Salthawks and Success

Yesterday the Hutchinson High School Salthawks (I am class of 1993) won a state football championship. Incredible right? Actually if you don't know already, it's their 6th in a row! A whole crap load more incredible right?

So first things first, huge amounts of respect are due to the Players, Coaches, Cheerleaders, Band, Parents and Fans. It's a group effort to accomplish something this big, and folks... 6 in a row is huge. The Hutch News article is here if you want the details of the game.

Randy Dreiling has done incredible things for this football program, lots of other folks have made huge contributions as well. But honestly I think it has gotten alot bigger than football.

I can remember being on the other end of High School football games. You see Hutch wasn't always a football town. Not that long ago, we were one of the worst programs around. Again though... the point is not about football. The point I want to make is about success. You see when your football program or your basketball team or your academics or your cities economy or your businesses profit and loss statement are down and out and the outlook is dreary, it's hard. It's hard to keep your chin up, it's hard to get/stay motivated, it's honestly sometimes just hard to smile. It's easy to be negative and find folks to point fingers at. I have been there, I can attest to it. Even with excellent coaches who cared deeply about us back when I was a Salthawk, I just dont think we were able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. We weren't able to truly believe that we could do it. We had the athletes, we had the coaches with the knowledge, we just didn't know how to be successful. More like it, we didn't truly believe that success and dedication could get us anywhere we wanted to be. Maybe we didn't think a bunch of high school kids from Hutchinson freaking Kansas could really band together and be a part of something huge, something nationally recognized as elite.

A bunch of high school kids from Hutchinson freaking Kansas have proved us wrong over the last 6 years.

Thats what I hope the folks of Hutch take from this when the dust settles. Not that we are a football powerhouse (we are... but thats not the great lesson these kids can teach us). Not that we have crazy crap in our water that makes us better on Friday nights (we don't, cause I was drinking the same water back when I was a Salthawk). I want folks in Hutch to learn that folks from Hutch can make history, regular old folks from Hutchinson freaking Kansas can kick serious ass at anything they want to.

Randy Dreiling doesn't have a big book of secrets folks... He's just a guy from Hutchinson freaking Kansas that recognizes that he and his team truly control their own destiny and he is willing to work harder than the other guy to have the best damn destiny around.

Congrats Coach Dreiling.

Congrats to all the Salthawks.

Congrats to everyone in/from Hutchinson, Ks, it's truly a place to be proud of. (for Football and a whole lot more)