How to Win When Losing

How is it possible to play a 10-game high school football schedule and not win a game?  It simply cannot be an easy question to answer, but with but one week remaining in the 2024 regular season schedule, Puttbeat has identified 17 schools in 2A and 3A that are awfully close to attaining that distinction, the distinction, that is, of not winning a single game.

Of the 17 no-winners, there are three schools in 2Ad2 and 4 each in 3AD2 and 2AD1: another six in 3AD1.

Puttbeat has yet to discover what else these 17 schools have in common, other than losing at football that is.  But PB is sure they have things in common the Texas high school sports world needs to be made aware of, so that attempts can be made to fix the underlying problem(s).

Obviously, however, all 17 of these perpetual losers did not have a winning attitude at the start of the season.

The coaches must, of course, share responsibility for the losing habit, as must the community and the schools which the football players represent.  For there is commonality in losing as there is in winning.

Also, and as is well known, if you don’t have “the hosses,” you’re probably not going to win very often.  But in most every Texas high school there are enough “hosses” to mold a team that can win, at a minimum, at least one game and probably more.

There may be, of course, too many distractions; other things of greater concern are happening in the school or in the community; students may be more concerned about just feeling comfortable in their skins to think very much at all about winning football games. Too, they may be better at doing other things, like playing a musical instrument, or doing woodwork or automobile mechanics.  Help them do those “other” things!

Believe it or not, there are things of interest to people other than football; and if those interests are strong enough and persuasive enough in themselves, PB recommends that the school consider dropping football, and not continue to allow the players to suffer the humiliations that often go with consistent losing.

In all circumstances, schools and communities should strive to make their youth proud of who they are, of where they live, of being an American, of being a Texan, and of being of a particular race or religion. 

Whatever a young person does, he or she IS NOT a loser.   And losing football games in no way makes a young person a loser in life.

So perhaps we should be saying to the coaches and schools whose football teams are losing, stop!  Cease trying the impossible.  Do whatever will give your students more confidence in themselves.  And as for yourself, do things that make you feel good about yourself.

One reason I am happy with myself is because I enjoy what I do: I preach, I teach, I study, I follow my high school teams because I take great pride in their winning tradition.  Win at something!  My advice.

The 17 2A3A schools without a football win, Nov. 4, 2024, in alphabetical order:  

Abilene TLC, Breckenridge, Brownwood, Clarendon, Dallas A+, Hemphill, Hempstead, Huntington, Linden-Kildare, Merkel, Monte Alto, Moody, Queen City, Riviera-Kaufer,  Sands, Smyer, West Oso