Football - Part 3a

Despite my hope of maintaining anonymity, it would be difficult to continue this story without mentioning the high school I went to or team I played for. Located in a northern suburb of Chicago, Maine Township High School South (Maine South) was my home for four adjective-less years. For those of you too lazy to click the above link, Maine South is an above-average public high school known around the state for two things: Hillary Clinton and its football program.

Hillary Clinton, the former First Lady, Senator from New York and presumptive Democratic nominee for President, graduated from my alma mater (as Hillary Rodham) in 1965. When her husband was first running for President in 1991, their motorcade created quite a bit of hoopla in my sleepy little city. Interestingly, while looking for information on Maine South I stumbled across this article about Hillary.

Just as Hillary has become a household name throughout the country, the football program at my school has earned a proportional amount of recognition on the state level. Despite having only 2600 students, Maine South competes and often succeeds in the largest "class" of schools. From 1992 to 2007 the Maine South Football team annually qualified for the state playoffs, reaching the state championship five times and winning twice. The consistency of its success disproves any notion that luck is involved. After totaling the approximate number of hours spent at summer camps, off-season workouts, doubles sessions, practices and games, I calculated that over my four years, I dedicated roughly 1,200 hours to Maine South football. It was those hundreds of hours spent after school and away from the pool, mixed with the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds of my teammates, that built that program year after year.

In the pages that follow I will try to glean the best few moments from those many hours, and hopefully provide a glimpse into the indescribable "tradition" of Maine South Football.