Simply Put "Third Ain’t Half Bad "

The Chipola Men’s and Women’s Basketball squads returned from their respective National Basketball Tournaments this past week with a pair of third place finishes. While I suspect there is some measure of disappointment with not winning a national championship, for both squads from the same school to finish in third place in the nation is nothing to sneeze at.
The disappointment for the men’s squad might be a little heavier than for the ladies. The men have been ranked number one in the nation for most of the season. After losing their second game of the season the Indians then reeled off 32 straight victories. That string of victories included going 12-0 in Panhandle Conference play and winning another state championship (three in a row, five out of the last six years). They headed to Hutchinson, Kansas and avoided a disappointing first round loss like they suffered last year. They made their way to the Semi-Finals before falling to Salt Lake CC, the eventual National Champion. The 2008-09 Indians finished the season with a third place finish at the national tournament and a record of 34-2.
I suspect the Chipola Lady Indians are also disappointed, but hey there were plenty of folks who probably thought they would never see Kansas this year. The Lady Indians, after winning three state championships in a row (2007, 2006 & 2005) failed to even make the state tournament last year. Head Coach David Lane and the 2007-08 Lady Indians had to endure last year’s state tournament as spectators from the stands. This year’s squad finished second in the conference and knew that a state championship would likely have to go through Gulf Coast, Chipola’s arch rival and Conference Champions for this season. That is exactly what happened and a last second basket by Pearl Johnson gave the Lady Indians a thrilling 68-67 win over Gulf Coast for the State Title. That earned them a trip to Salina, Kansas where they also finished in third place. They concluded their season with a record of 30-6.
When athletes and coaches have invested so much physically, emotionally and mentally over the year, getting so close but not getting the cigar so to speak can seem worse than never getting so close to begin with. But the reality is that there are thousands of athletes and coaches out there that would trade places with the Chipola squads in a heartbeat. The success that both squads had this year (combined record of 64-8) have carried on the phenomenal run that Chipola athletics has been having the last 5-6 years. And once the disappointment from their recent losses wear off a bit, I hope the athletes and coaches can appreciate the outstanding season they’ve had and realize that finishing third in the nation, Simply Put, ain’t half bad.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob said that one thing about the little town that he grew up in is that there is still no place to go that you shouldn’t.