2004 Season In Review - Part 2 by Julie Wicher, Sirens Half Back Perspectives Editorial Volume 3, Issue 6 July 3, 2004 One of Coach Brown’s famous sayings is something to the effect of “you’re never as good as you look on the field or as bad as you look on film.” Considering our team averages 60+ points a game you would think that we were not making many mistakes. Watching game film is always a real eye opener. Sometimes in life, especially when things seem to be going really well, you need to be humbled. I always get really focused on game day. I strive for perfection. I have set high expectations on myself which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand these expectations keep me persevering which I think is very important in both sports and life. On the other hand when a play is not run well I sometimes have allowed frustration to get the best of me. One of the things I’ve tried to work on this season is to not dwell on one play; short term memory is a key to overall success in this game. If you allow one play to dictate your overall game then more than likely you will end up disappointed. I can not count the times when we have had one play go wrong and come back the very next play to move the ball way down the field or even score. This season has been a roller coaster both physically and mentally for the Sirens. The defense has seen their fair share of ups and downs including season ending injuries to a couple of players before the season even began. They were also introduced to an entirely new coaching staff. Taking it all in stride, the defense did not allow opponents to score a single point until our fifth game (against San Diego). Offensively, we have tried to focus on things we can control on the field. Specifically we want to play with integrity, be patient and move the ball down the field. The season was going along much as expected; we were winning our games in all aspects; offensively, defensively and special teams. Then came San Francisco….. We knew that SF was going to be tough and we worked hard in preparing for them. I for one felt a little overwhelmed with new information on how to stop the Stingrayz. We may have tried to do too much. I am also a very superstitious person and there were numerous signs leading up to the game that told me something was just not right (including broken down cars, forgotten jerseys, getting lost on the way to the game, etc.). There was also the Bunny Fufu factor. I do not want to take any credit away from SF, they played a heck of a game and fought hard for the win. Like I stated in the beginning, 1) sometimes it is good to be humbled and 2) you need to have a short term memory in this sport. We were on a 27 game winning streak. In fact, most of the players on the team (including me) had never experienced loosing a football game before. In the long run it was probably good to go through it, even though it hurt. I think the loss relieved some pressure we had on us, but also helped us to re-focus. We became so worried about what other teams were going to do that we neglected to concentrate on what WE do. We were now put into another unfamiliar situation. With the loss we had gone from being undefeated to being at risk of not even making the playoffs. The way it stood, if we lost another game our post season was in jeopardy. For the next two weeks we went back to basics and worked on what had made us a strong team/family; something we had forgotten. On May 29th we arrived at our home stadium at Bella Vista HS more ready to play then we had been all season. There was close to 2,000 fans in the stands, the biggest, loudest and most supportive Siren crowd I can remember. We played hard, we never gave up and we won the game; not offensively, not defensively, but as a team. Thank you Sirens and thank you fans. Now it’s on to the playoffs. Perspectives Archives