They were picked to win in all the polls. . .
They played hard and sacrificed their bodies, played through the pain. . .
The Allred fans were out in full force and with spirit a plenty. . .
The school was supportive. . .
Even the Colonel was present. . .
And yet they lost, and it hurt!It could have gone either way on any given day. Bonneville was probably the better team, but they were both good. Close shots barely missed the net and bounced off the beam, others t amazingly went in--a missed block here, a slightly wrong angled foot there, and the next thing you know the Championship had slipped away. 2 to 1. Lots of the girls cried. No one wanted to go out and get the second place trophy--it was big, it was pretty but nobody wanted it. Theoretically being the second best team in the state of Utah, basically a silver medal should'nt be anything to scoff at. But I noticed once the trophy was retrieved it was cast aside, sort of kicked under the bench. No one wanted pictures of themselves holding it like they did last year with the 1st place trophy, no one wanted to carry it on the bus, and the girls don't really care that it is going in the display case. Competition is a weird thing. It is so fun to be THE winner, and so awful to be the LOSER. I remember trying out for Tigerettes back at OHS and even though everyone assured me I would make it, I did not. The pain of the loss seemed almost unbearable as I watched all of my friends run forward when their names were called. I remember the sinking feeling of still sitting after the last name had been called.
My Allie cried for awhile and let me come down on the field and hug her for a long time. She was depressed she said for most of the next day. I watched her going on the internet and reading all of the press releases, looking at the photos of BHS in tears and Timpanogas shouting for joy. I once heard a friend of Missy's say, "2nd place is just the first looser." It shouldn't be like that, but try telling that to Allie and her Bonneville Soccer team.
