The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Sports is funny because if you win and win big, you feel like you're on top of the world. But when you lose, and it happens when you should have won, it stings. I saw the pain on Scott Vancoughnett's face after the senior varsity Kopper Kings lost the Zone 11 championship volleyball tournament at home against rival RD Parker Trojans last weekend. Sadness from the loss looked to be tearing him apart. The Kopper Kings won the first set of a best of three 25-20, then lost 33-31 and 16-14. While the Kopper Kings didn't win, they gave their home crowd a show. Hands down it was the best school game I've covered since being here. The intensity of the final was incredible. It was impossible for me to separate my feelings while watching Ð and that says a lot because when I watch I'm a neutral observer; I have to be. On this day, though, I wanted the Kopper Kings to win. The crowd was into it and the Kopper Kweens along with the Hapnot cheerleaders were loud. While sports provides you with so many feelings, the unfortunate thing is a team has to lose. In my eyes, the Kopper Kings are not losers Ð they are champs. I felt for Evan Renard, who hit the ground and bowed his head in what had to be both disappointment and disbelief after being unable to execute a play to avoid losing. He played a big part in getting his team to the final. Sports is a win-lose affair. And unfortunately that will never change. While that may be one of the worst things about it, the best is how it can get crowds involved. The entertainment the Kopper Kings provided is proof of what makes sports such a great thing, and even better to cover. It's games like that in which I love doing what I do. It inspires you to another level. While standing just across the Hapnot Collegiate gym door, I watched as the Kopper Kings walked down the hallway from the weight room. The feeling of loss was written all over their faces. I watched Kopper Kings coach Craig McIntosh approach his wife and daughter. His wife hands her over to him and he just holds her and talks to her. For that period of time, sports didn't matter. Getting the interviews for my story could wait. The emotion sports gives you is a funny thing, yet you gotta love it. I know I do.
