Girls, Girls, Girls (ala Vince Neil, aka Motley Crue)

One of the many perks of being a PA guy is that you often get asked to announce other events that take place at the stadium.  This week, I was absolutely blown away by the skills on display from the five teams that participated in "Girl Iron Glory", the first of hopefully many powder puff tournaments to benefit Breast cancer awareness.  I'll be honest here and put myself out there to be scorned:  I had very low expectations.  And when I say "low", I'm talking pembroke welsh corgi low, as in barely off the ground.  (Look at a picture of a pembroke welsh corgi and you'll know what I'm talking about.)

I've never had so much fun being proved wrong.  Those girls could FLAT OUT PLAY!!!  Quarterbacks with cannons for arms, receivers making tremendous catches in traffic, catches being made off of tipped passes, and SPEED!!!

I'll have to admit something here that really stings my pride.  I don't think the pre-game music would have affected their play in any way whatsoever.  I probably could've played Bon Iver's entire catalog and those girls still would have rocked Rocket Stadium.

The event began with a defensive battle Tuesday night between the Health Quest team and Power Tuff, a game that eventually had to be completed Thursday night.  And STILL the teams couldn't outsmart each other enough to take the win, so it came down to Lady Luck.  The Coin Toss gave the victory to Health Quest.

The next game featured the G.R.I.T.S. team sponsored by Conrad's Food Store taking on the Farmer's Bank Brawlers.  The G.R.I.T.S. were on fire.  They probably could have scored against any defense with their precision passes and great catches.  They took the "W", and somehow (still not sure if it was a coin toss or a point spread thing) the Brawlers were eliminated from the event and Power Tuff had the honor of trying to stop the G.R.I.T.S. potent offense.

But before that could happen, the BFFs (Breast Friends Forever....awesome team name!) had to take on Health Quest for a spot in the championship game.  The HQers, coached by Dr. Johnny Newcom, prevailed in an exciting game, and the BFFs held their heads high because of the list of names on their shirts.

Then came the game of the night.  G.R.I.T.S. vs. Power Tuff.  I HOPE and PRAY that somebody got a film of this game, because there were some truly amazing plays made by both teams!  It came down to the final possession, and Power Tuff held on to take the 14-8 victory.

It was late, it was cold, many fans decided it was time to head home, but still two teams took to the field to decide the champion of the First Annual Girl Iron Glory.  Health Quest vs. Power Tuff.  You've gotta give a lot of credit to the Power Tuff team; playing ONE game would take its toll on a player, even if she's in good shape, yet there they were playing back-to-back games with all the marbles on the line.  I won't pretend to know what happened or lay blame or make excuses or whatever, but one could say that Power Tuff simply ran out of gas.  The well-rested Health Quest squad took advantage of that and brought home the gold with a 26-0 shut-out.

I won't lie, and I won't pretend to be something I'm not:  I was pulling for Health Quest.  Why?  For starters, my wife was on that team, so if I rooted against them my internet-time would probably be taken away.  Also, my cousin Lee Anna was on that team.  She married one of my best friends.  The team was coached by one of my best friends.  And another of my best friends, the coach's wife, was on that team.  So I had a rooting interest.  I can only hope that that interest didn't make itself obvious in the announcing.  If so, I apologize.

EVERY team, EVERY player, EVERY coach, EVERY referee, EVERY volunteer helper....deserves tremendous kudos for the week's activities.  In the booth, I was impressed by the professionalism exhibited by the teams as they brought their rosters and team music up.  I was impressed by the obvious realization on display that points on the board didn't matter; some teams won and lost their games, but all thoughts were on those who are fighting the REAL battles right now against humanity's rival:  Cancer.  There's not many things that I can say I hate.  I CAN say, without a doubt, that I HATE cancer.

So take that, Cancer.  Crittenden County, with a little help from friends across the border, came together and proved to you that while you may have the upper-hand at times, we WILL NOT go down without a fight.  Friday night, when the Rockets are taking on Fulton City, a list of names will be read over the loud-speaker of TRUE warriors, those who have stared down cancer and smacked it in its face, and those who fought to the bitter end and left their loved ones to carry their torch.  And for those casualties of war that we've lost over the years....know this:  Vengeance will be ours.  Enjoy your victories now, Cancer, because one day, soon, due to events like this, you'll be history.

Every 69 seconds, somebody, somewhere, succombs to breast cancer.  Think about that for a bit.  In fact, think about it for 69 seconds.  That's what we're up against.  20 minute halves, 10 minute half-times, 5 minutes between games, storm delays that kept one game from ending for two days...all of that time pales in comparison to those 69 seconds.

Way to go, Girls.  Let's do it again next year!