Last night, Long Beach Poly won its 18th CIF Championship in football. Here’s why it matters.
It matters to the players. For some of the Poly players, this is their first CIF Championship. For many, it’s their second. Winning a CIF Championship in any sport is never an easy thing, and to be a part of a team that won back-to-back Championships is truly special—Morgan Fennell is now the first Poly QB to win back-to-back titles. It’s easy to overlook a championship title won by a team like Poly, a team whose fans have, in recent years, viewed anything less than a championship as a bad season. What most people tend to forget is that no team is guaranteed a championship. Indeed, more often than not when a team is too sure of their abilities, too confident in their chances of winning, they watch that opportunity slip away. Poly was set to be one of those teams. With a ton of starters returning from a championship team, all it would have taken was a little complacency, a little too much swagger, and the Jackrabbits would have been sent home empty-handed. It’s a real testament to the 2008 Jackrabbit squad that they managed to fight the temptation to relax in the playoffs and give Poly a berth into a State Title game. To the team: congratulations, you’ve shown Orange County how Long Beach plays football, now it’s time to show the rest of California.
It matters to the coaches. Just one look at the coaches after the game was all it took to prove this. The overwhelming sense of joy in every coach’s eyes was incredible. The tremendous amount of pride and love that went into every postgame hug is a testament to how much this win meant to each and every person on Poly’s coaching staff (and there sure are a lot of them). To the coaches: congratulations, it takes a lot of poise to rally from behind in a playoff game, and you managed to pull it off three times this year. Here’s hoping that you won’t have to think about it next week.
It matters to the fans. A lot. There are few things better than watching your school, your alma mater, your team win a championship. That’s it, really. To the fans: congratulations. Whether it’s your first, your second, or your 18th, it’s always special to be a part of something like this, even as a spectator. See you at the Home Depot Center!
It matters to LONG BEACH. That’s right I said it. Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of Poly, you should be proud of these guys. Because every time they step on the field they represent your city, and in some small way they represent you. To the Jordan alum/Panther fans sitting in front of us, to Lakewood’s Talia Crichton who celebrated with his friends on Poly’s team after the game, and to the countless other Long Beach supporters at the game cheering Poly on: you are the embodiment of what high school sports should be, and you make what we do possible. Thank you, and congratulations.