It’s a great day to be a Dillo! Many of you have questions about how sports will happen this year and how tickets will be made available. As of this article, I do not have all the answers, and we are working with the other schools in our district so that we will be consistent and fair no matter the venue. It will be as fair as we can make it. As soon as possible, I will get the information out to the public for ticket purchase, process, and availability. Until then, I will share a football story.
Many years ago, a friend of mine told me a story about a touchdown run he made in high school. They were deep in their own territory. He went out for a pass and caught the ball on his own 20-yard line. He looked over his shoulder and saw a shadow of a tackler closing in on him. He quickly changed his direction and started angling across the field. Looking over his other shoulder, he saw another tackler fast approaching from the other side of the field, and he changed direction again. He zigged and zagged his way across the field. This happened several times until he finally crossed into the end zone for an 80-yard touchdown run.
While celebrating in the endzone, he looked back down the field and saw there was no one within 40 yards of him. Where were the tacklers that had dogged him all the way down the field narrowly avoiding his evasive moves? The fans were also somewhat bewildered. They could not figure out why the runner was making these crazy moves down the field when he did not have a tackler anywhere close to him. Some fans did not know whether to cheer or be concerned for the player.
It turns out that the stadium lights had cast a set of cross shadows of himself as he was running. He literally outran and avoided himself all the way down the field for one of the most dramatic and unnecessary maneuvers of his career.
Why am I sharing this story? Because he scored a touchdown and won the game. Our end zone goal is to get students back in school, playing sports and enjoying the education process. It may seem like we are running from shadows and changing directions. You may not understand the maneuvers and direction changes, but know that we are headed to the goal line. You may not know whether to cheer or be concerned. Many people and teachers are ecstatic about coming back to school, but not everybody.
Our athletes have tasted victory in the past and want some more of it. They are hungry for victory and working hard to achieve it.
Some people are not for coming back to school at all, and some are not sure. We respect where you are in the process as you make the decision for how your child will attend school for the first six weeks. You have until August 5th to decide, and then you must commit.
Sometimes I see the mood of some people and they are not happy. Much of what is happening to us is out of our control, stadium limits, face to face or remote instruction and face coverings. All these things are issues out of our control. What is in our control is the attitude we have about it. We can choose to be pleasant and positive or grieved and grumpy. I recommend pleasant and positive. If you are grieved and grumpy, I recommend trying to outrun and avoid yourself until you reach a place of celebration just like our touchdown runner.
GO DILLOS!