This past weekend, I made my yearly trip to State College, Pennsylvania to catch a Penn State football game with my brother. The 6 hour trip (only 3 hrs for my brother, so i make him drive us to the game) to PA isn't all that bad, especially when you are thinking about how much fun the game is going to be.
If you are a college football fan, then watching a game at Beaver Stadium is a must. Make sure you wear something navy or white, otherwise you will stick out worse than a Red Sox's fan at Yankee stadium.
Penn state has been in the news a lot lately, but not because they are ranked in the top five this year. Well, at least not yet. Recently, Penn State's off-field problems were highlight by ESPN on June 25, 2008. There have been numerous player citations since 2002, according to this report. What made matters worse, was right before this past weekend's game, PSU had to suspend three key players for off-field violations. Adam Rittenberg's espn.com article quoted Joe Pa's response to the recent situation, which I think applies to any athlete, in any sport, who represents any school. "My feeling on all of this is they have a responsibility to the program, they have a responsibility to themselves, to their family." "They have a responsibility to their teammates."
How does this fit into a younger athlete's life? Well, each year NC public high school athletes must sign their school's form, which includes the NCHSAA Regulations Student Athlete Pledge. This pledge states, "I know the behavior expectations of my school, my conference, and the NCHSAA, and hereby accept the responsibility and privilege of representing this school and community as a student athlete." As an athlete, you do have "extra" responsibilities to the school and team you represent. Every time an athlete does something wrong, or a program violates regulations, the media is quick to cover the story. The fans are quick to judge, and others are labeling your program as dirty, uncontrolled, and poorly coached.
Coach Gaine's quote from the movie Friday Night Lights (2004), is one of my favorite quotes in relation to sports. "Being perfect is not about that scoreboard out there. It's not about winning. It's about you and your relationship with yourself, your family and your friends. Being perfect is about being able to look your friends in the eye and know that you didn't let them down because you told them the truth. And that truth is you did everything you could. There wasn't one more thing you could've done. " - Coach Gaines
The question to you is, are you doing everything to not let your teammates down?
