Great Way to End the Season

There was an interesting stat that was sent to me today and in the NCAA strength of schedule evaluations Bridgewater College actually had the schedule that was rated 5th nationally out of 239 teams. Using Opponents winning % (which was .632 and Opponents/Opponents winning % which was .592) that combination put BC’s schedule at #5 nationally. You could tell in the games that we played there was seldom any margin for error, andit was interesting to see that in writing, mathematically.

As frustrating as Saturday’s game must have been for players, coaches and fans sitting in the stands for the first 54 minutes, anyone who left early got cheated. Although that final 30 seconds doesn’t fix all of the problems, it was a great way to send our senior group out. The gatherings at Memorial Hall and the Victory Bell after home victories is really one of the great traditions we have revived here at BC. Hang around some Saturday to see it next fall, it will be worth your time to share this moment. The Bell was rung 22 times by the Seniors who dressed out on Saturday, it was a sweet sound.

Returning to the locker room after doing my media things after the game, it was nice to see a lot of the Senior group just hanging around taking their time to exit. There was certainly no rush to take the pads off the last time. On game days at home I ask all of the dress squad at our pre-game meal, devotional and into the locker room to dress up and wear shirt and ties. We dress to up because Saturday is a big day for this group. In the locker room on Saturday, Will Davis, our Senior kicker, came up to me and said “Coach here I want to give you the tie you loaned me years ago.” He added, “It has the same knot you tied in my freshmen year.” I had forgotten the tie (although it was a nice one) and regret that Will had not paid attention to the lesson I had given him as a freshmen on how to knot ties. I told him he could keep or dry-clean the tie.

But the tie represented a bigger picture. Saturday’s scoreboard that shined so brightly in the last five seconds of that game, but that will fade with time. Its’ value is one game away from being diminished. In our business it is the relationships that will hold worth.

- Coach Clark