In less than two days, I will be the David chasing after the Goliath. I will be the Americans trying to upset the Soviets to re-create the Miracle on Ice, only this time on a basketball court in Lincoln, Nebraska. The first round of the state tournament starts on Thursday and our team got paired up to play the number one team in the state. The Seward Blue Jays aren’t just any old number one team in Class B this year. They have the pride of a lion and know that their seventy-two game win streak is on the line every time they step out on that floor.

I am a very competitive person. I am one of the most competitive people you will meet, but an even better team player. I will use this opportunity to challenge Seward rather than shy away from them. I thrive off of competition and that is why I believe I will be part of the team that ends this streak for good.

Seward is a two-time defending state championship team that takes everybody’s best-shot night in and night out. I have the highest respect for what they do, but more than anything I would gladly accept the challenge to knock them off their throne. They have a sort of arrogance about them that they have downright earned. Winning seventy-two games in a row in high school sports does not come around very often.

I want to be the team that throws the first punch. The team that rattles them from the get-go and makes them worried out of their minds. One thing I want them to figure out early is that this will be the toughest game out of all seventy two games; nothing will come easy this morning and you must play beyond one hundred ten percent to even come close to beating us.

When it comes round three of this three round battle, the last four minutes of the game, is really more than anything, a mental battle. Even though it is fourth quarter time and the legs are tired, it all comes down to mental focus and will to win. Thursday morning, we will be the ones throwing the final punches on their season, their dreams, and their hope of continuing the streak.

There are a few examples of historic current college and professional sports teams that encounter these same situations. Recently in women’s college basketball there was a so-called “King of the court.” The University of Connecticut women’s basketball team managed to win ninety consecutive games in a row against Division I opponents. This feat was incredible, passing the eighty-eight game win streak by the UCLA men coached by the former John Wooden.
The team to finally end their streak at ninety was the Stanford Cardinal. Now that I am going to go through a similar situation on Thursday morning that they went through a few months ago, I can understand how they felt. Stanford’s desire to win was so great that night, that they overcame the impossible. As I look back on that win today, I can only dream of how that would feel. I am fortunate enough to get this chance in the near future that I am fully going to take advantage of. I believe hands down that we are the team capable of achieving this. We will be the team in the end who fell down seven times, but will stand up eight.