On October 11, 2008; the Harlingen Cardinals will face the only other team in their division that can give them any problems...the other Harlingen Team...the Hawks. Under the umbrella of Coach Tanamachi, two young men take it upon themselves to go way above and beyond anything a coach could possible ask of them. We infer in the direction of Chris O'Reagan and Daniel Bracken.
What's so impressive about them? - their desire to do what's best.....their hunger to represent the team.....their apetite for victory. So, what do they do after a three hour workout that (how did we put it last?), would send the average athlete gasping for the oxygen? They workout some more.
For hours on end, we could hear the sounds of what could be mistaken as rifles (perhaps target practice for the civil war?). "Who's shooting?", you say? Nobody....well....nobody except Chris and Daniel on the backmost court. The sounds of the cracking of the ball being pounded mercilessly by steel, sinew, muscle and determination fill the air. The sun has given up on them, choosing to bow it's head and give in to darkness. These two, however, will not go gently into that good night. All we hear is their violent, brutal, savage attacks. Violence procreates more violence as they chastise themselves when they are off target. The men's United States Tennis Association looks upon them in awe - although we would never admit it. We steal glances and secretly desire their form, yet unwilling to endure the pain to get there. One league member comments: "Oh, me sweet mercy". Mercy?..........Mercy?!? Not around here.
Their workout is over..........three more hours later. You can almost hear the strings groan on their racquets. If strings could talk they would scream "Medic! We need a medic over here"! Pros and synonyms aside, I approach Daniel Bracken and ask him what everyone is thinking, "You guys getting ready for the big civil war battle between you and the Hawks"? "My stars that sounded weak out loud", I think to myself. Then I think: "My stars?!? Who says that anymore? When did old age creep up on me? Wasn't I their age just a couple of years ago and back then I could......stop it!!! Pay attention"! Daniel speaks and we all lean forward, "Chris and I just want to go out there and do our best. We're good friends with most of the players on the Hawks team and played with them all summer". "Are you friends with Tomas Stillman", I ask. "Yeah. He's a good friend of ours and we hit all the time". "What's that going to be like, playing your friends?", I continue. "It's going to be like any other time that we would play", he adds, "It's kinda hard because you want to do good for your school, but you are playing against people you hang out with on the tennis court. We're just going to go out there and play hard....pay our best and do what the coaches tell us. When it's over, we will still be friends. As for winning, it's going to be a good match that everyone should come and see. I want to believe we can win. You always want to go into a match believing that".
After watching O'Reagan and Daniel work out for an extra three hours...............I want to believe!
