Parker: Rare opportunity for departing seniors

So many times in our lives we only get one chance to make things right.

The window of opportunity opens and shuts faster than the speed of light.

Looking back on things, I know there are definitely more than a few things I would have done differently.

Matt Johnson is one of the Shelbyville seniors that could go out a winner. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Sometimes I really wish my father had let me played football for my high school. Every time I see someone really get their shoulders underneath another guy and pop 'em into next week, I wonder how awesome it would have been to dish out such a blow.

Then, by default, you have to take a look at the guy on the other end of that hit who's squeezing the life out of his face mask and rolling around on the ground.

After tonight, there's going to be 15-25 guys who will only have memories of that rush.

It's a sad, sad thing. Sure, you can get your buds together some weekend and find an open field where you can hit each other. But, you and I both know it won't come close to Friday nights.

No P.A. guy calling your name out for a tackle. No band. No cheerleaders.

You can't go walk on over at Motlow State thinking you'll turn somebody's head. There's no JUCO in Alabama that's just the perfect place for you.

Every snap you've seen from pee wee till now vanishes with the breeze.

Such is the nature of the beast.

Football's like that hot chick you met at the beach that you know you'd never have a chance with back home. But, for some reason, by the warm ocean breeze she just thinks you're cute as a button with that stupid hat on.

Then, there's checkout time and it all comes to pass. It's all gone with a blink.

All that's left are "babies and memories."

I hope they can take a small step back for just a second before entering the field of battle at Eagle Stadium or in Cedar Hill under the lights this evening to understand the opportunity in front of them.

Should Cascade pull off the upset of No. 2-ranked Jo Byrns, they likely will get the chance to play again. But, win or lose, Shelbyville's season comes to a close.

Let me fill your glasses up halfway for a second.

How many football players have ever been afforded the chance to know that they were playing in their last game?

Thousands and thousands of teenagers across the country will line up in a playoff game somewhere thinking so hard about who they'll see in the second or third round. What will they do after those dreams come to pass?

Players at every level will lace up and head out the final time this weekend and have to be carted back to reality.

Sometimes no matter what seeded team they are visiting in the postseason, they always think they have a chance. It's not till after that final horn that the chill bumps come and the horrible feeling of regret creeps up their spine.

You guys know this is it, that's an advantage. You can prepare. You can leave every single sweat of your being on that field and walk away for good knowing you put a smile on your mom, dad, uncle, teacher, whomever's face.

Senior Zak Faulk and Cascade hope to extend their season with a win over Jo Byrns. (T-G Photo by Danny Parker) [Click to enlarge]

Remember that assistant coach who shows up to every practice and every game free of charge? He goes straight from re-configuring computers to your practice field. He doesn't even have time to swing by his house to change. But, he's out there for the love and for you.

Think about guys like former University of Tennessee offensive tackle Michael Munoz that likely not only thought he would play in the NFL, but also be drafted relatively high. He never got that call.

Future Hall of Famer and former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Michael Irvin went from being one of the more exciting things to watch on Sundays to being strapped down and wheeled off underneath a cloud of boos at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

One spring over 20 years ago, just a few weeks before pads were handed out for spring practice at MTSU, a young man decided to pass on football that year to help coach a 9-10 year old baseball team.

"It was the dumbest thing I'd ever done," he recollects.

He was just ready to get started into coaching. That man is Cascade coach Kenny Parker.

So, his last game became the Bell Buckle Lions Bowl in 1982. The Champs went 6-5 that year after a 7-0 loss to Class AA foe Lewis County.

What would he tell that young guy now if he had the chance?

"I'd have told him to work harder in the offseason," he said with a 100-yard stare. "Not take things for granted. And the season will go by before you know it. Don't take plays off because the next thing you know, the season's over with."

Some of the regret oozed from his pores.

"I heard the kids out here talking today. They said, 'Guys, if we don't win Friday, this could be our last practice this year. It seems like we started practicing last week.' It just goes so fast, and the older you get, the faster it goes.

"As a player, it's scary. They're scared because this could be the last time they get to play the game.

"When football's gone, for some of these guys, it's done. I had some seniors several years ago that come to me and said, 'Coach, I don't know what I'm going to do now. I can't play football anymore. What am I going to do?' I told them they'll find something."

Right now it's all about legacy and how you go out.

"The games that they will remember the most is the last game that they play at Cascade High School on their home field and the last game they play period," Parker said. "They wanted to make sure that they had a good memory of last week.

"This week, it's how you want to be remembered. We're approaching this game like a playoff game."

There's a reason why you were out there practicing 2-3 times a day before school started this summer. For every reason you can think of to be out there then, there should be 10 more for why you should win tonight.

Man, I feel sorry for Lawrence County and Jo Byrns.

If it were me, I would savor every opportunity I had to absolutely destroy every guy who got between me and my assignment.

I'd be proud to look down at my blood-stained pants.

There's no way I would jog off that field without giving my all for a win.

After all, what's left are "babies and memories."

Danny Parker is sports editor of the Times-Gazette.