Far too often, a sports season is remembered by the final game.
It’s all part of the “What have you done for me lately?” mentality that too many sports fans display.
It’s a shame, but it’s a part of the approach many take.
For the Winder-Barrow High School varsity boys basketball team, to judge the Bulldoggs on the final game of the 2009-2010 season would not only be wrong, it would be an injustice.
It would be an injustice to the players and coaches who worked so hard and accomplished so much during the recently completed campaign.
It would be an injustice to everything coach David Sokol accomplished during his first season with the program. The bottom line is, it would be wrong to judge the whole based on the concept of one game, even if it was the final one.
“It would be a shame if anyone did that,” Sokol said after reflecting on the opening round state tournament loss to Lithia Springs. “We accomplished so many good things this season. You can’t take away those accomplishments just because we didn’t do well in the state tournament game Friday.”
Lithia Springs entered state as a No. 3 seed but, in reality, was probably the best No. 3 seed there was. Don’t be surprised if this team goes a ways in the postseason.
It simply wasn’t meant to be for the Bulldoggs as they tried to advance to the second round. WBHS fell behind early and never seemed to secure a firm standing in the contest. Sokol said he’s not sure of the reasons other than the fact his Bulldoggs were facing a quality first-round opponent.
With more than 20 victories during the 2009-2010 campaign, the foundation has been set by Sokol and his coaching staff for the future. A regular season subregion title, along with a Region 8-AAAA tournament runner-up trophy, should help propel the team into the offseason. Four seniors will have to be replaced, but the coaches and returning players will go to work in coming weeks to prepare for 2010-2011.
Work never really stops these days in high school athletics. It will be a busy summer for the Bulldoggs as they look to remain competitive at a high level of play.
As far as the 2009-2010 season, many positive things were accomplished on the basketball court. One game cannot and does not change that fact. It’s a simple fact really.
Chris Bridges is sports editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
