I realize that Middlebury is outside the Times-Union coverage area, but I would like to use the Northridge football team to illustrate a point today. Northridge basically has NO history in high school football. None. Only twice since 1994 have the Raiders won six games in a season – and one of those times was last year when they won seven. In 12 of those 20 seasons they won two games or less. They have been the doormat of the Northern Lakes Conference and the game every team wanted for their homecoming game. Until last season. Last year they went 7-3 and set a tone that was markedly different than what we had seen from Raider football teams before. They had always played hard, but now they hit harder. They got off the ball faster. They ran to the line of scrimmage to run a play with the expectation it would work. They enjoyed playing defense. This year, just three years removed from going 0-10, Northridge finished 11-3 and played New Prairie last Friday night in the Class 4A north semistate. They made it to the Final Four! They had no one to show them how. They had no Penn-like legacy to uphold. Heck, they've been the “anti-Penn.” They had NOTHING! So they created it themselves. Led by coach Tom Wogoman (25-37 in six years before 2013) and a group of players who had no pleasant memories of watching Raider football growing up, they hacked out a trail through a wilderness that had never been ventured into before. What does that take? What is required of someone to believe that they can do something that has never been done and that no one else believes they can do either? To be more ... to do more ... where does that come from? 1. FAITH IN THE MESSENGER: Two years ago Wogoman dared his team to get better every day, starting immediately. They accepted that challenge with the belief that they could do anything together. 2. FAITH IN THE MESSAGE: In a community where hard work is the expectation, they applied that same thought-process to football daily. 3. FAITH IN EACH OTHER: Individually there were some really talented, special football players in this two-year run. But to get to the Final Four of your class, the sum of your whole team MUST be greater than the sum of its parts. There is a comfort in knowing that the person on either side of you has your back, that you can make a mistake and it won't be the end of the world. 4. LACK OF FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN: There is a saying I like that goes “you always get what you always got when you always do what you've always done.” It takes a special kind of person to go somewhere no one's ever gone before. And while winning football games is not exactly like man stepping on the moon, the barriers (both real and perceived) are the same. The members of the Northridge football program have had those four things. So, ask yourself this question: If 50 kids from Middlebury can do that, what could I/we do with that same approach? Think about the problems that could be solved by simply applying those four things to any organization, governing body ... anything. You could pass legislation that works for people on the greatest number of people, even the ones who didn't vote for you (it's happened before ... really!). You could pack a million meals for kids around the world who'd have no food without you. You could break personal and team sales goals. You can do .... just about anything! Ever wonder what's standing in your way? Don't be afraid to ask, or of the answer you come up with.
