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He said do ya speaka’ There’s an old saying about the New York Yankees that goes back almost 100 years…”They win all the time because opposing teams are in awe of their pinstripes.” In other words, many games (in all sports) are actually won on reputation simply because of an opponent’s pre-disposed opinion. And once these deep seeded feelings take root, it’s tough to eradicate their effect. For the Novi Wildcats, that may have changed on Sept. 19, 2003, as the Cats invaded Brighton, and defeated them 23-20 on the way to a KVC Title. The veil was broken. Prior to that, Novi had only defeated Brighton once since 1990 as the Bulldogs repeatedly owned the KVC for the better part of the decade. Friday night, the host Novi Wildcats, featuring many of the same players that broke the jinx last year, put it all together and dominated Brighton 21-9. Move over, there’s a new sheriff in town… And 2004 is shaping up to be that kind of year….Concord de la Salle (Calif) had their 151 game winning streak snapped last month at Bellevue, Washington. Interestingly enough, they’ve lost twice since then, after having not lost in 13 years. Perhaps their next two opponents approached it differently after witnessing history. Locally, perennial State Champ Catholic Central lost their opener to Downers Grove South (Illinois), and proceeded to lose 2 of their next 3 games as well. Do you think their upcoming opponents were buoyed by the fact that CC fell to a team that lost 3 games last year? And lest we forget, this is the 50-year anniversary of the eclipsing of the 4-minute mile. Experts said it could never be done. But, once Roger Bannister ran a sub 4-minute mile on May 6, 1954, a total of 37 people did it in the next 12 months! Seeing is believing. But, believing is seeing as well. The Wildcats played a phenomenal football game. 0 turnovers, no costly penalties, very few (if any) blown assignments, and they blocked and tackled, blocked and tackled, and they blocked and tackled some more. Their physical attitude and they way the approached that contest in such a businesslike manner, suggests to me they believed all along they would get the job done. They believed it in their hearts and minds long before opening kickoff. And this team is still building…Perhaps that’s why all the roads in Novi are torn up and under construction as well. The fact is, the road to the KVC Championship goes through Novi now. Men are definitely at work…
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