mentioned." Yeah, Montana was the favorite and the top-seeded team, but we had them on the ropes and we didn't go for the jugular... it sucks... and like I said in an earlier post, I hope there's a special place in Hell for the inventor of the "prevent" defense. The only thing that defense prevents is victories.

With that in mind, an amazing thing happened today. The sun came up... okay, it's overcast, but the sun is up, nevertheless.

I got up at 7:00 to come to work and play Christian music for a few hours, like I normally do every couple of weeks or so. Getting dressed this morning, I made it a point to proudly wear my SDSU hoodie and my SDSU sweatpants that I bought after our triumph over Northern Iowa.

Yesterday royally sucked... and we are all still hurting. Some of us are even angry. I sure was angry yesterday; I'm just glad my 2-year old niece didn't hear some of the words I was spewing out yesterday! But today, I am much better.

When I look back on this season, this is what I see...

1) Our best season record since moving up to Division-I athletics... including one of the best starts in over 40 years.

2) One of the top defenses all season long in FCS, even though the fourth quarter yesterday didn't help. But I think that was more an abberition than anything else.

3) Another record for average attendance... over 13-thousand people in a stadium designed for just over 10-thousand... not too shabby.

4) Renewed interested in SDSU athletics... a multi-million dollar donation for a brand-spanking new Student Athete center that'll no doubt be the crowning jewel in the eventual refurbishing and remodeling of CAS. A new SDSU show on KSFY that has our interest. A new Athletic Director who knows that SDSU is not just the school for Brookings or East River, but for Aberdeen, Rapid City, Pierre, Sioux Falls, and yes, even Vermillion!

5) Something that Pete Retzlaff, Jim Langer, Josh Ranek, and Adam Vinatieri could never do as players... lead SDSU to the playoffs!!!

We have a good head coach in Stig. Unlike other coaches in our conference, Stig isn't content to look for just talent alone when recruiting. He looks for young men of good character... young men who realize that you play for the name on the front of the jersey, rather than the name on the back (figurative, since we don't have either on our unis, but you get my drift). Young men from across the country that have avoided the controversy, scandals, and arrest records that have plagued some of our conference brothers. And who can win.

We still have a long way to go... our budget is pathetic, our facilities need serious upgrades, we are seriously understaffed. But all those things are in the process of being corrected, and we have the forward-thinking administration in place to do just that.

Some idiot from Montana decided to show his maturity and say it'll be 30 years before we make the playoffs again... I know we'll be back next year. We have a dynamic quarterback, a solid running back, and a hungry defense coming back next year... all a year older and wiser... and with major chips on their shoulders. And we'll be something no one would have ever guessed for us when we made this transition six years ago... CONTENDERS.

Yesterday sucked... and we're all hurting... but the progress we have made in so short of a time has been amazing, and the future continues to be bright for SDSU Football and SDSU Athletics.

It is still a great day to be a Jackrabbit!

And to quote Filbert... "I think we'll be okay."