Remember the Vikings

Foreword: Sorry for the blogs being few and far between for the month of September. I have a small handful of blogs that I read and I know how it feels checking in on them just to see the same old blog sitting there. Today is my last day to get one in before the calender flips over to October so here I am. Can you believe it? October! I'm too busy to actually write one that takes a lot of brain power, so sue me if you don't like the content but here goes.

This past Saturday I ran across a news story that made my jaw drop. Maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic, but you get the idea. It was about Parkview High School's football team. Apparently, they won their game last Friday night. I normally wouldn't have been reading about sports, but the headline caught my attention. Parkview's win broke a fifty-eight game losing streak. 58 games! Before Friday night's game their last win was October 10, 2002, almost 6 years ago.

Think about that. Both the Class of 2007 and the Class of 2008 spent their entire four years of high school without a win on the football field. This discouragement had to extend beyond the lighted field. School spirit probably isn't what it once was, but there is still a pride to be had by a season record even if you never attend a single game. I know I've felt a spark of healthy pride when someone finds out that I graduated from Ozark and starts complimenting their football program. And I was a soccer player! I didn't go to football games, and yet I've felt it. So, what then for the multitudes of students who had to bare the embarrassment of a losing streak that took years to break?

According to the News-Leader the state record for longest losing streak is held by the town of Iberia, MO. This is a tiny little town of 605 people halfway between Rolla and Lake of the Ozarks. Their losing streak of 72 straight games stretched from 1965 to 1974. The second longest losing streak took place in Gainesville, MO. Gainesville lost 66 in a row and is also a small town of 632 people. Parkview now holds the third place for longest losing streak in the state. On a sidenote, neither Iberia nor Gainesville have football programs anymore. So, one could say that Parkview holds the longest football losing streak in the state for a team that is still active.

Friday night's win didn't come easily either. It was a battle down to the final tick of the clock. Parkview beat Hillcrest in double overtime 39-36. It will be interesting to see what this win does for the team for the rest of the season. Coming out of a slump like that could easily turn the entire morale of the team around. Time will only tell. Just remember the Vikings when everything seems to be working against you and you see no end in sight.

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