Ugliest game you've ever seen

[DinwiddieProud]

I will keep my feelings on losing simple by quoting one of my heroes on and off the field.

"If wanting to win is a fault, as some of my ctitics seem to insist, then I must plead guilty. I like to win. I know no other way
Its in my blood".

Bear Bryant

Sure, I was dejected after the loss to Salem last year, but I had no ill will towards anyone, nor did I attempt to make excuses. Hell I didnt play the game. I hurt the most for our quarterback Bryce Witt. Its kind of like a pitcher who throws a no hitter and loses on an error. I was very proud of our effort. It took a team to play penalty free ball and a quarterback who played like a man possesed to take us out. Kudos to the Saprtans.

The fun part of this is we get to do it over again very soon. I can promise you this for a fact. Win or lose we will be extremley prepared for battle and its going to take another stellar effort from the Spartans to beat Coach Mills twice in a row.

If Salem wins, I will grit my teeth and drive home pissed, but if we can beat them at home you will only see modesty and honesty.

Exactly right, on every account.

 

[mike salem]

I will keep my feelings on losing simple by quoting one of my heroes on and off the field.

"If wanting to win is a fault, as some of my ctitics seem to insist, then I must plead guilty. I like to win. I know no other way
Its in my blood".

Bear Bryant

Sure, I was dejected after the loss to Salem last year, but I had no ill will towards anyone, nor did I attempt to make excuses. Hell I didnt play the game. I hurt the most for our quarterback Bryce Witt. Its kind of like a pitcher who throws a no hitter and loses on an error. I was very proud of our effort. It took a team to play penalty free ball and a quarterback who played like a man possesed to take us out. Kudos to the Saprtans.

The fun part of this is we get to do it over again very soon. I can promise you this for a fact. Win or lose we will be extremley prepared for battle and its going to take another stellar effort from the Spartans to beat Coach Mills twice in a row.

If Salem wins, I will grit my teeth and drive home pissed, but if we can beat them at home you will only see modesty and honesty.

I didn't mean anything about my comment toward you BN, it was a poor attempt at humor. I know you and DP are among the most humble, honorable, and respectful men I've ever met. I meant no disrespect and I apologize if I offended you.

I hate to lose also, even though we're not the ones playing the game. The championship game came down to the last play and could have went either way. I hope for a good nail biter (or ball squeezer) in September as well.

If it weren't for you guys and the people on this board I wouldn't have been able to see the championships the last 3 years. I look forward to seeing you guys in a couple of months and I know both teams will be playing like it's the title game all over again. I could be wrong, but I believe this could be the most anticipated regular season game in Salem Stadium history. (Not the biggest crowd, but probably the most anticipated) I think the eyes of the state will be on that game in September. Looking forward to it.

 

[BleedingNavy]

Mike, you did not offend me in the least and I did not find anything you said to be distasteful. In fact, you know I like a good ribbing. If people can laugh at my expense then atleast I have a purpose.

I don't necessarily like the early matchup with Salem (because of the schedule that follows), but it shows neither team backs away from good teams. When the decision to make the schedule occurred the AD's had no idea their teams would play in November. Its good for 4a and it gives both sides a chance to see a top team from another region. Kind of like Sherando vs. Louisa, Smithfield vs. Dinwiddie and so on.

Lets just hope our boys stay injury free and play a competitive game. With two new quarterbacks it could be a turnover fest or ground and pound game. Both defenses should be very good, so the offensive line play will be key. More on this to come.

 

[SpartanOfYore]

Mike, you did not offend me in the least and I did not find anything you said to be distasteful. In fact, you know I like a good ribbing. If people can laugh at my expense then atleast I have a purpose.

I don't necessarily like the early matchup with Salem (because of the schedule that follows), but it shows neither team backs away from good teams. When the decision to make the schedule occurred the AD's had no idea their teams would play in November. Its good for 4a and it gives both sides a chance to see a top team from another region. Kind of like Sherando vs. Louisa, Smithfield vs. Dinwiddie and so on.

Lets just hope our boys stay injury free and play a competitive game. With two new quarterbacks it could be a turnover fest or ground and pound game. Both defenses should be very good, so the offensive line play will be key. More on this to come.

Amen to the "injury free" part.

With regards to taking losses hard.....Of course, that all gets easier as we age and realize that a game played by kids, even one about which we get so passionate, is really not something we need to get seriously upset about. About the last Salem loss I took pretty hard was the last time to date that Blacksburg prevailed in the series, in 2003. The Bruins won 17-16 on a field goal in the last twenty seconds. This was in week nine, and the loss dropped Salem to 7-2. Meaning that even a win over Pulaski County in the season finale wouldn't be good enough for a playoff berth, back in those times when playoff berths were usually hard-won.

My now-wife, then-girlfriend and I were in our first year of dating, and she went with me to the game at now-vanished Bill Brown Stadium in Blacksburg. My wife had absolutely no interest in football, and came from a family that was, and remains, one hundred percent devoid of any real interests in sports, either watching or participating. I know - hard to imagine. Well, knowing that the loss was probably going to keep a darned good Spartan team - one I felt had a decent chance of winning the whole thing - at home for the playoffs, I was none too happy. I barely said a word for the rest of the evening. She was just mystified, dumbfounded how an adult (with no child on the team, at that) could be so upset over a high school football game. I didn't even really try to adequately explain until the next night. I'd pretty much gotten over it by Saturday afternoon, which I still don't think is too bad for what was in essence a season-ending loss.

One other note from that game - we accidentally got in for free. If any of you remember that stadium, you walked in right by the old middle school, and there were several different parts of the building in the vicinity of the ticket booth. Well, we followed some people in through an alleyway, and it turns out we had walked in right through a gap in the defenses, if you will. We got to our seats, and I decided to go back and pay, to preemptively ward off any bad karma settling on the Spartans due to our having basically snuck in, even if we had done so unwittingly.

So I was even more pissed when my selfless act of honesty backfired, and Salem lost a damn heartbreaker anyway. Where was the justice, man??!!