We know this because Todd has consistently pummeled Managing Editor E. Shawn Aylsworth in the long-standing DUFFL fantasy football league for years. This season, Todd rode LaDainian Tomlinson and Frank Gore all the way to a second-place finish, and his Middletown Fightclub squad posted the 12-team leagueâ??s best record in the regular season with just one loss.
Here, then, is his fourth installment of what itâ??s like to be at the helm of a winner â?¦
Greetings from Godâ??s country â?¦ Shenandoah!
Sorry this is a little late this week, but Monday games really mess me up. They are even worse when you lose them! We were defeated by a very good Winchester team Jan. 22, 52-48. This is not exactly the kind of momentum we wanted to take into our last conference game with Lapel tonight.
Lapel comes to Shenandoah tonight for the White River Athletic Conference championship game. They are an extremely talented team. Last season, they gave us a great first quarter with a bunch of good, young players. We eventually won, but you could see the balance of power shifting toward them.
Add a state champion 2A player to the mix over the summer and a couple of nice move-ins at Christmas (talk about Christmas bonuses!), and you have a team that is capable of going deep into the tournament. The only factor that can hold them back is chemistry! Has everyone had enough time to get on the same page and is everyone OK with their role?
The things that I have been proudest about for all the success that we have had is that I felt like our kids really bought into what we were trying to accomplish. There were tough times along the way, but several of our players were willing to sacrifice individual glory for the betterment of the team. It is always nice when the biggest problem you face is trying to get your best shooters to shoot more.
Kelly Troxell was that way, and so were Amanda Norris and Chelsea Miller. All of these kids became our all-time leading scorer despite the fact that none of them averaged more that 11 shots per game. I will always remember Chelsea scoring 17 points in the 2005 championship game â?¦ IN THE SECOND HALF!
She did not score in the first half against North Judson, and we had played very poorly offensively. We were down, and it looked bad. But Chelsea was one of those kids that you â??get onâ? a bit and she would respond. At halftime, I challenged her to take it upon herself to get us going offensively. She did! Then once she got it going, it got contagious and we were able to come back and win.
My point, I guess, is that you have a chance to be a great team when your leaders are unselfish. I hope there are some players out there that can take that to heart â?¦ because tourney time is just around the corner!!
Coach T
Todd would love to hear from you! E-mail him at tsalkoski@shenandoah.k12.in.us.
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