Winning comes with the territory

Hello again, this is another message from the editor as promised in my column last week. As a reminder, the next few weeks until my last day as editor here, I will be doing a column detailing some of my favorite moments and stories from my years with the Citizen. Don’t worry too much about my departure. I won’t spoil the news before the official announcement, but it looks like we’re going to have someone extremely capable taking over for me once I’m gone. Like I said, no spoilers. I’ll let them tell that story when it’s time.

This week, I want to tell a story about how I started my career here as a sports reporter. When I started working and covering these varsity teams around the county, I quickly learned that winning truly comes with the territory. And I mean territory in a literal sense as there have been some high-performing teams within the county limits during my time here.

It’s too difficult to pick just one of my favorite moments, so hopefully I can describe a few without being too longwinded.

One moment I’ll never forget was being present for the Columbus High School football team’s loss to Franklin in the 2022 Playoffs, just one win away from being in the final four schools in the 3A playoffs. You may ask why I’m starting with a story about a loss in a column about winning, but bear with me a moment. The reason it stands out so much to me is because it was a reminder of just how much winning means here. The Cards had already won a lot leading up to that game.

They were so, so, so close to even taking the win against Franklin. It took a game winning drive for the Lions in the final minutes to determine the result in a threepoint victory for Franklin. As a fan of the Cards, my heart hurt for the team.

I knew a loss like that would be devastating for a team that had the potential to be the last one standing at the end of the season. But seeing the frustration and pain just told the story of how much they felt like they could win that game. They believed that they would win that game, all the way until the final horn.

There was real passion on that sideline, and one thing that I’ve learned covering and watching sports through the years is that winners hate losing. That was evident for the Cards that night.

I’ve seen other great teams play throughout my time here. I followed the Weimar High School Ladycats make the playoffs in basically every sport and even win a state championship in 2023. I was there during the series clincher against Shiner in the playoffs, one of the biggest tests and victories of the season.

I was there along the way of the Lady Cards basketball and volleyball state semifinal runs, even traveling to Garland in ‘22 to watch them in the state tournament.

I still distinctly remember traveling to three different towns to watch Weimar baseball, softball and Columbus softball in one day during the spring postseason.

All of these moments just contribute to the fact that winning matters a lot out here. The kids want to win, the coaches want to show them how, and the residents here want to support their children in any way they can. It’s awesome seeing teams grow throughout the years as programs improve and get better.

I hope that continues long after I’ve written my last word for the Citizen. Honestly, I have a strong feeling that it will. Like I said earlier, in Colorado County, winning comes with the territory.