The problem with sports is that the season always ends.  Sometimes it’s planned, as in the last game of the season and sometimes it’s not, but eventually the season always ends.  There’s always a last game.  A final pass, a final catch, a final kick.  The clock runs down, the time runs out and you walk off the field for the last time. 

And then there’s this moment when you wonder, what’s next?  There’s a hole.  An opening.  A space you’re not accustomed to.

Yesterday’s CIF Northern California championship game was all it was cracked up to be.  There we were, tailgating in the parking lot of the Oakland Coliseum, a big, red and gold tailgate with more food than anyone could possibly consume.  There were Aram sandwiches and grilled sausages, chicken wings with blue cheese dressing, cookies, brownies, and even cream puffs being handed out.  There were celebrities in attendance when a certain “Big Sky State” family came by to wish us luck and join in the fun.

The Coliseum is a massive place with Mt. Davis looming overhead, but section 116 felt like home for a few hours, decorated in balloons and brimming with family, friends, alumni and well wishers for the kids from Cardinal Newman.  Our kids were introduced one by one and appeared on the jumbo-tron (How cool was that?), the large video screens that tower over the end zones.  The air was crisp, the sun was shining and excitement was definitely in the air.

For almost two quarters it seemed like the season would continue.  San Ramon Valley was making mistakes and Newman was capitalizing on them.  A safety in the end zone gave us a one-point lead and within a few minutes of the half, we were up 21-7.  Things were looking good.  The crowd from SRV was quiet and their quarterback looked rattled.

But football is a four-quarter game.  Right before half, SRV scored and the momentum changed.  You could feel it.  The tide changed.  Right there.

At halftime we were up by 7, but it was not a comfortable lead.  We let them get back in it.  We knew it and they knew it, and at that moment, the end of the season began to emerge.

And so, today was that day.  The 2007-2008 season officially came to an end.  It was an unbelievable ride, one that will stay with these kids for a long time.  They accomplished more than anyone thought they could.  Anyone but them, of course because, in the end, they never stopped believing.  In themselves, in their coaches and in each other.

I can’t wait ‘til next year!