Great Run For Trinity Recalls Aquinas Soccer Title Game 30 Years Ago

by Randy Gardner

What a great run it was for Trinity High School in high school football this year. The team made it all the way to the State Finals and fell just a little short. The team had a great year and congratulations to all of the student athletes on their success.

What a building block for that program and the school for upcoming years. For a team to make it to that position after a full year of competition is why everyone plays sports in the first place. It is something that no one can ever take away from you.

It has been more than 30 years since I was part of a State Championship soccer team at Aquinas Mercy and I still think and talk about it. It’s a time that ranks right up there with marrying my wife and having my children. The one thing I am learning, though, as I am getting older is that it is not about the past. The world is now a “what can you do for me now?” world. Just look at professional sports. If you aren’t winning, you are fired or benched for someone else.

In life and sports there is someone just as talented as you right behind you ready to take your spot. That is motivation enough to get up and work hard every single day. A lot of people these days think that everything is a roller coaster–try hard when you need to and then coast when you can. Life should be looked at as an uphill climb on a roller coater next to another coaster. Keep climbing faster and faster and work harder because when you get to the top, the fastest car that comes down the hill is always first. I try to work as hard as I can every day in everything I do. It is unfortunate, but you are judged on everything you do all the time.

You are only as good as your last game or project. Be someone who is know to be a person who gives 100 per cent all the time. What would people say about you right now? What would people say and how would you be remembered if your life was taken away at this instant? Have you done everything you wanted to and become the person you really wanted to be?

   Tigers Got Important Win Over Arkansas

Enough life lessons…How about those Missouri Tigers coming up big over the weekend. What a great call it was on their own 10-yard line late in the game to call a fake punt. More chances need to be taken in sports. Taking changes creates awareness and leads to great things.

It was a great weekend for sports. There were some great football games like the Kansas City Chiefs game that went into overtime and then a field off the post won it. That was created by a chance when Denver tried to kick a 62 yard field goal and missed. It’s all about seizing opportunities.

Also, for all of you soccer fans, it was really cool to see Seattle make it to the Cup. I hope they win; this is a franchise that deserves a title. It’s a great soccer city. That leads me to what I mentioned last week, the reality of a MLS team and stadium here in the St. Louis area.

It’s time to put up or shut up. The region has wanted this for a long time and it can happen. Now it is time for the community to make this happen. I am so worried that the community will let this opportunity slip away like we did the Rams and it won’t come up again.

I think the MLS is a bit different than the National Football League. There will be no second chances. It needs to be done right, though. Take the time to make sure that it fits right into the community and that the programs built around it are ones that will sustain the franchise and make soccer thrive in the St. Louis community, what I consider to be the hotbed and the birthplace of soccer.

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