Published Sunday, November 15, 2009

Creating tradition better than toting it around

Sports Column by TOMMY CAMP

tommy@newnan.com

There's an old saying in football that says tradition is worth seven points every time you step on the field.

I'm not so sure that it's not worth more than that.

I know you still have to block and tackle to win and that ghosts of bygone eras don't sweep down to run for touchdowns or uncork bombs for long scores, but there's an unmistakable quality about those teams that have enjoyed success in the past that those that haven't simply don't possess.

Tradtion.

It doesn't mean those with it always win.

But it does seem true that the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer in sports.

Isn't it sweet, however, when you strike a blow against that long-held standard?

Take Newnan's 28-9 win over Valdosta Friday for example.

Not that Newnan has been poor, but when compared to Valdosta's four hundred million state championships or whatever it is, Newnan has dwelt in the alms house for years.

But you never would have known it Friday.

As we're fond of saying in sports, the Cougars came out in the second half and, as we're also fond of saying in sports, laid it on the tradition-rich, folklore laden, powerhouse program of all Georgia high school powerhouse programs, the Valdosta Goliath-like, better-than-anyone, omnipotently invincible Wild-whatever-the-hey-they-are-now-Cats themselves, right in our own backyard.

Hooray for our side.

Of course detractors will say that Valdosta isn't what it used to be.

That's true.

The days are long gone when the Wildcats will ever dominate like they once did back when legendary coach Wright Bazemore held kids back in junior high school so that by the time they were seniors they were in fact college freshmen competing against high school kids.

Valdosta fans haven't quite grasped that those days are over and gone forever. Finished.

The Wildcats fired their current coach even before the season was over this year, not because he didn't win, but that he didn't win like Valdosta used to win.

Remember that this is the same program that fired Bazemore's successor and longtime right hand man, Charlie Green, despite his two teams' going 17-3.

But Valdosta is still Valdosta and the name alone still carries much tonnage.

So what happened Friday?

Maybe Newnan's kids didn't realize who they were playing. Maybe they didn't know they were expected to roll over. Maybe they didn't grasp who and what Valdosta was.

Or maybe, just maybe, they realized, they knew, they grasped all right and then went out and just played better.

Three touchdowns better.

Good for them.

When you get right down to it, tradition is only as good as those who buy into it, whether it's yours or the other team's.

If it's yours you respond with total commitment and dedication and tunnel-visioned goal- setting that accepts nothing less than the ultimate victory and you fire your coach when you don't attain it and move on to the next victim.

If you're running up against it you disdain all attempts at bucking it because of its seemingly unbeatable nature.

That's the power of tradition, if you buy into it.

Newnan didn't.

The major difference Friday was that Valdosta's power lay in what it used to be, Newnan's in what it is now.

And what a difference it was.