UPside of Life: Rivalry week

My shirt is still soaking wet as I write this.

Not because I've been sobbing incessantly since our loss to Posen for our homecoming game last Friday (I haven't--really), but because I just spent three hours in the pouring rain pushing 11 players to be the best they can be. Three hours of mud. Three hours of cold. Three hours of blowing a whistle, barking out instructions, giving praise, giving corrections and being my gruff ol' self.

And every minute of it was worth it.

Today, in the pouring rain, I watched as 11 players continued to sweat. I watched as 11 players refused to quit. I watched as 11 players said with actions rather than words that they wanted to keep playing. Every snap. Every tackle. Every block. Every pass. Every play.

And they wanted to do it all with pride.

Today, as my hoodie became drenched with water, I was proud of those Mid Pen Wolverines. Today, as I watched them support each other and teach each other, I wanted nothing more than to be able to give them a handshake and tell them that I couldn't be happier with the 11 of them.

But that can wait until Friday night. It's then that we will play our biggest rival when we host Rapid River. The Rockets are a formidable team. They have just one loss to what is likely the best team in the state--Cedarville--and they are poised to finish in second place in our conference. Their school is about 15 minutes away from ours--and that's in the rural Upper Peninsula.

I grew up wearing orange and white. The purple and gold of Rapid River has always been my biggest rival. From track and field to the basketball court and, of course, the gridiron, my number one goal each and every year was to try and beat them.

On the gridiron, that never happened. We came close once, but that was it. On the basketball court, on senior night (the only night I ever started--handling the rock wasn't my forte), we did it. And it was glorious (thanks, Matt Baron, for that three-point shot at the buzzer and to Coach Mark Branstrom for giving me a chance to play the game and make lifelong memories).

But on the football field, with pads strapped on and helmets glistening under the Friday night lights, I've never been victorious against the Rockets.

But with 11 men suited up to practice, the rain pouring down and dripping from the brim of my hat, I realized something: It doesn't matter. What mattered then, and what matters now, is that the orange and white never gave up.

That's not going to change. Sitting here, soaking wet, I'm absolutely certain about that.

Sam Eggleston is the managing editor of Upper Peninsula Second Wave and a graduate of Mid Peninsula High School. He played three games as a varsity lineman against Rapid River and wouldn't trade those memories for anything. He can be reached via email.