We came out Friday night knowing that whoever made the least amount of mistakes would win the Date Bowl.  Needless to say, it was the Rams who made too many mistakes.  We fumbled twice, with both mistakes leading to touchdowns, and shanked a punt, which led to another touchdown.  Mistakes not only hurt in football, but they also hurt in life.  Football, like school, is measured by mistakes.  Once we, as a football team and as students, at Desert Mirage High School understand that, we must practice mistake-free assignments; we will have a tendency to struggle. 

One thing that I must bring to light is that our varsity football team did not give up.  Our players never gave up and scored three more times during the game after our first score.  We did lose 47-24, but it was a lot closer than the score showed.  Without the three major mistakes, it would have been a track meet to the final score of the game--both squads faired very well on the offensive side of the ball.  But, ‘ifs’ and ‘almosts’ only count in hand grenades and horseshoes - not in football.  Football is a game in which, if you make too many mistakes against a good football team,  you always end up in the loss column. 

The only way your Desert Mirage Rams Football Team will play mistake-free is for us to practice mistake-free Monday -Thursday.  When you see your Desert Mirage football players on campus, congratulate them on not quitting in the game, but remind them to have a mistake-free practice so it will never happen again.  And when you are in the classrooms, Desert Mirage student body, make sure you practice mistake-free class work and homework, and you will have a pretty good outing during your class tests. 

Good luck to all athletes this week, and to all students, we wish you the very best.  Remember - make sure you are loved and love all those you come in contact with.   A little love goes a long way in building a better and higher self-esteem.  GO RAMS!!!

 Looking Ahead -

This Friday, we are heading down to the beautiful Imperial Valley, where we will face Imperial High School.  They have been playing good teams this season so far, but if we come out and play mistake-free football, we should win.  It will be a hard fought game, but the only people that have stopped us this season have been ourselves.  Remember -  life is hard enough when we come across obstacles in life--we do not need to help it along by hurting ourselves.  This is why I always remind you to love yourself and the people around you.  Whatever happens in the past is in the past.  Do not dwell on it--it simply hurts longer and more often when we do that.  Forget about the past and move on to the future.  Have the best darn day you can today and learn from the mistakes that you committed today and leave yesterday to the past and prepare for a better day tomorrow. 

Desert Mirage, hold your heads up high - you are all good people who we all love very much; don't let the past beat you up--we all have enough problems in the world we live in.  Stay positive and surround yourselves with the best people possible.  They say a good leader surrounds himself or herself with the best people possible to give him or her  the best chance for success.  Go out there and succeed and chase your dreams and goals down in a full sprint with those around you who love you and want to see you succeed.

Coach Tebelak