From the Sidelines: Ugly win still gets the job done
Sports reporter
What is an ugly win?
For one it's toward the top of the all-time sports clichés list. Every coach, fan, player, and their mothers have uttered the term at least 67 times in their lives. But what does it really mean?
Here are a few examples.
— The San Antonio Spurs knocking off the lowly Charlotte Bobcats 77-74 in a slow-paced NBA game.
— Any time the Royals somehow fight to a victory (it also could be categorized as lucky).
— Number seven ranked Oklahoma football this past Saturday, oh wait, that was an ugly loss.
Another obvious example was the Marion Warriors season-opening 13-0 victory this past Friday against Nickerson.
Yes it was a shutout. Yes Josh Kelsey hooked up with Jason Hett for an 82-yard touchdown pass. And yes Casey Nelson made a great play to force a fumble which Jeff Richmond returned 29 yards for a score.
Now get these stats for MHS: three lost fumbles, 40 percent of offense coming on one play, three first downs, nine penalties, and two dropped would-be interceptions Stevie Wonder could have caught. (To give the Warriors defense a little credit, Russell Ploutz did haul in one interception.)
Those aren't the kind of things that cause a football coach to say, "Gee whiz guys, great game, take Monday off. Hey, take Tuesday and Wednesday off as well."
It doesn't mean Marion didn't do anything well. Linebacker Michael Brookens was in on 14 tackles, two for a loss, and recovered a fumble. Youngsters Justin Anderson, Chase Williams, Jake Czarnowsky, and Emmanuel Jackson showed some signs of a defense that could be stellar in the near future. Not to mention the team pitched a shutout.
But we're not talking a no- hit shutout. We're talking a shutout with 10 hits, five walks, and four turned double plays.
Even head coach Grant Thierolf, who was pleased to get a win, conceded it wasn't the prettiest game he'd ever seen.
"I'll just chalk it up to it being the first game," he said in the locker room following the victory.
However, there is only one thing that matters after an ugly win. And that is the second part of the phrase: win.
MHS is 1-0, plain and simple. There is nowhere else any football team would want to be after one game.
Last season the Warriors clawed out an ugly 7-6 road victory against Nickerson.
They went on to win their division of the Mid-Central Activities Association in their inaugural season.
The game is in the books, and the Halstead Dragons, who defeated Haven 27-6 last week, are the team's focus.
All of this doesn't mean Thierolf is happier than any high school coach in Kansas.
But at least he's happier than 50 percent of them.
